Lowe's' installers wanted $1200 to install my new water heater. So I said frick it and did it myself. House hasn't burned down yet.

HVAC frickers told me the same thing like $500-1000 for a blower motor. Turns out its just the fan and costed it $20.

There is a concerted effort by trades people online to distort even the most obvious basic issues as always needing a professional. Even down to asking chatgpt its so engrained as to panic at even the most basic easily fixable issues. Fricking scam shit because the PCBs since the 80s literally tell you the fricking issue! I patched two dryers into my parents gasline in their basement just using dishsoap as a confirmation of patency almost 20 years ago and their still going strong.