# How long should it take employees to install tankless



## garyDplumber (Oct 8, 2016)

How long should it take your workers to install 1 tankless water heater.
(We do new construction)
So today the owner wanted us to come over and install 2 tankless water heaters on a job we have been working on. we already ran the new gas line and water lines that are needed, drywall is up, all that needs to be down is to install 2 tankless Noritz water heaters, one Outdoor unit, on indoor.

I gave my worker all the supplies that where needed to get the job done and went to check up on my other employees that are working at a different job.
4 hours go by, its lunchtime now, so i come back to check up on him, he finished to outdoor unit.
Another 4 hours go by and he didn't complete the second water heater (indoor unit) 
he still has to run the vent outside, and take the relief and condensation to the floor sink.

4 hours to hook up a water heater?
I just want to know how reasonable is this?
or am i just being an *******?
How long does it take you, or your workers to set up a tankless?


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## chonkie (Jul 31, 2014)

garyDplumber said:


> How long should it take your workers to install 1 tankless water heater.
> (We do new construction)
> So today the owner wanted us to come over and install 2 tankless water heaters on a job we have been working on. we already ran the new gas line and water lines that are needed, drywall is up, all that needs to be down is to install 2 tankless Noritz water heaters, one Outdoor unit, on indoor.
> 
> ...



You're just being an ******. I take it you haven't installed one yourself in your approximately 2 years of plumbing .... it all depends on how good all the stub outs were planned and how much crap the other plumber has to deal with if they are doing everything correctly and trying to make it look good. That time frame does not seem out of line to me.

Install one by yourself and then you'll know.


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## chonkie (Jul 31, 2014)

Heck, if he takes 5 hours and it is perfect, that's better than someone installing one in 2 hours and you having a call back that takes another 2 hours.


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## plumbdrum (Nov 30, 2013)

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## plumbdrum (Nov 30, 2013)

A year and 1/2 in the trade and your running jobs???? Are you even licensed??? If that's the case how long have the "workers" been doing plumbing??? Are they licensed or are you leaving unlicensed individuals alone on a job unsupervised?????

Like Chonkie said, until you've installed one quit whining.


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## chonkie (Jul 31, 2014)

Unfortunately he is in CA, so I assume you can throw the license stuff out the window if they have the same attitude towards new construction that they do with running service calls.


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## plumbdrum (Nov 30, 2013)

Chonkie, what are you even doing right now? It's 7 am on the east coast, do you sleep? Lol


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## chonkie (Jul 31, 2014)

Hehe, my sleep pattern has been jacked up ever since hunting season. Either that or it's just me getting old. I'll get home and "accidentally" pass out at like 8 or 9 and then wake up around 3 or 4 with everything on, dog needing to go to the bathroom. It's a good thing Married with Children is on tv this early, cause nothing else is.


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## wyrickmech (Mar 16, 2013)

Depends what had to be done. Code requirements vary. If you dont have a good grasp on how long it would take why are you checking on others? If you have no clue install one yourself then you will know.


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## OpenSights (Mar 23, 2015)

chonkie said:


> Hehe, my sleep pattern has been jacked up ever since hunting season. Either that or it's just me getting old. I'll get home and "accidentally" pass out at like 8 or 9 and then wake up around 3 or 4 with everything on, dog needing to go to the bathroom. It's a good thing Married with Children is on tv this early, cause nothing else is.


There's been days I get home just in time to tuck my kid into bed, eat some leftovers, start watching a show with Mrs. OpenSights, next thing I know I'm waking up at 3-4am freezing cold in my recliner. I think she does it on purpose. She says I snore... but I tell you what, if she goes to sleep first it's like trying to fall asleep watching ax men with the volume cranked up! We should have a stock pile of wood to last ten years from her sawing wood!

As far as tankless, honestly I repaid some and only installed one. They aren't very popular around here, at least in my experience. But if a rough is bad, finish can take ten times longer than it should just to have a good end product. This I've learned big time lately after coming in for a finish where someone else did the rough.... $4k above original bid.


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## chonkie (Jul 31, 2014)

She could at least cover you with a blanket. A good recliner is way too easy to fall asleep in, i miss my old Lazy Boy.


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## Oorgnid (Apr 5, 2016)

My boss and I just installed one today. Took about 7 hours total. Had to bore through brick wall to run the vent and fresh air intake. Had to strip back the gas line to tie a tee into it so we would have gas for the unit. Had to run new water lines to the unit, etc. Despite the two of us, both doing separate things, still was a lengthy job. 

So if he is taking half a day to install one unit, assuming it's functional and done properly, I'd be patting him on the back. I understand my situation is a bit different, being that your job was on a new construction site, but if you yourself do not know how long it takes to install the unit, how can you give the worker grief?


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

Four hours is reasonable. It's not like installing a toilet seat, you know?


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## hanzkunzel (Feb 24, 2017)

I figure I'll chip in.

I'm a super senior 4th year and have installed 6 tankless units and repaired countless. (I'm service side so it's a rare deal to get put on a new install) I'm fully certified in install and repair on Rinnai and know the insides and out. Even with this it takes me on average 5 - 6 hours to install one with no circ to correct standards by myself. Now this is collecting material too, but I don't think it's too much more time because even if given all the material, more then likely he'll still need to pick up something. If you haven't done one yourself I seriously doubt you have all the materials needed in your material list. Hell, I do material lists all the time and slap myself in the face when something doesn't work the way I had planned and I'm rolling back to the supply house for the second time. Not saying I'm the best plumber by any means, but I do hold my own fairly well and tankless just takes time. 

I will add even with a new construction and doing it solo, a tank takes at least 3 hours to install if also running a vent, doing a drain pan, and an expansion tank.


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## MindLost (May 25, 2013)

It takes my leadman (30 years exp) 4-6 hours to install one if he has to run the inlet/exhaust vent out in pvc, that is with the flashings ran on topout phase, with pipe usually stubbing out. Then it takes him another hour to figure out how to set up the recirc system on the display pad. I personally think that he camps on them to avoid having to do anything else. I would think 3-4 hours max if the topout crew didn't do terrible work, and that is with clean/professional work. In an 8 hour day if all that you can accomplish is a tankless water heater, and set 3 stools (not including caulking them) then I think that its time that you retire. Just sayn....

P.S - It is also important to note that each phase has to be a professional job, or the next phase is going to suck. If I worked @ a company that did terrible work then I would probably last 2-3 days tops...


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## kwikproplumb (May 27, 2016)

It's really shocking.


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## cyrus799 (7 mo ago)

It can take up to 10 hours to install because of the knowledge that is needed. The heating and delivery of hot water take longer.


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## jakewilcox (Sep 3, 2019)

@cyrus799 

Who are you? 

Did you read the site rules? 

Why are you commenting on a five year old thread?


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## ROCKSTARPLUMBER (Dec 14, 2008)

I price everyone of them to 8hrs. If it takes 4, great, if it takes 8, also great.


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## Plumbus (Aug 4, 2008)

ROCKSTARPLUMBER said:


> I price everyone of them to 8hrs. If it takes 4, great, if it takes 8, also great.


So do I. Sometimes just running the combustion air and flue on an indoor unit can take all day.
And, if no allowance was made during rough in for condensate, it's hard to say how much extra time will be needed.


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## TerryTotoSucks (5 mo ago)

It takes Terry 2 hrs to swap one out by himself. If it’s cool out but not cold. If it’s a hot day it might take 2.5 hrs because I take lemonade breaks.


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## ROCKSTARPLUMBER (Dec 14, 2008)

TerryTotoSucks said:


> It takes Terry 2 hrs to swap one out by himself. If it’s cool out but not cold. If it’s a hot day it might take 2.5 hrs because I take lemonade breaks.


I meant more along the lines of conversions.


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## TerryTotoSucks (5 mo ago)

ROCKSTARPLUMBER said:


> I meant more along the lines of conversions.


That always involves a new gas line straight off the meter. Or it does around my village.


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## Terrill (2 mo ago)

TerryTotoSucks said:


> It takes Terry 2 hrs to swap one out by himself. If it’s cool out but not cold. If it’s a hot day it might take 2.5 hrs because I take lemonade breaks.


Dang that's fast! I'm used to hearing that Terry Love allows 8 hours to replace a gas water heater with a tankless. 
I guess that the West Coast plumbers are much slower than the ones from Alabama. Now you need to give us tips on how you do those. We could all learn.


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## ROCKSTARPLUMBER (Dec 14, 2008)

TerryTotoSucks said:


> That always involves a new gas line straight off the meter. Or it does around my village.


Nah. We just tie the 1/2” line feeding the old gas water heater to it. Works fine.


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## TerryTotoSucks (5 mo ago)

Terrill said:


> Dang that's fast! I'm used to hearing that Terry Love allows 8 hours to replace a gas water heater with a tankless.
> I guess that the West Coast plumbers are much slower than the ones from Alabama. Now you need to give us tips on how you do those. We could all learn.


I’m talking about replacing a tankless with a tankless. That’s a swap out in Bama.
A conversion is to change from a tank to a tankless or vice versa.

I’m much better than anyone Terry Loves ever seen, that’s for sure. We don’t assemble toilets in the front yard and then throw them over our shoulder and carry them through a house. Have you seen the video ? It’s hilarious……

I’m a real pro.


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## TerryTotoSucks (5 mo ago)

ROCKSTARPLUMBER said:


> Nah. We just tie the 1/2” line feeding the old gas water heater to it. Works fine.


If it’s a 2lb system then that’ll probably work just fine. Or you could convert to a 2lb system.

Usually when I find a 2lb system the pipes are sized too small


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## Logtec (Jun 3, 2018)

TerryTotoSucks said:


> I’m talking about replacing a tankless with a tankless. That’s a swap out in Bama.
> A conversion is to change from a tank to a tankless or vice versa.
> 
> I’m much better than anyone Terry Loves ever seen, that’s for sure. We don’t assemble toilets in the front yard and then throw them over our shoulder and carry them through a house. Have you seen the video ? It’s hilarious……
> ...


Post a link to the video, please.


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## TerryTotoSucks (5 mo ago)

Logtec said:


> Post a link to the video, please.







3:33 is where the clown show starts.


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## Terrill (2 mo ago)

Mr. TotoSucks, I doubt that you would be able to lift a toilet once it's been assembled. I once was running a large crew for a place that did a lot of commercial work. Once day I realized that most of the plumbers were kind of small and it would take two of them to lift what I could lift. Not everyone is big and strong like the guy in the video. Does he play basketball or something? Frickin' He's huge. Don't feel bad though, you have to work with the hand you're dealt.


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## TerryTotoSucks (5 mo ago)

Terrill said:


> Mr. TotoSucks, I doubt that you would be able to lift a toilet once it's been assembled. I once was running a large crew for a place that did a lot of commercial work. Once day I realized that most of the plumbers were kind of small and it would take two of them to lift what I could lift. Not everyone is big and strong like the guy in the video. Does he play basketball or something? Frickin' He's huge. Don't feel bad though, you have to work with the hand you're dealt.


I can lift toilets like that and carry them through a customers house. I’m just smart enough not to.


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## Terrill (2 mo ago)

TerryTotoSucks said:


> I can lift toilets like that and carry them through a customers house. I’m just smart enough not to.


Wow! You must be fun to work with.


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## TerryTotoSucks (5 mo ago)

Terrill said:


> Wow! You must be fun to work with.


On Fridays I am. Out of uniform day and I also buy lunch. Sit down in a restaurant lunch, not fast food. 🌈


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## TerryTotoSucks (5 mo ago)

This one took about 3 hours but I had to load everything onto trailer pulled by a donkey and haul it 1/2 miles through the woods to the house. I insulated the piping after the picture.
I got a little wild with the pipe dope that day


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## Terrill (2 mo ago)

Dude, It's too cold for us to install those on the outside. We need to keep them inside, and then vent through the exterior walls. 
It would be nice to do an install like that. Next Spring I will be getting calls for split and leaking hosebibs when they go to water their lawns.


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## TerryTotoSucks (5 mo ago)

Terrill said:


> Dude, It's too cold for us to install those on the outside. We need to keep them inside, and then vent through the exterior walls.
> It would be nice to do an install like that. Next Spring I will be getting calls for split and leaking hosebibs when they go to water their lawns.


You stalking me bro ?


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