Lowes Saga

[Frankie the Fink]

So, my new homeowner's insurer requires a house inspection and the guy found a small leak on the hot water nipple of my 18 year old traditional two element electric, water heater in the garage. Tried all the tricks and that corroded rusted, nipple is not budging - time to replace the unit.

Appears everyone has gone to heat pump/solar hybrid systems and those, for an 80 gallon tank, are $2,500 and up. Go to Lowe's and want a turnkey installation, install new system and remove the old one, they say OK our "assessor" will be out to give you an estimate.

Guy shows up with a thick gold bracelet and neck chain and a spiral notebook full of glossy laminated pictures of solar and hybrid heaters, cost savings projections, blah, blah, blah ( prob an ex timeshare salesman ). Bottom line, the solar install would be over $13,000 and the hybrid (heat pump based) system $9,000 (veteran's discount prices) - I couldn't show him the door fast enough. Even with the Federal income tax credit of 30% it is ridiculous.

WTF ? Lowes is now underwriting some huckster to browbeat me into spending megabucks for a common maintenance item ?

I found a traditional two, element, non hybrid, stainless steel tank water heater (had to REALLY do some searching) and will install it myself - lesson learned.

[Tikiman]

I'm just here for the nipple pics.

[Frankie the Fink]

And no, I didn't see that coming - and knowing Off Topic I should have..
I'll try to get a "squirting" video of the leak.

[Don Rickles]

Tinman gets paid, probably something like this:

Total sale 9000.00

House vig @14% -1260.00 (a few points more, hit from a lender if involved)

7740.00

Job cost -2500.00

5240.00

50/50 split comm. 2620.00

[Frankie the Fink]

Originally Posted by Don Rickles

Tinman gets paid, probably something like this:

Total sale 9000.00

House vig @14% -1260.00 (a few points more, hit from a lender if involved)

7740.00

Job cost -2500.00

5240.00

50/50 split comm. 2620.00

I could argue the figures a bit one way or another but the logic is about right... This guy's outfit also does the same gig for Home Depot and BJs.

As an aside he was telling me a solar panel could be on the south side of my house for max exposure (as he pointed) northeast, then debated me on where south was on my property I've owned since 1998. The wife nearly laughed in his face. Great customer interaction.

I guess I just didn't see the "hustle" being promoted by a reputable "big box" store - I'll have to lower my standards I guess. The guy was prob selling ShanWow before this job.

[Rodnok1]

...

[Bruze]

Originally Posted by Tikiman

I'm just here for the nipple pics.

.

[Don Rickles]

Originally Posted by Frankie the Fink

I could argue the figures a bit one way or another but the logic is about right... This guy's outfit also does the same gig for Home Depot and BJs.

As an aside he was telling me a solar panel could be on the south side of my house for max exposure (as he pointed) northeast, then debated me on where south was on my property I've owned since 1998. The wife nearly laughed in his face. Great customer interaction.

I guess I just didn't see the "hustle" being promoted by a reputable "big box" store - I'll have to lower my standards I guess. The guy was prob selling ShanWow before this job.

If it involves a traveling salesman, there's going to be some amount of corruption/hustle/scam/premium.....

[BayouCountry]

Same thing at Home Depot. They had a bathroom remodel booth setup so I figured, what the heck, I’ll get an estimate. A guy from Max Home comes out and quotes me $12,000 for just the shower remodel.

That was last year. This year I decide to look into replacing my windows. I get a $50,000 estimate for 26 windows.

I’ll find someone local and do some of the work myself, like I’ve done in the past at reasonable rates.

[Don Rickles]

Double the cost of installation, yes a 100% markup is the standard. More, if the salesman can get it.....

After the costs of business, advertising, insurance, overhead, taxes, etc. it's not quite as lucrative as it appears....

[LATB]

100 gallon electric water heater $549 at Lowe’s. In stock.

[mrvette]

Originally Posted by Don Rickles

Double the cost of installation, yes a 100% markup is the standard. More, if the salesman can get it.....

After the costs of business, advertising, insurance, overhead, taxes, etc. it's not quite as lucrative as it appears....

Up north in the Wash DC region, there was a fairly large hardware/home imp. chain called Hechingers, lots like Lowes/Despot.....so they handed out my card as a kitchen contractor......did ton's of work, one whole kitchen every two weeks was the normal load......there was ONE job/house that extended into everything, and it took a MONTH.....the nice thing is that I worked outta my garage at home, and the van was my tool shack, basically, and delivery transport.....so NO overhead, except the van.....and insurances.....

[Blademaker]

Lowes is enough to piss off a good humor man.
I wanted them to do a little work on a rental. The salesperson started telling me what THEY would do in my situation, which was more work and more expensive. After about 5 minutes of this, I calmly interrupted her and told her to shut up.
She was very taken aback and offended and told me so.
I reminded her that I do not give a flying **** whether she's offended or not, and I asked to see a manager.
Manager comes be bopping in, got kinda upset with me.... I told him high pressure sales and borderline badgering, while not answering my questions don't work with me, piss off.
Out in the parking lot, some guy gave me his card (Contractor) after seeing what happened inside. He followed me to the property, looked at what was to be done and gave me a cash price a hella lot lower.
I hired him on the spot.
**** Lowes AND Home Depot.

[Steve_R]

Lowes and Home Depot sell stuff. They aren't contractors. Why anyone would ask them to quote work is beyond me. Would you ask your local auto parts store to overhaul your car's engine because they sell the parts for it?

[Yadkin]

Originally Posted by Steve_R

Lowes and Home Depot sell stuff. They aren't contractors. Why anyone would ask them to quote work is beyond me. Would you ask your local auto parts store to overhaul your car's engine because they sell the parts for it?

A lot of times you can't find someone to do small jobs. I had to carpet one room and two staircases and could not get anyone to even quote the job. So I went to Lowes, bought the carpet with a SF installed price. Two weeks later the job was done.

[Yadkin]

Originally Posted by Frankie the Fink

... a small leak on the hot water nipple

Small piece of sheet rubber and a hose clamp.

[GTOguy]

Another thing, Frank, even though we're all getting older and more likely to 'call the guy': you can do a much better quality install than the baboon they send to do the job, trust me. every time I 'hire it done' I seem to get mediocre to piss-poor results.
15 years ago they tried to sell my dad a $35,000 remodel of the basement to accommodate a new water heater due to the 18" off the ground law in a garage (which it wasn't in). I came by and found that the leak was the inlet pipe and fixed it for $12 in about ten minutes.

[LATB]

I’ve always done plumbing fixtures myself. Especially the trim out. I let the contractor do the rough in and stack out, I finish with setting toilets and water heater and sinks/faucets and dishwasher etc.

Yes it can be a PITA as I get older. But not nearly as bad as scratched flooring or damaged tile / countertops / tubs etc. from some monkey working by the hour.

I also do as much carpentry work as possible. Framing punch out. Set the windows and doors. And all the interior trim.
Usually I will caulk and putty and prime ahead of the painters too. Most don’t put the effort into the prep work.

One brick house build I installed the brick sills over the weekend. Bricklayer asked me if I wanted to do the sills on all his jobs.
A detailed job that’s last and the contractor usually puts a greenhorn on. Think auto shop and the tire and oil change kid.

[Mike Mercury]

Originally Posted by Frankie the Fink

Guy shows up with a thick gold bracelet and neck chain and a spiral notebook full of glossy laminated pictures of solar and hybrid heaters, cost savings projections, blah, blah, blah...

more importantly... did you use the correct

pronoun?

[Bill]

I guess I need to check my water heater, which is in the attic. It was replaced after Ike, in 2008, when I noticed a damp drain pan. The pilot light blowing out was a godsend for me, because otherwise, I would never have noticed anything until it inevitably would have fully rusted out and failed. That one made it 12 years. I had the water heater replaced at my parents house several years back when I had the house repiped....that water heater was the original, over 40 years old, never been touched.

When I had mine replaced, I talked to the guys at the plumbing house and asked them for a recommendation. They gave me a younger guy, small business, they did a nice job. I referred him to a friend for a whole house repipe, and they were also very happy.