Need to replace a water heater (wife said I can't do it myself after buying the water heater that's now in my basement ) and a valve under a sink that's preventing me from replacing the dishwasher. The hot water under sink shutoff is broken so I can't disconnect the dishwasher's feed line.

Time to have a long talk with 'she who must be obeyed.'

Don't call the "guy waving on the back of the truck" unless you have deep pockets.  I did when I was new to the area.  It was a good job but I probably paid over 2X the going rate.  Gotta pay for all those TV ads.

I have lived in Fredericksburg for the last 20+ years and have used "Rapidan Plumbing" exclusively (since another service I can't remember couldn't find the leak in my main water feed line to the house).



http://www.rapidanplumbing.com/

I'd steer clear of "My Plumber"....

their attempt to clear my  sewer drain took about 14 hours over a three-day period.

About twelve of that was snaking the main line.

The "technician" came the first day with insufficient snake length.

He showed the next day with additional length and after all that, told me he couldn't clear the line, which had backed up into my basement bathroom.

His camera man arrived the next day and told me that 35 feet from the toilet drain, 10.3 feet under my fron yard, there was a break or collapsed main drain.

I was billed $666.90 for their efforts, which came to NAUGHT.  I do believe they OWE ME. It clearly says on their trucks "one-day service, or it's FREE!".

My Plumber wanted $9500 for a "spot repair" under the yard, not to exceed 10 feet of new 4" PVC. .... And $15,400 to got to the sidewalk- less than 50 feet from the front of the house!!!


I had another (general contractor) come out and when he snaked the line, found it was badly clogged, and NOT collapsed or broken.

He put in a cleanout and replaced about 12 feet of the main line for $6500....including hydra - jetting the entire drain.



screw "My Plumber".

2nd Rapidan plumbing if you absolutely can't do it yourself.

Do it while she's at work?  Either way a plumber will charge a small fortune.

Not entirely sure, as I haven't messed up anything really.

Although the shutoff valve from the wall to the sink faucet is more than I'd usually do myself.

A hot water heater doesn't look that hard, especially with sharkbites. Shit, my HVAC guy (who found the leak) said to do it myself because it was easy and they'd charge a fortune (mostly because their owner just loves actually welding things because it looks better).

Plumbing Innovators...great guys and not as pricey as some others that were mentioned.

Use a small pump to empty from the top after disconnecting the lines.

You might have to sacrifice a washing machine hose by cutting the end off to fit in the tank.

I like to get like three+ quotes on any job and it irritates me when people need to send a guy out and charge me $50 to give me a quote.