water heater leaking!

Are sharkbite connections allowed on natural gas lines?

I ask because I have no idea and it seems a little strange, but maybe this is common practice.

Me too. And after building at least 30 PC's I've gotten pretty good at fixing them and see the value of experience when someone comes to me with a PC they're tried to fix themselves. But I don't have that same comfort level with plumbing and gladly will pay someone who does have a lot of experience to do something like replacing a water heater. Yes, I could probably do it myself if my life depended on it or if I didn't have the money to pay a plumber. But that's not my situation.

You've described why I often buy two of something I consider a critical unit like the DVR that's at the heart of my TV setup. When it failed, I swapped the backup unit in in less than 5 minutes. If I had to buy a new one, it would have involved rewiring, reprogramming all the remotes around the house that control it via an IR repeater network, etc. It's something I learned from keeping critical servers on line. You can't have enough identical spares if you want to minimize downtime and all the futzing that comes from shoehorning in an "almost identical" replacement.

It sounds like by watching him work, you know you've gotten your money's worth. Hell, at my age schlepping a 40G water heater around isn't really a good idea. Might end up costing way more than $1,000 in medical bills and lost time. (-:

Yep. Hot water is a mission-critical function. Despite the noise from our favorite resident troll, I think it's clear you made the right call.

Like I said earlier, an empty water heater is remarkably light. Me and the wife carried ours from our pickup into the house and down into the basement. Did the reverse for the old tank.

Enjoy your Obama-Care, with the $4000 deductible.

Makes me wonder why some people read and post to this newsgroup.

Why aren't you instead reading rec.cooking or rec.sewing or rec.dollhouses?

When you get your propane barbeque tanks refilled and bring them back home, do you call a certified pipefitter to connect it back to your barbeque?

No, the coffee maker is a mission-critical function. Flushing the toilet is a mission critical function. There are lots of things higher on the totem pole in a home than having hot water.

There's no substitute for being a man and having confidence I guess.

I don't buy a warranty - I buy a water heater. And any GOOD product will outlast it's warranty. And any heater with 2 anodes will cost more than one with 1 or none - a brass valve will cost more than plastic

Will it still be working and not leaking 18 years from now??? Mine very likely will, and it's already 3 years old. Like I said before - I don't buy a warranty - I buy a quality water heater. The quality water heater just happens to also have a longer warranty.

And I didn't buy an "extra warranty"

You are free to buy the cheapest junk you can find. I prefer to buy quality.

"The bad taste of low quality lasts long after the sweet taste of low price has faded from the palate."

"It is almost always more expensive to pay too little for something than to pay too much"

I fail to understand your hostility and demeaning attitude toward those who don't have the same skills as you do. Some people can do certain things and some people can do other things. You will someday realize how powerless you are and find yourself in need of assistance from others. This is a good time to learn how to be humble so there will be people willing to help you.

$897. That included same day diagnosis, next day service, expertise, and prior earned trust.

I live in SE VA. Hampton Roads area.

And if I happen to be very busy with jobs that I do better than plumbing, I can pay a plumber to do the job and still come out ahead.

Where in the referenced article does it say:

when people do really stupid stuff homeowners companies typically still pay but the new policy excludes the stupid move.

like a fellow who in attempting to cut down a tree brought down a 15,000 volt line, which dropped across a 120 volt line and took out over $15,000 dollars worth of tvs, vcrs and other electronic appliances....

homeowners paid the entire claim but added a complete exclusion for all tree trimming or tree work in the future.

the fellows wife figured everyone along that line was collecting broke appliances to get them replaced.

A seismic valve would be a lot safer -but no help at all if the lines outside fracture.

Actually it is a common occurrence in state like New York and California. If you insist on doing your own work...Go get a permit and have it inspected to cover your ass and to keep your family healthy. Use a little common sense for crists sake!

It is interesting reading the Internet. "They are not that heavy." "And easy as pie to put in." "DIY for $300." Is that the ten gallon size? "My water heater is leaking, what do I do?"

Changing a water heater is a big deal. A 40 gallon heater with soaked insulation is a moose even drained. Old pipes that were sweated on instead of using nuts can be a bitch, and more than one house has burned down with some nimrod sweating new ones on or off. Where can I get a $300 40 gal water heater? My last one was $600, a propane model. And I paid the pro from the gas company $350 to install it. Beautiful work. Hoses with nuts on them. Earthquake straps. He even cut a 24" square piece of cabinet grade plywood for it to sit on "because he didn't like the looks of the floor under it as being weak." He stained and varnished the wood.

Changing a water heater ain't rocket surgery, but there is quite a bit to it, many things that can go wrong, and they can blow from the first floor foundation through the roof on the second story. They did it on Mythbusters. Anything that can kill you deserves respect.

Steve

You'll need to provide citations. It doesn't happen in California, I can't speak for NY.

I was thinking of posting that reply the other day too. It's been claimed here many times that insurance companies deny claims all the time because a permit wasn't pulled, the homeowner did something wrong, etc. But I have yet to see one case cited. Not saying it never happens. There probably are some extreme examples where they have done it, but I don't believe it's the general case.

It can't be that difficult for folks to read their own policy, can it?

If the insurance company can prove fraud (i.e. the homeowner intentionally burned his domicile to claim a loss), the insurance company will file a civil suit (which will follow the criminal arson charges :-) to avoid payment (justifiably, too).

I don't see why the insurance company would file a civil suit. They can just deny the claim and if the policy holder doesn't like it, then the policy holder can sue the insurance company to try to force them to pay.

But the claim being made here is that they won't pay not for fraud, but because the homeowner did some repair incorrectly, without a permit, etc. Yet they clearly pay for all the other dumb things a homeowner does, like smoking in bed and starting a fire. So, if it's so common it would be nice to see some examples, which should be easy to find.

But that is totally different from a well-meaning DIY accidentally burning the house down while soldering his water heater pipes, or something going wrong when he didn't have a permit or a plumbing license.

And you sure cannot speak for California either!California will make you tear out anything that is not built on a permit before it can be sold. Also they will pull your occupancy permit, leaving you a vacant building.

Somehow I think that's an exaggeration too. Generally that which is built compliant with code and can be inspected, they just make you go through the permitting/inspecting process and maybe pay some penalty. For example, if a permit is required for a fence, but the fence is otherwise compliant, I seriously doubt AHJs in CA are going to make you tear it out and put in an identical one, which would be a huge waste and certainly dumb.

And if it what was done has some parts that can be corrected and then have it pass, then you get a permit, make the corrections. You generally don't tear it out. If however you've done something that is totally non-compliant, can't be corrected, can't be inspected, etc, then I can see them making you tear it out.

I also find it hard to believe that CA has some process whereby they try to find everything that might not have been done with a permit, just because the place is being sold. Sure, if there is something obvious, I can see them finding that as part of the CO process, but in a day when the cops don't even have time to catch a lot of criminals, I find it hard to believe some inspector is going to show up and try to match what's in a house to permits going back 50 years.