Replacing water heater

[bettingpython]

I am having a plumber do the work and he said he would haul off the old water heater. It's going to be an A O Smith. He advises against getting a permit because they will be inspecting my central heating unit and make me modernize it. It is an older unit. Thanks for any help and advice,

Something sounds fishy about this, does he have a state license number in letters at least 2 inches high on the side of his truck?

I don't think a contractor can even do one without pulling a permit legally.

I did lots of water heaters and air conditioners under a contractor when I did apartment maintenace and they never inspected anything other than what was on the permit.

 

[druryj]

PM sent

 

[Souperphly]

Something sounds fishy about this, does he have a state license number in letters at least 2 inches high on the side of his truck?

I don't think a contractor can even do one without pulling a permit legally.

I did lots of water heaters and air conditioners under a contractor when I did apartment maintenace and they never inspected anything other than what was on the permit.

I agree he either dosen't have a valid license or plans to do the job in a manner that he know's won't pass. Either way I'd get a new plumber

 

[mbear53]

He probably advised against a permit because he is not a licensed contractor, or is not licensed with the City. Again they can't make you change anything else, unless of course it is an immediate hazard such as a gas leak or something.

 

[-Pjackso]

When I replaced my HW heater, I got a permit (Norman).

The intent of a permit (contractor or home-owner) is to assist in making sure it's installed correctly - per code. ...Who wants to buy a house that the previous owner 1/2 installed ...poorly.
The permit process is to help the homeowner, not to be malicious.


With that said, my HW swap went well. The permit inspector was very nice, and wasn't looking for "everything-else-thats-wrong". He gave me the requirements and a few tips.

 

[cowmugger]

Former Realtor; get the inspection. When the house is sold, the hw tank will have to be up to code(if in town). I've not had anything else that had to be changed on a safety basis.
There are tanked water heaters that have sealed burner and can be installed on the floor, however, your municipality may not care and require it at 18 inches. A furnace burner will be at 18 inches just by the nature of construction. If the water heater is not in the garage, the 18 inch rule usually is not applied.
Check out http://www.navienamerica.com/ if you are considering going tankless. The Navien uses PVC intake and EXHAUST.

 

[Parks 788]

Do it yourself, it's easy.

My only advice is to take a sharpy and write the date of install on the front of it when done. When we bought our house 7 years ago the WH looked fairly old then. It finally started making noises because of buildup inside the tank so we replaced it. If you ever sell the hose or after 10-15 years you will know it's time to replace even if you think it's working properly.

 

[gearjammer]

I want to thank all of you for your help. He did finish putting the water heater in yesterday and it does seem to be up to code as I understand them to be. I did pay him the for the permits but he gave me some bs about it will be a week before he can call it in and longer before inspector to get with me. I figure I am probably out the money that I gave for the permits. I found him thru the yellowpages and he has a big ad in it so I just assumed he was licensed with the city, I never checked. Live and learn.

 

[bettingpython]

I want to thank all of you for your help. He did finish putting the water heater in yesterday and it does seem to be up to code as I understand them to be. I did pay him the for the permits but he gave me some bs about it will be a week before he can call it in and longer before inspector to get with me. I figure I am probably out the money that I gave for the permits. I found him thru the yellowpages and he has a big ad in it so I just assumed he was licensed with the city, I never checked. Live and learn.

Actually that is typical on the permits, when we had to replace an AC or water heater we did the job and our contractor pulled the permit after it was done obviously that took a week or so then another week or so for the inspector to come check it.

Permitting actually insures that your contractor does his job properly, if it isn't up to code or any of the solder joints don't meet the satisfaction of the inspector he will get to come fix it to bring it up to code.

I have gone back and had to recover freon from more than one AC and resolder joints because the inspector did not like the work done by someone else on the maintenace staff when I was in that business.