Moving a water heater

[TechBoyJK]

Just bought a house (see my other thread), and I'm trying to plan for finishing the basement. One of the things that bugs me and is messing up how I'd like to frame in the rooms is where the water heater is placed. Moving it seems do-able and I'd be willing to spend approx $500 for it to be moved. Thoughts? Here's a vid showing where it's at now and explaining where I'd like to move it. I have a plumber coming out next week to give me an estimate for this and a few other things, but I'd like to have an idea of what it will take before I talk to him.

Here's a short vid showing how I'd like to move it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngGz9gkDNoc

 

[Drako]

Where do you live? I have not seen a free standing water heater in a long time.

 

[NAC4EV]

Assuming that the water heater is gas fired, where and how do you plan to run the flue vent?????

 

[Drako]

Assuming that the water heater is gas fired, where and how do you plan to run the flue vent?????

He showed that in the video near the end.

 

[NutBucket]

Assuming that the water heater is gas fired, where and how do you plan to run the flue vent?????

Still pretty common imho...unless you're used to newer construction. I prefer them to tankless....not much energy saving in mild climates either.

 

[shabby]

Definitely doable, looks like a full days work for one guy, should be less than $500.

 

[master_shake_]

Assuming that the water heater is gas fired, where and how do you plan to run the flue vent?????

mine doesn't have a flu vent anymore.

it's got a blower that forces off gases out of the wall of the basement.

like this one

 

[TechBoyJK]

mine doesn't have a flu vent anymore.

it's got a blower that forces off gases out of the wall of the basement.

like this one

Nice. The water heater that came with the house is in great shape, and I don't feel inclined to replace it since it's fairly new. I love hot showers so I do like the idea of a tankless though.

 

[Humpy]

Moving the WH looks like a piece of cake.

Moving the drain isn't typically difficult either, just more work and mess involved in cutting concrete, trenching, and patching the concrete after the plumber is done. It looks like the under slab plumbing has already been reworked in the past. Maybe you'll be lucky and can just chop out the old patches and make it work?

 

[TechBoyJK]

Yea, I don't see why I'd have to pay more than $300 for it. If someone knows what they're doing and can cut/fit pipe confidently, this should be a straightforward job.

Is that a reasonable price? The union plumbers that do jobs in our datacenter get stuff together pretty quickly.

 

[NAC4EV]

In your area, is there a requirement for permits and inspections????

 

[TechBoyJK]

In your area, is there a requirement for permits and inspections????

Yes. That's why I'm going to have it professionally done. I got the plumber's info from the permits leftover by the seller. That is, if I have it done. It just depends on costs and effort.

 

[Red Squirrel]

You'll probably want a licensed pipe fitter to do the gas line, but if you can coordinate you can probably have the pipe fitter come in to disconnect the gas then you do most of the work yourself and have the pipe fitter come back and redo the piping. You need special threading tools for those pipes so even if it's legal it's probably not worth doing yourself unless you plan to do a lot of work with threaded pipe and want to buy the tools. Places like Home Depot will cut/thread for you, but you need your measurements to be dead on if you get everything predone line that.

I'm not sure why they put them like that, my setup is very similar to yours and it's crossed my mind to move it off to the side. Too bad they don't make sideways tanks, my house is split level so half crawlspace half basement, would be nice to put it sideways in the crawlspace.

 

[NutBucket]

I've come to the conclusion gas lines aren't nearly as scary as you think. The pressure of the gas is about 0.5psi. All you need to do it use a generous amount of dope; no need to ridiculously tighten the fittings. But, still can be intimidating.

 

[Greenman]

I've come to the conclusion gas lines aren't nearly as scary as you think. The pressure of the gas is about 0.5psi. All you need to do it use a generous amount of dope; no need to ridiculously tighten the fittings. But, still can be intimidating.

Gas is easy, it's the 30psi test that can be a pain.

 

[TechBoyJK]

I'm definitely going to have a pro do this, but I just want to have a solid understanding of the effort involved. I don't want someone telling me I have to do a bunch of unneeded things when I don't have to.

 

[herm0016]

I've come to the conclusion gas lines aren't nearly as scary as you think. The pressure of the gas is about 0.5psi. All you need to do it use a generous amount of dope; no need to ridiculously tighten the fittings. But, still can be intimidating.

6 psi usually.

 

[NutBucket]

You mean 6-inch water column....which equates to less than .5 psi actually.

 

[TechBoyJK]

Talked to a plumber today.

He recommended just moving it closer to the furnace and said he could get it over about 10 inches, which honestly is a huge difference because it's just enough to get it out of the way. By barely moving it, he said the lines don't need much work and it would be about 1/3 the cost of moving it to the other side.

 

[shabby]

You'll probably want a licensed pipe fitter to do the gas line

Thought plumbers were also licensed pipe fitters, but not the other way around.