Tankless · Installation
"We're ready to switch. We just don't want it done wrong."
The Quality & Integrity You Expect
That's the sentence we hear most. A tankless install is only as good as the gas, the vent, and the sizing behind it. Here is exactly how we do it, start to finish, so there are no surprises after the wall is closed.
Free estimate on installation
Is now the time?
You're probably ready for a tankless install if…
- Your tank is past ten to twelve years old, or it's weeping rust from the base.
- You run out of hot water when two showers overlap, or the last person in gets a cold one.
- You want the closet or garage floor space the tank has been holding hostage.
- You have gas service, or gas is close enough that running it is realistic.
- You plan to stay in the home long enough for the longer service life to pay you back.
Not sure which unit size fits? The sizing helper on the tankless page gets you a GPM range in four questions, no email required.
How the job goes
Six steps, and you see the number before day one.
-
The survey
Fifteen to twenty minutes at your gas meter, your attic or exterior wall, and your water heater location. We check the meter's rated capacity against the unit's peak demand and trace the shortest code-legal vent path. This is where the honest number comes from.
-
Gas line sizing
Tankless draws far more gas at peak than a tank. We size the run to the unit's rated BTU input, not a generic estimate. Sometimes that's just the last run to the closet; sometimes it goes back to the meter. Undersizing it starves the unit and defeats the whole upgrade.
-
The permit
We pull it with the correct county, Sacramento, Placer, or El Dorado, before any gas work starts. The fee is inside your quoted range. This protects your home's record and, more to the point, keeps an unpermitted gas connection out of your walls.
-
Install day
We mount the unit, run and pressure-test the gas, set the vent to its termination point, run the condensate to a safe drain, and make the electrical connection. Lines get dressed and labeled. Most clean swaps are a single day.
-
Inspection
We schedule the county inspection and meet the inspector ourselves. Timelines vary by county and season, and we build the realistic window into what we tell you rather than promising a same-day close-up that depends on a calendar we don't control.
-
The walkthrough
Before we leave, we show you the isolation valves, how to read a fault code, and your first descaling date, set for 12 to 18 months out and written down. You end the day knowing how to live with the unit, not just looking at it.
What it costs
Free estimate. The number, after we look.
Where your number lands is decided by your house, not by us: whether the gas line has to be upsized, how far the vent has to travel, whether a condensate drain already exists, the county permit, and whether a wall has to be opened to route any of it cleanly. Two homes on the same street can sit at opposite ends for reasons that have nothing to do with the brand of unit.
What a cheap install skips
The corners we won't cut.
- Gas sized to the unit
- We size the line to the specific unit's rated BTU input. A starved tankless simply delivers less hot water than it's rated for, which is the exact complaint we get called to fix on someone else's fast install.
- A real vent path
- We don't reuse an old metal flue that was never meant for a condensing unit. The vent gets its own code-legal run to a termination point with proper clearance from windows, doors, and property lines.
- Condensate handled
- The acidic condensate goes to an approved drain, pump, or discharge point, with neutralization where the drain material calls for it. Not left to trickle onto a slab.
- Permitted and inspected
- Every install. The paperwork protects you at resale and the inspection is a second set of eyes on a gas appliance in your home.
- A maintenance start
- You leave day one with a descaling date, not a manual you'll never open. Documented service keeps your manufacturer warranty valid.
From install customers
Done once, done right.
The survey caught that our meter was undersized before anyone quoted. They coordinated the gas utility upgrade, pulled the permit, and had it inspected inside two weeks. No change orders, no surprises after the fact.
They mounted it in the garage, freed up the whole closet, and labeled every line. The walkthrough at the end was the best part. I actually know where my shutoffs are now and when the first descaling is due.
Install questions
What people ask before they book.
A clean swap with an adequately sized gas line and an existing condensate path is usually a single day. Jobs that need gas line upsizing back to the meter, a long vent run, or a wall opened can run into a second day. We tell you which yours is at the survey.
For the survey and the final walkthrough, yes, so we can show you the shutoffs and the descaling schedule. During install day itself, most of it we can handle with access to the water heater location and the gas meter. We coordinate the inspection window with you separately.
Yes, both, on every install. We pull the permit with the correct county, schedule the inspection, and meet the inspector. The fee is inside the quoted price. An unpermitted gas connection is a safety and resale problem we won't leave you holding.
Sometimes, but we'll size it against your real peak demand and winter inlet temperature first. If the unit you bought is undersized for your house, we'll tell you plainly rather than install something that will underperform and get blamed on us later.
