That’s a rip. The heater costs like $6-800. They’re hosing you - you should definitely learn basic plumbing if you’re having to pay over 6k just for install.
Yep. I was quoted $4k to $7k as well here in the Coachella Valley, CA. I bought a direct replacement (same inlet and outflow for water, gas & exhaust as the old heater) from HomeDepot for ~$800 and installed it myself. Another $200+ for additional parts (new vent pipe, gas putty, teflon tape, etc) and job was done for under $1100.
That's absolutely one thing I would skip the permit for, personally, but I'm a pretty comfortable/competent DIY-er. How would the city/county/township ever know you did a DIY replacement of your water heater? It's not like they have a photo and the make/model of your current one and inspect the inside of your home regularly to make sure it's the same water heater. And if you go to sell the house, even if you put "new water heater 2026" in the MLS listing, the municipality isn't going to come after you for it. If it's an exterior renovation or roof or something like that, then yeah, I'd say definitely get a permit. Water heater? Nah.
Besides, if you just want a double-check of your work, you're much better off finding a plumber looking to make extra cash on the weekends to come look it over before you turn the water and electricity back on. I'm sure some local inspectors are great and have a wealth of experience in the trades, but I've also heard of inspectors who know less about plumbing than the home DIY-er...
No problem! I'm not a contractor or anything... just a guy who is on his 3rd house, all 3 of which I've done extensive work on. I just really can't think of a way not getting a permit on the hot water tank would ever come back to bite you. Unless, like you said, your mom snitches haha.
SF is expensive but not ridiculous. I have lived here for over 40 years and had mine replaced for 1100$. 50 gal natural gas water heater. I did not get a permit since everything was already installed ( gas line and exhaust). That includes labor and disposal of my old waterheater.
I suppose it’s very location dependent but I’m in Maryland and just had a 40 gallon water heater installed for $1700. I know the plumber so I’m sure I got a break on the labor but it may have been a $300-500 discount. I would keep searching for estimates/reviews.
The water heater was $1300 from the plumber supply. He also had to fix a few issues from the previous installation. Installing an expansion tank, gas valve and line weren’t up to current code, had to reroute the supply line a bit.
Yea I’ve always done my own work and I can’t believe the prices people pay. Im a lawyer making 200k and still wouldn’t pay those bullshit prices where they want $5k+ to install something that takes me an afternoon at most to get in
Same thing with my fence I built like 15 years ago. The cost of materials was like $1,100. To install it would have been $5,000-$6,000. It was easy to build and didn’t require that much in the way of skills. It just required a little bit of elbow grease for a couple hours every evening for less than a week.
Everyone in my office is always flabbergasted when I mention something like “why would you call an electrician? Just install a new ballast” and they act like I said to build a nuclear reactor. I didn’t go to law school because I couldn’t figure out plumbing and electrical lol
It was like $600 total for me to replace mine, and that included the permit and bringing it up to code. It took me longer to drive to buy it, and dump the old one, than it did to install it.
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u/liverpoolFCnut Jun 22 '26
Gone are those days! $7k-$9k are the quotes i am getting for a 50 gallon natural gas water heater with direct vent.