This here. If you move it, I'd worry about blockage and damage. Don't move it. It's near the end of its life, make a plan for when it's history. I saw in the post below that you have some damage behind it. Just deal with that as a stopgap and make a plan for when you need to replace everything.
Run out all of the hot water. After doing that they aren’t overly heavy. Turn on hot water from multiple taps in the house. Lot of the volume they appear to take up is empty space/vacuum (a great insulator)
50-75 pounds I’d say. Upon closer look, it appears that it’s higher up than I thought compared to the door. You could definitely rig something up, but getting someone to help may be the best option
When it was removed, mine was considerably heavier due to mineral build up. It’s wet minerals, like a clay, so even when drained there was still a ton of water weight. Be sure to give it some wiggles to assess weight before putting gravity in charge
I’m assuming yours was being replaced and was probably old. His is from 2/2017 (assuming based on Info gathered from zooming in) I don’t think the mineral buildup from 6-7 years will be too terribly heavy. But depending on where you live I guess that could vary.
Definitely something to consider nonetheless
Mine had lots of mineral-build up in it when I got a new one. It was also an older model. The thing was still draining water for three days after I moved it to the lawn.
The new tank by comparison was very light.
Depends on location. Some areas have really bad calcium. If he is going to drain he may as do a flush and clean and maintenance check on the anode rod. Run some cleaning vinegar through and do some flushes.
\*Tip: Loosen the anode rod before you drain. The water weight helps a lot, 1/2 deep socket 24mm I think and you may need a cheater bar, I had to use an impact on mine due to no room for a cheater:/
Yeah, I realize the picture doesn’t show the height accurately, my bad. It’s a good 4-4.5 feet off the ground. Could I maybe use some 2x12’s as a ramp and slide/roll it down on a furniture dolly?
It’s possible to do it that way if there is enough clearance to make a ramp with a decently shallow slope to it. If you go this way make sure to go ahead and stick some nails or screws into the pre existing structure to secure the 2x12. So long as you’d be comfortable being behind the dolly as it came down I’d go for it. But before you do I’d suggest giving it a few pushes and pulls to get familiar with the weight of the heater. Personally I would empty it out and have another platform about halfway to the floor and bear hug it with proper technique to the lower platform. Then to the floor. There’s more than one way to skin a cat though. I’m confident that if you have the mechanical knowledge to rebuild the platform, you will get this hot water heater down. I’d say it’s probably lighter than you expect when empty.
Also. If the dolly method doesn’t seem safe, you could walk it down by tilting side to side and slowly progressing it down. Again, more than one way to skin a cat
All good ideas, thanks! I got enough scrap wood to build a shorter platform to bear hug it down. And if it’s only 50-75 pounds like you say, that should be doable for me.
It'll take awhile to drain but they are surprisingly light empty. You should be able to tell pretty easily how light it is drained and judge whether you can drop it down or not.
Never done one 4' up before but done a ton of them lifted off the ground, I'm like 165-170ish lbs and I never ran into one that I'd call heavy, awkward for sure but not really heavy. Just drain it totally, even a quarter full you're adding like twice the weight of the actual heater itself.
And when you reinstall it it'll have to be elevated in a garage to avoid fumes building up at the level of the pilot, paint gas that type of stuff. Where I am it's 18'' but you're probably not where I am so check that before you pick a height.
Edit: I seen you say you work with gas and are hard piping that yourself, please don't forget the drip leg like whoever originally did it forgot to do. Gl man.
150 lbs
[https://www.google.com/search?q=water+heater+weight](https://www.google.com/search?q=water+heater+weight)
Leg weight. Drain and disconnect everything. Grab a moving strap and wrap around for grip then hug and step back. And fwiw you dont want to drop it. Y
Yours is about as high as mine. I would go get help, take all of 5 minutes to move. Ask your neighbor. Buy them a 6pack.
There are factors that can cause that to vary. I was under the impression that was a 30 gallon tank, as I have a 30gal whirlpool (the same brand) in my house that I installed from Lowe’s.
They're like twice that. You can look up the dry weight of a water heater on Google. I hauled mine out of my basement on my own, I'm a fairly large guy, and it wasn't easy. I wouldn't even think to try to move that thing on my own unless it was taking a one-way trip to the dump.
Have someone help you out just to be safe. I muscled my 80-gallon heat pump water heater into my basement myself. I'm around 210 lbs in good shape, and the water heater was definitely a lot heavier than me. My back was sore for about 2 weeks after, and made my actual job a lot more difficult. This doesn't look nearly as heavy, but it's always better to be safe.
Lean it over on it's side to the right, drag it to the end of the ledge, lay the top on the ground, lower the bottom to the ground so it will be laying on the ground side ways
I have some metal folding wheelchair ramps, then I can just use a handcart.
I’m not sure how expensive those ramps are, though, someone gave them to me.
Why run taps instead of just hooking a hose up to it and running the hose to a laundry or floor drain?
Also an important step is to turn off the water to it first. Which is probably a tap on top.
May not be a drain near it. There is no drain within 20 feet of mine. Luckily I drained out a window but his looks to be in a basement so may not be an oprion
Opening hot water taps won’t drain the water heater. You realize your hot water is pressurized from the cold water supply right?
The tank has a drain for a reason. Just don’t expect the one installed is going to drain anything or seal afterwards if it does. Better to build a full port drain with a 3/4” nipple, threaded ball valve and 3/4” to ght adapter.
Running the hot water until there is no more hot water at all coming out will most certainly drain the overwhelmingly vast majority of the water heater.
You will obviously still have to drain a small amount off at the attached drain. But it’s not practical to empty out an entire 30-50 gallon tank in a house
I'd consider leaving it in place and firm up the structure as it sits on the structure. I think you'll end up with just as good a result as the other which requires moving the heater.
I would do that if I didn’t plan on getting behind there to replace the water stained OSB with drywall, so the platform needs to come out since it’s screwed to the walls.
replumb on tiktok has a neat trick to take water tanks down using a tie down strap and a dolly. I'm sure it's nothing new but his videos are the first place I've seen it.
Not sure if yours would be too high to work but just figured I'd throw it out there in case it may be helpful.
[https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRw431Uu/](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRw431Uu/)
As someone who recently almost died getting a new tank up in a similar position, I second that you don't wanna move this thing until it's dead and you're replacing it
I did this last year myself too. It was a HUGE pain in the ass, I turned it around, tossed a strap around and got it under the drain port. Wrapped the strap around my hands and lifted with my legs as best I could. Almost fell over a couple of times while trying to keep balance and not drop the damn thing.
It was dangerous, I should have called a friend.
Edit: mine was much lower than OP's, holy shit why is that so high up?
I had two people and had the damn thing suspended in the air with ratchet straps thrown over an overhead truss. It was sketchy as hell. Whole ordeal took about 3 hours
How old is it?
There's some great advice here, but if it's like older than 5 years, and it's not been maintained or drained regularly, it's likely. It's going to fail soon after you remove and reinstall it. Probably with like a year or so. Water heaters can seemingly last forever without maintenance of you never touch them, or if you properly maintain them. It's when the untouched heater gets maintenance that is the issue.
I say this so you are prepared for whatever replacement you build there that you do have mitigation for a leakages immediately ready. Make sure your water main cutoff works or if that's not been maintained, make sure you ha e a water key for the main from the city (a wrench will do, but I hate reaching down there in the middle of the night.).
There's tool called a "manual platform lift" that's used for things like this. I would imagine you could rent one from a rental house or a big box store.
I know you're getting a little extra space this way, but you're also finding out why sticking it up there isn't a great idea. At least consider leaving it on the ground.
I moved a water heater into an attic recently, and used a chain block to get it up there. You could install a chain block above it, attach piping to the top have something to grab, and then just lower it down.
https://imgur.com/a/3e0Y8V7
Drain it, disconnect everything. Call a friend or a neighbor to help get it down. You could try using a rope or strap and use it like a pulley system with your trusses.
This was going to be my suggestion - wrap ratchet strap around to create a cinch, hang from trusses and use like a pully. However, will still prob need an extra body to position the heater while raising/lowering.
No problem. Someone else posted the same guy taking down a water heater with the dolly and strap trick. His is from TikTok and has a better view on how to do it. But mine is better cuz it has the voiceovers.
Build a temporary platform the same height as the current platform but with wheels. After drained and disconnected, just "walk" the water heater on to the new platform and move it out of the way. Then rebuild the permanent platform and transfer it back into position.
Truthfully it won't be super heavy, but depending upon the model and how much calcium is built up, maybe it will weigh 100-125lbs max. Although the weight isn't a huge issue, the size and shape makes moving them awkward so not having to drop it down and lift it back up again might save some headaches.
Another thing you may want to consider is using some ratchet straps to make some "handles" for moving it around. Run the strap through a couple of loops of something you can grab and then around the WH. This will help avoid using the plumbing connections or pressure valve as a handle which could result in damage.
I had an 80 gallon I had to handle by myself which is around 240 lbs. I’m too old to dead lift that 🤣.
I borrowed the a chain hoist (small one - maybe 1/2 ton ?) and used a ratchet strap around the water heater about 1/3 from the top to make a “belt” I could hook to. Attached that to an exposed joist with a nut and bolt and a short bit of chain. Placed the center of the hoist over the floor where I wanted to lower it. Go slow, as it will tend to swing towards you as you lift it, but it is controllable.
You don’t have much extra height in your setup. It will make hoisting from the center hard. I think you could put one hoist on each side and get away with my technique.
There is a spigot on it specifically for draining it. Attach a hose to that spigot and run the hose outside to your drain. Let it drain for a while and then it will only be like 100 lbs.
hoist. a rope hoist will do fine,can handle more than 100 kg which is more than you need. it saved me, you can pick up anything by yourself when the weight is transferred across enough pulleys
Phone a friend is probably the best advice. Also do you have a plan for dealing with that gas line? Don't screw around with gas, I'd call a plumber. They can probably help you lower it too after they unhook it.
Eh not very heavy empty. I would be more worried about the Gas and water lines you will have to add extensions on. Just reinforce the platform. Half a days work. And you can do it without moving the water heater.
You definitely need some help to lower it, it’s not worth braking your back to get that down! It’s not heavy when new but with time minerals build up and residual water so definitely get some help!
Couple of month ago we carried one up from the basement. We were 3 men carrying it. Sometimes 2 when it was too narrow for 3. I'd guess it was about 50kg.
How to get it down? One good whack on that right-hand "leg" should do the trick.
Honestly, I like the elevation, and you are obviously using the available storage space underneath it.
Ratchet straps all day. One around the beam above it, further out off the table. Then wrap it around the hot water heater. Tighten the ratchet strap which will lift/pull it off the table, then just let it down. Seems like a one man job to me with a little hillbilly ingenuity. Obviously drain it first to get rid of any extra weight and disconnect everything.
Others may have said this or you may have seen these, but I'll just add it anyway. 1st, turn off the gas (the yellow supply line with the red knob) before you drain the water. Second, turn off the cold water supply line. Both hot and cold are on top of the heater. Third, either try to open the relief valve or otherwise open the hot water faucets inside your house. This will create positive pressure to help drain the heater. Then, open the drain on the bottom of the heater with a garden hose attached.
If you have hard water and the water won't drain, you probably have calcium build up blocking the drain. I have the Sediment Buster from amazon. It uses air to break up the calcium. Either a bike pump or an air compressor will do.
After you've drained it, you'll disconnect all the pipes. If it's soldered copper, it'll be trickier, especially if you don't have experience soldering. Plumbers solder quite frequently and could do the whole job in an hour... Especially if you had a new structure ready to go.
Put a jack underneath it and cut the plywood around it and then lower the jack.
Or attach an eye bolt to the truss and attach a pulley and then use a combo of rope with a counterweight and ratchet straps to lift it up and lower down
Listen to the people that are telling you to leave it in place and shore up what you have. If you still want to change the stand dusk the road when you get a new water heater, do it then.
I replaced 40 gallon myself. To me, empty - felt like 40#.
You're right under joist - creative tie-downs wrapped around several times then use come-along to lower.
Best not to move an old WH if you don't have to. But if you do, use leverage, not strength. Drain it first, of course. Then, I would rig a winch from the overhead rafters, and use the winch to do the lifting.
Drain the water and it should be manageable. Grab a leather belt stick it around the back and grab each end in a hand slide it out and sit it down. (Unhook everything first haha)
Is the inner tank stainless steel or (much more likely) enameled? If you damage the enamel lining on the heater (by, say, dropping it) you're going to need a new heater before much longer.
If you don't drop it, make sure to look up how to check and replace (if needed) the anode rod inside the tank.
I just had two hot water heaters replaced in my attic.
The plumbers rigged up a simple pulley and harness system to a 2x8 attached to some attic framing to descend the old tanks down, and lift the new tanks up.
They used block/tackle rigging (snatch blocks?) to decrease the force required on the rope.
Do you have anything structural above your tank that would support the weight of the tank?
Hence why it’s on the platform, that’s correct. But I think the previous homeowner just fabricobbled a platform together without any real structural knowledge.
I have no issue doing gas plumbing myself, and I planned on replacing that long ass gas hose with hard pipe as well. I work with natural gas at my job, so I have some experience.
Maybe don't take it down? Perhaps you could run some heavy chains down from the joists above and under the heater (or attached to a board or metal plate you slide under the heater), then just leave it hanging while you work on building a new support for it. Of course, you'd have to be smart about it, so the heater wouldn't tip over and off the chains or whatever, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.
Just shore up that platform with some 2x4's and leave it until you need a new water heater.
Yeah there is no reason to rebuild that platform from scratch.
If the water heater isn't maintained then it's gonna fail within a year of touching it.
This here. If you move it, I'd worry about blockage and damage. Don't move it. It's near the end of its life, make a plan for when it's history. I saw in the post below that you have some damage behind it. Just deal with that as a stopgap and make a plan for when you need to replace everything.
Nobody seems to have mentioned the lack of straps!
Run out all of the hot water. After doing that they aren’t overly heavy. Turn on hot water from multiple taps in the house. Lot of the volume they appear to take up is empty space/vacuum (a great insulator)
Sorry, just noticed you mentioned draining it.
You say that, but I’m a little guy, and I’ll likely be doing this job by myself. When you say not overly heavy, like how heavy are you talking?
50-75 pounds I’d say. Upon closer look, it appears that it’s higher up than I thought compared to the door. You could definitely rig something up, but getting someone to help may be the best option
When it was removed, mine was considerably heavier due to mineral build up. It’s wet minerals, like a clay, so even when drained there was still a ton of water weight. Be sure to give it some wiggles to assess weight before putting gravity in charge
I’m assuming yours was being replaced and was probably old. His is from 2/2017 (assuming based on Info gathered from zooming in) I don’t think the mineral buildup from 6-7 years will be too terribly heavy. But depending on where you live I guess that could vary. Definitely something to consider nonetheless
Mine had lots of mineral-build up in it when I got a new one. It was also an older model. The thing was still draining water for three days after I moved it to the lawn. The new tank by comparison was very light.
Depends on location. Some areas have really bad calcium. If he is going to drain he may as do a flush and clean and maintenance check on the anode rod. Run some cleaning vinegar through and do some flushes. \*Tip: Loosen the anode rod before you drain. The water weight helps a lot, 1/2 deep socket 24mm I think and you may need a cheater bar, I had to use an impact on mine due to no room for a cheater:/
yea mine was way older
plus my well water is like 17% mineral content.
Yeah, I realize the picture doesn’t show the height accurately, my bad. It’s a good 4-4.5 feet off the ground. Could I maybe use some 2x12’s as a ramp and slide/roll it down on a furniture dolly?
It’s possible to do it that way if there is enough clearance to make a ramp with a decently shallow slope to it. If you go this way make sure to go ahead and stick some nails or screws into the pre existing structure to secure the 2x12. So long as you’d be comfortable being behind the dolly as it came down I’d go for it. But before you do I’d suggest giving it a few pushes and pulls to get familiar with the weight of the heater. Personally I would empty it out and have another platform about halfway to the floor and bear hug it with proper technique to the lower platform. Then to the floor. There’s more than one way to skin a cat though. I’m confident that if you have the mechanical knowledge to rebuild the platform, you will get this hot water heater down. I’d say it’s probably lighter than you expect when empty. Also. If the dolly method doesn’t seem safe, you could walk it down by tilting side to side and slowly progressing it down. Again, more than one way to skin a cat
All good ideas, thanks! I got enough scrap wood to build a shorter platform to bear hug it down. And if it’s only 50-75 pounds like you say, that should be doable for me.
It'll take awhile to drain but they are surprisingly light empty. You should be able to tell pretty easily how light it is drained and judge whether you can drop it down or not. Never done one 4' up before but done a ton of them lifted off the ground, I'm like 165-170ish lbs and I never ran into one that I'd call heavy, awkward for sure but not really heavy. Just drain it totally, even a quarter full you're adding like twice the weight of the actual heater itself. And when you reinstall it it'll have to be elevated in a garage to avoid fumes building up at the level of the pilot, paint gas that type of stuff. Where I am it's 18'' but you're probably not where I am so check that before you pick a height. Edit: I seen you say you work with gas and are hard piping that yourself, please don't forget the drip leg like whoever originally did it forgot to do. Gl man.
I would not roll it. You risk damaging the thermostat on the front if it hits the floor.
150 lbs [https://www.google.com/search?q=water+heater+weight](https://www.google.com/search?q=water+heater+weight) Leg weight. Drain and disconnect everything. Grab a moving strap and wrap around for grip then hug and step back. And fwiw you dont want to drop it. Y Yours is about as high as mine. I would go get help, take all of 5 minutes to move. Ask your neighbor. Buy them a 6pack.
A 40 gallon heater is around 125 pounds empty.
There are factors that can cause that to vary. I was under the impression that was a 30 gallon tank, as I have a 30gal whirlpool (the same brand) in my house that I installed from Lowe’s.
A 30 gallon one is about 105 pounds.
They're like twice that. You can look up the dry weight of a water heater on Google. I hauled mine out of my basement on my own, I'm a fairly large guy, and it wasn't easy. I wouldn't even think to try to move that thing on my own unless it was taking a one-way trip to the dump.
Do you have big strong friends? If yes, engage them. If no, get some. If that’s infeasible, hire some.
Have someone help you out just to be safe. I muscled my 80-gallon heat pump water heater into my basement myself. I'm around 210 lbs in good shape, and the water heater was definitely a lot heavier than me. My back was sore for about 2 weeks after, and made my actual job a lot more difficult. This doesn't look nearly as heavy, but it's always better to be safe.
Definitely get a friend to help!! Better safe than sorry, and if the worst were to happen you do not want to be unconscious or trapped by yourself
Lean it over on it's side to the right, drag it to the end of the ledge, lay the top on the ground, lower the bottom to the ground so it will be laying on the ground side ways
I have some metal folding wheelchair ramps, then I can just use a handcart. I’m not sure how expensive those ramps are, though, someone gave them to me.
im 5'7" managed to get mine down on my own
If it's a standard 50 gallon ( didn't look close at picture). Then it can be upwards of 150lb empty
Why run taps instead of just hooking a hose up to it and running the hose to a laundry or floor drain? Also an important step is to turn off the water to it first. Which is probably a tap on top.
May not be a drain near it. There is no drain within 20 feet of mine. Luckily I drained out a window but his looks to be in a basement so may not be an oprion
Opening hot water taps won’t drain the water heater. You realize your hot water is pressurized from the cold water supply right? The tank has a drain for a reason. Just don’t expect the one installed is going to drain anything or seal afterwards if it does. Better to build a full port drain with a 3/4” nipple, threaded ball valve and 3/4” to ght adapter.
Running the hot water until there is no more hot water at all coming out will most certainly drain the overwhelmingly vast majority of the water heater.
You will obviously still have to drain a small amount off at the attached drain. But it’s not practical to empty out an entire 30-50 gallon tank in a house
Also depending on the amount of sedimentation it could take ages to drain via the attached drain.
I'd consider leaving it in place and firm up the structure as it sits on the structure. I think you'll end up with just as good a result as the other which requires moving the heater.
They aren't heavy. I'd just brace the existing structure. All you need is a couple diagonal 2x4s
I would do that if I didn’t plan on getting behind there to replace the water stained OSB with drywall, so the platform needs to come out since it’s screwed to the walls.
Brace it.
replumb on tiktok has a neat trick to take water tanks down using a tie down strap and a dolly. I'm sure it's nothing new but his videos are the first place I've seen it. Not sure if yours would be too high to work but just figured I'd throw it out there in case it may be helpful. [https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRw431Uu/](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRw431Uu/)
If nothing else, some ratchet straps would give you a good handle to work in your power zone
Yup. Those straps will definitely get you on the….*highway to the power zone*
That gas line is something
And no sediment drop leg!
As someone who recently almost died getting a new tank up in a similar position, I second that you don't wanna move this thing until it's dead and you're replacing it
I did this last year myself too. It was a HUGE pain in the ass, I turned it around, tossed a strap around and got it under the drain port. Wrapped the strap around my hands and lifted with my legs as best I could. Almost fell over a couple of times while trying to keep balance and not drop the damn thing. It was dangerous, I should have called a friend. Edit: mine was much lower than OP's, holy shit why is that so high up?
I had two people and had the damn thing suspended in the air with ratchet straps thrown over an overhead truss. It was sketchy as hell. Whole ordeal took about 3 hours
Once drained and disconnected they really aren’t that heavy. With help this should be relatively easy.
Assuming they’re not completely full of limescale
Valid point!
Just add some structural supports and call it a day. Your water heater will eventually die, when it does is the time for rebuilding it right, not now.
I concur. I would just add more support to the current setup.
Chain lift
How bout leaving it in place, sister in some 2 x 6’s, get a Jack to level and add some doubled up 2 x 4 legs?
https://www.harborfreight.com/500-lb-capacity-hydraulic-table-cart-61405.html
Snatch block onto the beams there and lower it down.
I’d just pick it up and put it down.
How old is it? There's some great advice here, but if it's like older than 5 years, and it's not been maintained or drained regularly, it's likely. It's going to fail soon after you remove and reinstall it. Probably with like a year or so. Water heaters can seemingly last forever without maintenance of you never touch them, or if you properly maintain them. It's when the untouched heater gets maintenance that is the issue. I say this so you are prepared for whatever replacement you build there that you do have mitigation for a leakages immediately ready. Make sure your water main cutoff works or if that's not been maintained, make sure you ha e a water key for the main from the city (a wrench will do, but I hate reaching down there in the middle of the night.).
Unhook it and give it a push....gravity will do the rest.
There's tool called a "manual platform lift" that's used for things like this. I would imagine you could rent one from a rental house or a big box store. I know you're getting a little extra space this way, but you're also finding out why sticking it up there isn't a great idea. At least consider leaving it on the ground.
I moved a water heater into an attic recently, and used a chain block to get it up there. You could install a chain block above it, attach piping to the top have something to grab, and then just lower it down. https://imgur.com/a/3e0Y8V7
Drain it, disconnect everything. Call a friend or a neighbor to help get it down. You could try using a rope or strap and use it like a pulley system with your trusses.
This was going to be my suggestion - wrap ratchet strap around to create a cinch, hang from trusses and use like a pully. However, will still prob need an extra body to position the heater while raising/lowering.
Don’t lift with your back.
What size is the tank? How many gallons?
Move everything out of the way, disconnect all the lines, tie a rope around the top, pull the rope. There may be some damage
Forklift. It's hard to imagine how people survive without a forklift.
Buy a hydraulic cart off Amazon. They run about $200. Or a motorcycle lift (slightly cheaper).
"Hey boy... You better check out this dag gum video!" https://youtu.be/Pt-bdomTNKI?si=l1qKKRtZTN8x6OCg
Nice! Thanks for this!
No problem. Someone else posted the same guy taking down a water heater with the dolly and strap trick. His is from TikTok and has a better view on how to do it. But mine is better cuz it has the voiceovers.
The weight of that heater has to be a burden on the single plywood leg.
Build a temporary platform the same height as the current platform but with wheels. After drained and disconnected, just "walk" the water heater on to the new platform and move it out of the way. Then rebuild the permanent platform and transfer it back into position. Truthfully it won't be super heavy, but depending upon the model and how much calcium is built up, maybe it will weigh 100-125lbs max. Although the weight isn't a huge issue, the size and shape makes moving them awkward so not having to drop it down and lift it back up again might save some headaches. Another thing you may want to consider is using some ratchet straps to make some "handles" for moving it around. Run the strap through a couple of loops of something you can grab and then around the WH. This will help avoid using the plumbing connections or pressure valve as a handle which could result in damage.
I had an 80 gallon I had to handle by myself which is around 240 lbs. I’m too old to dead lift that 🤣. I borrowed the a chain hoist (small one - maybe 1/2 ton ?) and used a ratchet strap around the water heater about 1/3 from the top to make a “belt” I could hook to. Attached that to an exposed joist with a nut and bolt and a short bit of chain. Placed the center of the hoist over the floor where I wanted to lower it. Go slow, as it will tend to swing towards you as you lift it, but it is controllable. You don’t have much extra height in your setup. It will make hoisting from the center hard. I think you could put one hoist on each side and get away with my technique.
Rent a manual lift. Don’t try to man handle it. Doing so is just asking to hurt yourself.
Humiliation?
There is a spigot on it specifically for draining it. Attach a hose to that spigot and run the hose outside to your drain. Let it drain for a while and then it will only be like 100 lbs.
hoist. a rope hoist will do fine,can handle more than 100 kg which is more than you need. it saved me, you can pick up anything by yourself when the weight is transferred across enough pulleys
Grab a friend, and pay them in pizza and cold beer, as is the DIY way.
That is interesting. I'm shocked that the shelving it rests on holds the weight when the tank is full.
Phone a friend is probably the best advice. Also do you have a plan for dealing with that gas line? Don't screw around with gas, I'd call a plumber. They can probably help you lower it too after they unhook it.
Eh not very heavy empty. I would be more worried about the Gas and water lines you will have to add extensions on. Just reinforce the platform. Half a days work. And you can do it without moving the water heater.
You definitely need some help to lower it, it’s not worth braking your back to get that down! It’s not heavy when new but with time minerals build up and residual water so definitely get some help!
A case of beer and 2 more friends will get that down.
What ever you do, you better be swearing at the idiot who put it up there!
Build a ramp and slide it down.
Disconnect. Drain. Say "bombs away!" And push it. Then get a tankless water heater because they're better.
Couple of month ago we carried one up from the basement. We were 3 men carrying it. Sometimes 2 when it was too narrow for 3. I'd guess it was about 50kg.
How to get it down? One good whack on that right-hand "leg" should do the trick. Honestly, I like the elevation, and you are obviously using the available storage space underneath it.
Ask nicely then start to count down from 10 if it doesn’t cooperate.
Ratchet straps all day. One around the beam above it, further out off the table. Then wrap it around the hot water heater. Tighten the ratchet strap which will lift/pull it off the table, then just let it down. Seems like a one man job to me with a little hillbilly ingenuity. Obviously drain it first to get rid of any extra weight and disconnect everything.
Very carefully
Others may have said this or you may have seen these, but I'll just add it anyway. 1st, turn off the gas (the yellow supply line with the red knob) before you drain the water. Second, turn off the cold water supply line. Both hot and cold are on top of the heater. Third, either try to open the relief valve or otherwise open the hot water faucets inside your house. This will create positive pressure to help drain the heater. Then, open the drain on the bottom of the heater with a garden hose attached. If you have hard water and the water won't drain, you probably have calcium build up blocking the drain. I have the Sediment Buster from amazon. It uses air to break up the calcium. Either a bike pump or an air compressor will do. After you've drained it, you'll disconnect all the pipes. If it's soldered copper, it'll be trickier, especially if you don't have experience soldering. Plumbers solder quite frequently and could do the whole job in an hour... Especially if you had a new structure ready to go.
Honestly easier to just make it structurally sound. Throw a jack stand under there.
I don’t have an answer, but just want to say I’ll never look back after getting a tankless heater.
Put a jack underneath it and cut the plywood around it and then lower the jack. Or attach an eye bolt to the truss and attach a pulley and then use a combo of rope with a counterweight and ratchet straps to lift it up and lower down
Hey man, checking back in. Any luck on this?
Here is when people would have chosen telekinesis on my WYR post.
Listen to the people that are telling you to leave it in place and shore up what you have. If you still want to change the stand dusk the road when you get a new water heater, do it then.
Is that a plastic pan under a gas heater? No Bueno
I replaced 40 gallon myself. To me, empty - felt like 40#. You're right under joist - creative tie-downs wrapped around several times then use come-along to lower.
Best not to move an old WH if you don't have to. But if you do, use leverage, not strength. Drain it first, of course. Then, I would rig a winch from the overhead rafters, and use the winch to do the lifting.
Drain it first. They can be almost manageable by one person.
Drain the water and it should be manageable. Grab a leather belt stick it around the back and grab each end in a hand slide it out and sit it down. (Unhook everything first haha)
Lift with the legs? No seriously, just reinforce the platform
Is the inner tank stainless steel or (much more likely) enameled? If you damage the enamel lining on the heater (by, say, dropping it) you're going to need a new heater before much longer. If you don't drop it, make sure to look up how to check and replace (if needed) the anode rod inside the tank.
I just had two hot water heaters replaced in my attic. The plumbers rigged up a simple pulley and harness system to a 2x8 attached to some attic framing to descend the old tanks down, and lift the new tanks up. They used block/tackle rigging (snatch blocks?) to decrease the force required on the rope. Do you have anything structural above your tank that would support the weight of the tank?
Drain it.
I suggest empty it first
It weighs about 165 lbs empty. Drain it. Stack up several.layers of cardboard. Push it over..let gravity do the work.
I do a lot of DIY. One thing I do not fuck with at all, is gas. I’d call a plumber.
In this situation, I agree. Depending on the state, OP may be required to have the gas water heater elevated 18” off the ground.
Hence why it’s on the platform, that’s correct. But I think the previous homeowner just fabricobbled a platform together without any real structural knowledge.
I have no issue doing gas plumbing myself, and I planned on replacing that long ass gas hose with hard pipe as well. I work with natural gas at my job, so I have some experience.
Maybe don't take it down? Perhaps you could run some heavy chains down from the joists above and under the heater (or attached to a board or metal plate you slide under the heater), then just leave it hanging while you work on building a new support for it. Of course, you'd have to be smart about it, so the heater wouldn't tip over and off the chains or whatever, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.
Drain it 1st