mountainsoft
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Our well pump quit working Tuesday night (Feb 13th). My wife turned on a faucet and nothing came out. I checked a few simple things and didn't see anything obvious, so we called a well company to come track down the cause.
A technician showed up the next day (Happy Valentines Day) and confirmed the pump was locked up. Not good news, but after 32+ years it wasn't necessarily a surprise either. We knew it's days were numbered, we just thought we would have a little more time.
Anyway, we scheduled to have the pump replaced the next day. It took two guys a bit over two hours to pull out the old pump, prepare the new pump/pipe/electrical, and get everything back in the well. We had water again by noon, and after two days without showers and filling toilet tanks with jugs of water, we were thrilled.
They shocked the well with bleach and 24 hours later the water in our house still wreaks of chlorine. I've been running water like crazy to try and flush it out, but at this point the water is not drinkable and showers are a bit harsh (smells like a public swimming pool). Hopefully it clears up soon.
I installed the original pump myself over 32 years ago and had hoped to do the replacement myself too. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a pump locally and knew it would be a hassle to gather all the necessary supplies in a timely manner. So we opted to hire the job out to the pro's instead, something I really struggled with personally. As someone who always fixes things myself, I felt like I was failing by hiring someone else to do the job. Still, I'm glad the problem was fixed quickly and I didn't even need to get dirty.
Unfortunately, the pump replacement cost over $4100 between the initial diagnosis and the second replacement trip. That was major sticker shock, considering our well is only 80 feet deep with a 1/2 HP pump. The company had good reviews, handled everything quickly, and were pleasant to work with, but I can't help but feel we got burned on the pricing a bit. They did not provide any price breakdown for the job, but the installer said the pump itself was only $1100, so I'm not sure what that other $3000 went to. While we can handle the $4100 expense, we weren't expecting anywhere close to that. Knowing I could have bought all the materials for around $2000 or so, only bums me out more that I didn't do the work myself.
A technician showed up the next day (Happy Valentines Day) and confirmed the pump was locked up. Not good news, but after 32+ years it wasn't necessarily a surprise either. We knew it's days were numbered, we just thought we would have a little more time.
Anyway, we scheduled to have the pump replaced the next day. It took two guys a bit over two hours to pull out the old pump, prepare the new pump/pipe/electrical, and get everything back in the well. We had water again by noon, and after two days without showers and filling toilet tanks with jugs of water, we were thrilled.
They shocked the well with bleach and 24 hours later the water in our house still wreaks of chlorine. I've been running water like crazy to try and flush it out, but at this point the water is not drinkable and showers are a bit harsh (smells like a public swimming pool). Hopefully it clears up soon.
I installed the original pump myself over 32 years ago and had hoped to do the replacement myself too. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a pump locally and knew it would be a hassle to gather all the necessary supplies in a timely manner. So we opted to hire the job out to the pro's instead, something I really struggled with personally. As someone who always fixes things myself, I felt like I was failing by hiring someone else to do the job. Still, I'm glad the problem was fixed quickly and I didn't even need to get dirty.
Unfortunately, the pump replacement cost over $4100 between the initial diagnosis and the second replacement trip. That was major sticker shock, considering our well is only 80 feet deep with a 1/2 HP pump. The company had good reviews, handled everything quickly, and were pleasant to work with, but I can't help but feel we got burned on the pricing a bit. They did not provide any price breakdown for the job, but the installer said the pump itself was only $1100, so I'm not sure what that other $3000 went to. While we can handle the $4100 expense, we weren't expecting anywhere close to that. Knowing I could have bought all the materials for around $2000 or so, only bums me out more that I didn't do the work myself.