Plumber - water softener install quotes

[black_2.5RS]

I bought a new water softener (Fleck 5600 SXT) and started calling around for quotes for install. I know it's fairly straight forward to install, but i'm not willing to do it with a young baby who has a melt down every few hours.

The quotes I got varied huge.
1. I called one of the plumbers referenced a bunch of times on Beyond, he said I needed a dual backflow valve and an expansion tank. The install will cost $500 to $700 bucks all in (time and materials). To me, this is BS - particularly for a house that is 3 yrs old with straight fwd pex piping. I've never seen anyone else install an expansion tank for a water softener. A backflow valve makes sense but I don't think people generally install a dual valve.

2. Pete the Plumber is quoting $59 dispatch fee + $102/hr. No idea if they install a backflow valve and expansion tank (so materials would be on top) as a normal course of practice.

3. The 3rd plumber said they needed to come take a look and charge me $75 for the quote since they couldn't quote over the phone. Again, BS if I don't go with them.


My questions to Beyond are:
1. For those of you that did hire a company to do the install - what did it cost you?
2. Was it straight forward (e.g. tie in to existing pex on a newer house).
3. Is an expansion tank and backflow valve really required?
4. Who did you go with?

[frozenrice]

The fist quote is BS. Most plumbers charge about less than $200 when roughing in on a new build.

It's actually not hard to do if you have a cutter and pex clamps and bunch of connectors.

When the softener isn't hooked up, the one valve on the original main line is turned on and the two on the outlet/inlet lines to the softener are shut off.
Once the softener is hooked up, the valves are opposite. The valve on the original main is shutoff and the inlet/outlet lines are turned on to divert the water to the softener. HTH.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/frozenrice/watersoftnerri_zps48a212e2.jpg

[benyl]

I would go with pete the plumber. Who cares if it is a junior plumber. It is so straight forward that any home owner can do it. As long as it does leak and the water flows in the right direction, you should be fine.

The only thing I would worry about is whether or not you have the lines split for cold for the kitchen and outside lines.

[codetrap]

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[rc2002]

Sounds to me like Silcraft is the first plumber in the list. He also recommended that I get a back flow valve for my water softener (that was already installed and in service) and I was quoted $300.

When our hot water tank died I went with Silcraft based on a beyond recommendation and also because he was able to come on short notice so I didn't bother waiting on quotes from others. I ended up paying $2700 for the install of a 75 gallon water tank (the bradford tank itself costs $965 on pexsupply.com).

He came with his son in law and they were both very friendly. His son in law was actually the one who did all of the plumbing work including moving the tanks up and down the stairs by himself (it was quite impressive). It took them just over 2 hours and they removed the two old 40 gallon tanks and took them away. The also took away my old softener for recycling. It was a fairly straightforward install - very little was changed in the way of piping, in fact all of the existing piping was reused and didn't need to be moved.

The work was good but I think I could have saved about $1000 had I actually price shopped.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by richardchan2002
He came with his son in law and they were both very friendly. His son in law was actually the one who did all of the plumbing work including moving the tanks up and down the stairs by himself (it was quite impressive).

Nick is his son.

I am Sil's son-in-law and definitely cannot move a hot water tank on my own.

[suntan]

Originally posted by richardchan2002
Sounds to me like Silcraft is the first plumber in the list. He also recommended that I get a back flow valve for my water softener (that was already installed and in service) and I was quoted $300.

When our hot water tank died I went with Silcraft based on a beyond recommendation and also because he was able to come on short notice so I didn't bother waiting on quotes from others. I ended up paying $2700 for the install of a 75 gallon water tank (the bradford tank itself costs $965 on pexsupply.com).

He came with his son in law and they were both very friendly. His son in law was actually the one who did all of the plumbing work including moving the tanks up and down the stairs by himself (it was quite impressive). It took them just over 2 hours and they removed the two old 40 gallon tanks and took them away. The also took away my old softener for recycling. It was a fairly straightforward install - very little was changed in the way of piping, in fact all of the existing piping was reused and didn't need to be moved.

The work was good but I think I could have saved about $1000 had I actually price shopped. Holy flying fuck that's expensive for a HWT + install. Pete the Plumber did mine for < $900 (50 gallon tank). Guy was in and out in 1.5 hours, and he even fixed some shoddy plumbing work (my fault) for me.

I guess though if he came ASAP that counts for something.

[rc2002]

ASAP was actually a few days.

I would have had to wait one more day for Pete the plumber.

My recommendation would be to price shop and not rely on beyond opinions. A lot of people on beyond push certain businesses for their own personal reasons.

[suntan]

Yeah, that's a total massive ripoff then.

[max_boost]

I would be nice too charging you that price .:eek:

[codetrap]

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[Maxt]

Originally posted by codetrap
What's the point of putting a backflow valve on the supply line? I can understand it on the drain.. but the supply.. what could possibly backflow from your tap?
IF the city loses pressure , and you get a vacuum on the city side, it could drain back from the softener during regen, suck back from the toilet tank under the right condition, pull back from a boiler system, stagnant water from irrigation and sprinkler etc etc.. I don't know if its code in residential or not yet, but every commercial building has them now.
Looks like the expansion tank is to avoid hydraulic pressure after the double check valve closes, and the incoming cold water sits in the tanks and expands. If you were on your own well you wouldnt need it , as the bladder storage tank would absorb the thermal expansion of the water.

[Strider]

I got the same quote from Silcraft (~$450) about a year ago when I bought my softener... I'm sure they're great at what they do, but to me it seemed like the "Mike Holmes" approach, where everything is done overkill and costs 3x as much.

Ended up hiring someone from Kijiji who quoted $140, but ended up at around $250 because there was a bit of work involved in isolating my kitchen cold water and extra materials. But at a few moments, he seemed uncertain of what he was doing, and wasted quite a bit of time along the way as well.

[black_2.5RS]

After the posts and some discussion, I ended up with Pete the Plumber. Option #1 was a pure attempt at trying to up sell what I don't think is required. Option #3 is just wrong.

I did call another well referenced plumber on Beyond and they're clearly the cheapest but wasn't overly comfortable with a small shop. I feel more comfortable knowing that I have neck to choke if something goes wrong even if it costs a couple hundred bucks more. Just want it installed correctly - nothing more / less.