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dansqlman
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Reged: 11/27/06
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Well Disaster
11/27/06 03:52 PM
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My wife and I bought a piece of land in upper New Hampshire. We planned on building a main home at the top of its hill but in the short term we built a small vacation type home at the bottom. The vacation home is about 1600 sq ft.
We had a well drilled about a month ago. The driller told me they had no water until we finally hit some at 1105 feet. At that point they hydro-fractured it. The static level in the well is 250 feet. Total Cost $19,000
We are now ready to place the pump and he tells me that they will place a 1.5 HP pump on a stainless pipe at 700 feet. That is
the minimum they would recommend. Total price $9000.
Has anyone heard of a $27,000 well ? Besides me
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egon
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Reged: 09/12/02
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Loc: Nova Scotia,Canada
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At 1100 ft. the price does not sound unreasonable. As depth increases so do costs.
Egon
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JazzDad
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Watch the 1948 movie "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House". Adjust the amounts of money in the picture for inflation.
As our house was built, if we had a change order, or the cost of something went up, the GC would always quote, "a thousand dollars". It was almost as bad as, 'we want the handle on that outside spigot painted red, instead of green'. "Sure, it'll cost a thousand dollars."
All kids are gifted; some just open their packages earlier than others.-Michael Carr
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jimbrown
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Loc: Tombstone, AZ
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The going price around here is $18 a foot downto 400 and then$20 ft. Does not look out of site to me. Not sure why he wants 500feet of head on the pump the yieds must be really low. I would opt for a storage tank and raise the pump to a more reasonable level.
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speedbump
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Reged: 07/03/06
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Loc: Florida
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I can't comment on the price as they are different everywhere you go. What I don't understand is the SS pipe. What's up with that? Is there something wrong with galvanized???
bob...
Pumpsandtanks.com
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dansqlman
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I talked to 3 other drillers today and not one of them thought this idea was good. They all said they would be comfortable with a 1.5 hp pump at 600 feet on poly piping. I went back to the original well company and the agreed to place it that way for $4300.
For this much money I could have rented an outhouse and drank bottled water for 15 years. And showers, who needs showers. :-)
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speedbump
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Loc: Florida
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At least you saved around $5000.00. I have never heard of anyone using Stainless Pipe in a well for any reason. Maybe he owns the factory that makes the stuff.
That's still a lot of money for a 600 foot setting with a 1.5hp pump.
I could sell you the pump for $591.00 if that gives you any idea of his profit.
bob...
Pumpsandtanks.com
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dansqlman
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I am curious to know how a person could validate that what was conveyed during this whole process was correct. For example, I expected that part of what I was buying with this well company was the expertise to advise us along the way what was the best thing to do to minimize the cost of the project yet still get a well which would function. In my opinion, our expectations were not managed well at all and communication was poor at best.
How do you know that a well company does not drill past or mislead you with what they are finding? it almost seems like they have a license to push you as far as they can. Aside from drilling another well right next to this one how can you verify that all the information about required depth etc is valid ?
The company we used is large with multiple locations in the area. Not one person I have talked to since agrees with or has ever heard of this type, depth or cost of a well in this area.
I realize every site is different but are we that unlucky?
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speedbump
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Loc: Florida
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It all boils down to experience. One guy says this is the best way, the other guy does it different. If this driller stopped every 20 feet and did a pump test, he would charge you extra for the time spent. So instead he went deeper trying to make the well produce more water without wasting your money doing unnecessary pump tests. Now whether you believe that or not, or whether I do is irrelevant if it's his word against the other guys.
When I drilled wells in Michigan most of us drillers were friendly and very supportive of each other. Here in Florida, it's the opposite. So if your Drilling competitors don't like each other, there is where the difference of opinion comes from.
To answer your question, I don't know of any way to determine if he ripped you off or did you a good job on the well. But the thing with the SS pipe and the inflated price. I might be looking for someone else to do that work.
bob...
Pumpsandtanks.com
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GaryQWA
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Loc: Wherever I park the motorhome
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The $4300 for 600' of PE, the fittings/clamps etc. and a 1.5 hp pump, although we don't know the gpm of it, is way too high IMO. I'd get some other quotes or opt to do it myself. Is he doing trenching into the house (in rock maybe) and including the pressure tank etc.?
As to the construction of the well... he must have discussed the hydrofacturing with you after finding water at 1105'. He will be licensed by the state and required to file a report of what strata he went through and all the rest of the info on the well, such as where he found water and how much.
As to your expectations, he can only do as much as he can to drill the hole, he can't guarantee cost or how much water or the quality of the water he finds.
I think 19k is a bit much but he certainly told you the cost factors before showing up to setup and drill. But I'm not sure he has a reponsibiliy to keep the cost as low as possible - how could he do that as long as he didn't find sufficient water for the building's needs? Although we are shocked by the price, how do we know he didn't keep cost as low as possible ?
Gary
Quality Water Associates
Gary Slusser
Quality Water Associates
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dansqlman
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Re: Well Disaster
[re: GaryQWA]
12/01/06 05:45 AM
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I appreciate the comments. This is a great source for expertise and I value the comments you all have made.
My biggest issue with this in that their contract clearly spells out the price for a well to 600'. Beyond that it clearly spells out the additional cost of drilling. It also talks about the upgrades -- a bigger pump, deeper pump placement, larger tank etc. Each of these alone is in the hundreds of dollars.
What I did not expect is to be told 3 weeks after the drilling ended that there was $9000 more in cost. Nowhere in their contract does it lay out those costs except in a sentance that says something like : Additional options may be required. His explanation to me was that customers would freak out if they had that type of clause in there which presented the possiblity of that much cost. If I had such a section than the $9000 extra would have been no surprise to me as we passed the 600' level at the time of drilling.
After they left our lot they went down the street to drill. My GC and plumber both know the GC down there who said they told them to stop at 500' and hyrofracture which produced a good yield even though they had almost nothing before the frack. Had I known about these hidden costs beyond a certain depth it might have been worth the gamble to pay for the fracking much sooner and see what we got. If that gamble paid off it would have saved me about $14,000.
In retrospect the first mistake was probably mine. After reviewing the well records for the area, I dont see a lot of experience by these guys this far north in NH. I should have done my homework better before choosing them for the work. I actually figured that a larger company would be better but in this case local knowledge might have been.
Hopefully soon I will be able to turn on a faucet and see water at a pressure that is usable. Until that day I will be very nervous. My next step is to just put a keg in the kitchen.
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