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PSA: Our water heater died 3 days after we closed
Moved into our first house in Portland last month and the water heater went out on day 3. No rust, no noise, just stopped working. Had to pay a plumber $1,200 to replace it because the old one was from 2007. Anyone else get hit with a surprise appliance failure right after buying?
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evan_grant7021d agoMost Upvoted
Your plumber charged you $1,200 because Portland has a stupid markup on everything, not because the job was hard. A basic electric swap on a 50 gallon tank is a two hour job tops if the fittings line up. You got taken for a ride on labor. Next time call a smaller shop or a guy like me who works solo. We don't have the overhead so we charge half that. Also home warranties are usually garbage, they'll send some hack who'll fight you on the brand and charge you half the cost in deductibles anyway.
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the_hayden1mo ago
Just a heads up on the plumber price, $1,200 sounds a bit steep for a basic water heater swap unless they had to do some extra work rerouting things. The unit itself usually runs $400-$700 for a standard 40 or 50 gallon tank, so that leaves a lot for labor and parts. Might be worth checking if your home warranty covers stuff like this, some sellers throw one in for the first year. Also, 2007 isn't that crazy old for a water heater, they typically last 8-12 years so that one was already on borrowed time. Your mileage may vary, but a few of my buddies in Portland got quotes closer to $800 for the same job last year.
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sagejackson1mo ago
Totally agree, I paid $900 for mine and felt like I overpaid.
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