View Full Version : Ideas on how to get a 150# water heater into the attic?
ForrestGump
10-16-2008, 02:57 PM
How do you pros go about getting a 50 gal water heater thats weighs 150lbs into a attic?
I have a staircase inside a 1 story house in the hallway and the water heater is 3 feet from attic opening.
I thought of getting a come along and hook it to the new water heater and the rafters.
Would it be ok to take 2 - 3/4 galvanized T's connected to the hot and cold nipples with a large bolt running though the T's so I can hook the come along hook to? Would this damage the tank?
Terry
10-16-2008, 03:05 PM
I use a copper flex connector between the two pipe nipples and just lift it up by hand.
150 pounds isn't very much weight.
master plumber mark
10-16-2008, 03:28 PM
Generally when I got a really mean water heater
to install I let my apprentice do the lifting....LOL
and if it is extra extra mean, then I hire someone from
manpower for the day....to help the apprentice do the lifting....
ForrestGump
10-16-2008, 03:40 PM
Thanks Terry for the fast response!
So just a copper flex line is strong enough to hold it on the come along?
Check out my pictures here of what I have setup so far: http://jsmjd.smugmug.com/gallery/6268662_5WNbr//395597388_os9ng
password = 123
Terry
10-16-2008, 03:59 PM
So just a copper flex line is strong enough to hold it on the come along?
I'm not going to guarantee that.
I do it. But then I do lots of things that can't be done too.
Lot's of times I just use a flex that is going to be tossed anyway.
I like the fact that there is some give to it, and that it makes a nice handle for my hand.
If you can have someone below helping a bit, that's even better.
Use a rope and make a barrel sling under and around the heater. Then hook the come a long to the sling.
Redwood
10-16-2008, 10:25 PM
I'm sooooooooooo glad we have basements around here...:cool:
Ladiesman271
10-17-2008, 05:29 AM
How do you pros go about getting a 50 gal water heater thats weighs 150lbs into a attic?
I have a staircase inside a 1 story house in the hallway and the water heater is 3 feet from attic opening.
I thought of getting a come along and hook it to the new water heater and the rafters.
Would it be ok to take 2 - 3/4 galvanized T's connected to the hot and cold nipples with a large bolt running though the T's so I can hook the come along hook to? Would this damage the tank?
Sounds like a perfect time to convert to a tankless water heater!
I would definitely use HJs sling method when lowering the old heater...
I would not trust those old nipples to hold...they might but...
I wouldn't want to be the guy on the bottom if they didn't.
http://steelturman.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/sex_through_the_floor.jpg
ForrestGump
10-17-2008, 07:12 AM
Thanks everyone for the help. I am going to buy GE 12yr 50gal water heater today at HD and install it on Saturday.
I will try to make a YouTube video of me getting it into the attic and post the link to it here next week.
I'm glad we have VERY few basements, and VERY few heaters in the attic around here. It could end up like a supply house years ago. They had a shaft where they used a hoist to lift items up to the higher levels. A new guy was getting a cast iron bathtub down from the third floor and tied the cable through the wooden slats at the end, instead of through the waste and overflow holes. When the staples pulled out and the tub hit the clay tile pipe and fittings in the basement, it sounded like an atomic bomb had gone off. There wasn't much of the tub's enameled finish left either.
MACPLUMB 777
10-17-2008, 02:08 PM
Now ! !
Would be a "very good" time to install that new drain pan under that new heater run the 1" pvc across the attic and down the
outside of the house, ! !
Before you wake up some morning taking a shower in bed ! !
jadnashua
10-17-2008, 04:03 PM
If I had a gas WH, I'd probably install a WAGS valve when replacing it...it shuts both the gas and water off if it starts to leak. www.wagsvalve.com (http://www.wagsvalve.com) No power, it's all mechanical. Uses the same type of actuator that triggers the inflation of safety floatation vests used on airplanes - all it needs is to get wet and a spring and switch does the rest.
seaneys
10-17-2008, 10:07 PM
I'm sooooooooooo glad we have basements around here...:cool:
Same here. I would hate to think of putting anything like that above my head.
Terry
10-18-2008, 09:47 AM
Most water heaters around here are in the garage.
Thank goodness.
Just tie it onto the bottom of a helicopter and drop it thru the roof.:)
....lol... stoooopid idea eh?
About as stoooopid an idea as having a hw tank in the attic!!!:eek:
S
jfarnold
10-19-2008, 04:28 PM
I would get a friend or neighbor or two to help me if I didn't feel I could do it myself. I would be afraid of yanking out some structural member through some mishap with your chain and strap. And yes as an apprentice it's me doing it, with a song in my heart.
It's just like carrying a drunken fat chick up a flight of stairs, it's not moving Cheops.
If you're replacing 7 year old water heaters, you need to more aggressively insulate it and the pipes to keep the condensation from eating it up again.
Good luck.
kingsotall
10-19-2008, 09:27 PM
It's just like carrying a drunken fat chick up a flight of stairs, it's not moving Cheops.
:eek:
Sorry to say I can't relate...