Plumber or Handyman to install water heaters

[Courtney Murphy]

Hello,

Our handyman says he could install 2 water heaters in our STR (house is 100yrs old). It would save us some $$ but I'm concerned if something goes wrong that we would wish we had a plumber to be accountable.

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks!

Courtney

[Kevin Sobilo]

@Courtney Murphy, a water heater is a fairly simple install. So, in terms of being confident a handyman could do the work I would feel ok about that.

However, if you want to be cautious I would consider a couple other details before making a decision. First, where are the water heaters located? If they are in a basement where an issue wouldn't cause appreciable damage then having a handyman do it is less of a concern.

The second question is whether the handyman is insured. Many are not, but some are. If they are insured I would absolutely choose a handyman over a plumber. I might use a handyman even if they aren't insured. I might use a plumber is the hot water heater was in a finished space like a closet off the kitchen where in a vacant house it might cause a lot of damage before anyone realized.