Joined
·
5,480 Posts
Over the years and the many times I've forced water heaters up steps, in dangerous fashion to my entire career in a matter of minutes... I've removed water heaters from homes where I should of left them.
Can't ask the customers for help as you're asking for things to go wrong.
Not all of us have "help" to remove these, but I have no problems removing a water heater that's minimal steps out of a house, or a 3 run stringer. It's when it gets into those heavy ones where you've drained it, sediment sitting in the tank and no way to remove it does it become dangerous.
As many years I've been in this trade, I've racked some serious numbers in how many I've removed, it's in the hundreds. Not one of them have I thought was a good idea when it involved coming out of a basement with a full set of steps.
I even ask the customer now if the water heater is located in a basement with steps. If they say yes, I'm telling them before I even give a price that we do not remove the old ones, get your neighborhood kids or your sons to do it.
Last year I had someone play a game with me, I already told them I wasn't touching that old water heater full of sediment, then he asked again to have me take it around a sloping yard. I told him again, "I'm not risking a back injury when I've told you before I arrived that I will not chance it." He ended up doing it himself, even though I supplied the two wheeler and straps to hold it into position.
There's a reason I'm not a total yes man to every question my customers throw at me. It's called experience, wisdom, and self preservation in this business.
I can be the best plumber in the area, but don't ask me to do unskilled labor that can harm my future earnings in this business. I'm sorry doesn't do anything for a back injury that leaves me without the ability to work.
"Most" of the customers that are demanding I remove these water heaters? Usually have junk laying everywhere, like the world is going to stop with the old one sitting in the basement.
I've seen countless times where the history of old ones start collecting in the basement, it looks bad, but it really looks bad when it's a walk out basement.
Dangerous/old rickety steps? Purely understandable. We earn our wages for our skills, not for garbage collecting.
Can't ask the customers for help as you're asking for things to go wrong.
Not all of us have "help" to remove these, but I have no problems removing a water heater that's minimal steps out of a house, or a 3 run stringer. It's when it gets into those heavy ones where you've drained it, sediment sitting in the tank and no way to remove it does it become dangerous.
As many years I've been in this trade, I've racked some serious numbers in how many I've removed, it's in the hundreds. Not one of them have I thought was a good idea when it involved coming out of a basement with a full set of steps.
I even ask the customer now if the water heater is located in a basement with steps. If they say yes, I'm telling them before I even give a price that we do not remove the old ones, get your neighborhood kids or your sons to do it.
Last year I had someone play a game with me, I already told them I wasn't touching that old water heater full of sediment, then he asked again to have me take it around a sloping yard. I told him again, "I'm not risking a back injury when I've told you before I arrived that I will not chance it." He ended up doing it himself, even though I supplied the two wheeler and straps to hold it into position.
There's a reason I'm not a total yes man to every question my customers throw at me. It's called experience, wisdom, and self preservation in this business.
I can be the best plumber in the area, but don't ask me to do unskilled labor that can harm my future earnings in this business. I'm sorry doesn't do anything for a back injury that leaves me without the ability to work.
"Most" of the customers that are demanding I remove these water heaters? Usually have junk laying everywhere, like the world is going to stop with the old one sitting in the basement.
I've seen countless times where the history of old ones start collecting in the basement, it looks bad, but it really looks bad when it's a walk out basement.
Dangerous/old rickety steps? Purely understandable. We earn our wages for our skills, not for garbage collecting.
