# You Shouldn't Need A Car Jack And Stone Carving Skills To Change A Water Heater!



## itsme_Bernie (Mar 31, 2015)

This story is a week old now but I thought you guys would understand hah hah..  

I found about 100 gallons of water in my first floor last Monday morning.  I feel lucky to have found it so quickly because it was gushing out of the flu of the water heater!

I worked for a plumber in college.  This should have taken about two and a half hours, INCLUDING going to buy it.  I had a seven hour day ahead!

Well look at where this thing is stuck... This is the new one going in, because I was too busy working in the old one going out.  What you can't see in the picture is it's jammed between the water main in the bottom left, the gas pipe (shared with the furnace) front left, and the chimney on the right.

I needed a car jack to lift it out of place and drop the new one in!!




I drop it in, and it looks like the water and gas lines are lin d up like I hoped and now I see the pressure relief valve is in a different spot, so I have to carve up the chimney flu! 




First world problems, but next time this thing goes, I'm going tankless!  Hah hah!

Bernie 


Bernie


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## RJSakowski (Apr 1, 2015)

itsme_Bernie said:


> This story is a week old now but I thought you guys would understand hah hah..
> 
> I found about 100 gallons of water in my first floor last Monday morning.  I feel lucky to have found it so quickly because it was gushing out of the flu of the water heater!
> 
> ...


Wow, talk about a tight fit!  I hope for your sake it doesn't turn out to be a defective unit,


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## Grumpy Gator (Apr 1, 2015)

Water heaters are like womans fashions they are always changing. Good job on the retro fit.
                                                ***G***


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## tweinke (Apr 1, 2015)

My plumbing projects usually start at the problem area and end at the street, so l feel for ya. Lol


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## itsme_Bernie (Apr 2, 2015)

Hah hah Tweinke!
I have
Been 5 feet below the Tarmac in the pouring rain!  My dad had a crack 1 foot before the town sewer line in the street.  
Made all the other plumbing jobs feel easier after that hah


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## Ulma Doctor (Apr 3, 2015)

it looks like you stuffed the 10 lbs of shinola into a 5 lb bag!!!!


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## coolidge (Apr 4, 2015)

I heard recently that when water heaters go out government is going to force people to put the replacement inside the house vs the garage, to save energy.


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## John Hasler (Apr 4, 2015)

coolidge said:


> I heard recently that when water heaters go out government is going to force people to put the replacement inside the house vs the garage, to save energy.


Are you saying that you have to get a permit to replace your water heater?


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## coolidge (Apr 4, 2015)

John Hasler said:


> Are you saying that you have to get a permit to replace your water heater?



Yes a permit and inspected I think that's fairly common. This new regulation was coming from the EPA I believe. No matter that your house wasn't designed to have the water heater in the house, the home owner will have to retrofit it somehow.


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## John Hasler (Apr 4, 2015)

coolidge said:


> Yes a permit and inspected I think that's fairly common. This new regulation was coming from the EPA I believe. No matter that your house wasn't designed to have the water heater in the house, the home owner will have to retrofit it somehow.



It's fairly common (though not universal) for local governments to "require" permits for such things, but no one I know actually gets a permit for anything that can't be seen from the street.

I hadn't heard that the EPA had extended its power to the point of dictating building codes.


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## markknx (Apr 4, 2015)

All I can say is I hate plumbing! Nothing good ever happens when I take out a pipe wrench.
Mark


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## coolidge (Apr 4, 2015)

markknx said:


> All I can say is I hate plumbing! Nothing good ever happens when I take out a pipe wrench.
> Mark



I see I'm not the only one, I hate plumbing always have. This thread is a perfect example. I once replace a water heater...they dug a hole in the ground, put the water heater in, then built the house on top of it. We had to dig a trench across the crawlspace and drag it out sideways.


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## coolidge (Apr 4, 2015)

John Hasler said:


> It's fairly common (though not universal) for local governments to "require" permits for such things, but no one I know actually gets a permit for anything that can't be seen from the street.
> 
> I hadn't heard that the EPA had extended its power to the point of dictating building codes.



Same outfit that gave us low flow shower heads and 1.5 gallon toilets you have to flush 3 times.


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