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by jandrese 16 days ago
That maintenance has to happen one way or another, hiring someone to do it can add quite a multiplier to the price. For example, I was recently looking at water heaters and called 4 different plumbers to get a quote. All of them came in around $5,000 for the job. The water heater they quoted costs $1,000 retail at Lowes. If you know what you are doing it isn't even difficult to install.

That said a layperson probably won't know the new code requirements in their jurisdiction and if you sell your house you'll have the inspector tut-tutting the work for one reason or another.
2 comments
FireBeyond 16 days ago
Hah, although, admittedly, when my AC died here I was looking at quotes for $17K for replacement (although I did also do the furnace at the same time, since both were early 1980s and basic models even then). "Why? I could buy the AC for $4K".

"Surely it wouldn't be too hard to undo/redo piping etc." But yeah, different refrigerant, different code requirements for vents and exhausts and drains. 4 people working for 16 hours, I saw where the money went.

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bell-cot 16 days ago
> If you know what you are doing it isn't even difficult to install.

How much time does it take to acquire & refresh the skills and code knowledge, and how many water heaters can you amortize that over during your life?

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jandrese 16 days ago
The skill is in being able to solder pipes together, something that is useful to learn as a general skill. It doesn't even need specialized equipment, just a torch, some flux, and a spool of plumbing solder. There is also a tiny bit of electrical work, but that's literally just matching the colors and using a couple of wire nuts.

The building code stuff is more of a bugbear.

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bell-cot 16 days ago
> The skill is in being able to ...

Admitting that one of my grandfathers was a blacksmith and the other a farmer, that my own father could have built a house from the ground down (I helped him dig and pour a foundation once) and then up, etc. - most modern Americans just don't have the backgrounds/aptitudes/comfort levels needed to try and succeed at such tasks.

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