erikahollister's Journal, 19 November 2023

Why gas? I've always used electric. Scratch those 3 wires, and add a gas hookup if that's the case. 

Gotcha! 

I admire you ability to do it. It’s all I can do to change the inner workings of the toilet 

Here in Massachusetts gas and electric each require a licensed technition, so to install a gas hot water heater requires two pros. That adds a lot to an installation cost. 

@Erika That's still ridiculous (unless the HW heaters are more there). It is literally a cut, coupling, and glue for the water pipe, and an unscrew & screw for the gas hook up. The hardest part is the leg work of taking the old one out & setting the new one in. Must have to pay for the cost of their licenses. 🤷‍♀️ 

Thanks, Kenna 

I replaced my water heater about 6 months ago (California) and it was $1700.00. 

@Kenna 😬! My alternator went out in my car when I was in my early 20's & a single mom. I told my dad that I had the money for the alternator, but not for the labor. Do you think he offered to loan me the rest of the money or help me put it on?! NOPE! He told me to go the the parts store & tell them what I needed, come home & look in the box to see what the part looked like, find it on the car, take that part off while paying attention to where everything was hooked up, and put the new one on the same way I took the old one off. ...and I DID! I had no choice...lol. My water pipes busted in the same time era. Do you think he came and fixed them for me or loaned me the money to pay someone?! NOPE! He came & squatted at the edge of the house and guided me through how to fix it while I was up under the house in the cold mud actually doing the repairing. While I wasn't happy at those very moments, I am now SO THANKFUL! I also did electrical construction work for 4 years with him. I don't have a license, but I have the knowledge to wire an entire house or commercial building. 

Thank you for sharing some of your story. I am sure your home is beautiful I love old homes. Keep up the good work! 

ZWP— that is awesome. And that is the way to do it. My dad was an auto mechanic and he did basically the same thing with us kids. Now some of these things are so complex you basically can’t work on your car at home without more specialized tools and equipment than you can afford. 

@Kenna the legacy of being independent when in comes to things like that has continued, probably because I've never been too well off financially. YouTube, Google, free computer diagnostics at AutoZone saves me tremendously on lots of things (including not paying for a dietician or trainer at the gym!). 🤣 My husband has plenty of tools, and where there's a will, there's a way...lol.  

Those prices are outrageous. We got a tankless water heater from Amazon or eBay can't remember which but it was around $300 and we have a 2 bathroom house and live in Iowa so have cold inlet water temperature.  

I have been spoiled in regards to having someone to repair stuff when it breaks. Both my ex-husband & Hubby are handy around the house. Hubby replaced our water heater in our guest house when it went out. And he replaced parts on the hot water heater in our house. I don't know how to do stuff like that because I've never had to. My sister was handier than her husband & often did stuff like hang a ceiling fan herself.  

@SherreyB I can remember my dad telling me that he wanted me to have a man if I wanted one, but not because I needed one. Gosh! I miss that man! 

Full disclosure: Sometimes I do play "the woman card" if I'm feeling lazy so the hubby can do it. 🤫🤭 

In today’s world many men do not have access to a male or father figure or talented mom to teach them home and auto repair. Also, when you are a city dweller, think apartment, you don’t have a place to work on things or a place to store the tools. In my area they are trying to bring back some auto and home maintenance classes, not at school but as summer classes or just classes to sign up for in adult education . 

And that is why I live in an apartment, because I'm not handy, so I send in a service request & someone comes & fixes whatever. And I've been driving a Honda for over thirty years & the only thing that ever broke was the a/c on a car that was over ten years old, so I bought a new car. Sometimes we just have to know who we are. 

So update. Bought a new 50 gallon gas water heater for $780 including additional 5 year warranty for $75. Got someone who will pick up and install and haul away old one for 500. So altogether about 1000 less than the quote i got thru my property management company. I feel better tho not happy. Thank you for the advice. Wish I wasn’t afraid to try and fix on my own but gas, water, electricity…nope. 

@Shir, yep! 

@YOH That's great! I think that's more of a fair price. The leg work is a little rough. Look at it this way, that's about 45% off, PLUS a 5 yr warranty. I'd call it a win! 🤗