Conference 7.286::home_work

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                         -< Better living through DIY >-
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Note 3.2                    Architects & Contractors?                     2 of 3
MUTT::WAGNER                                          6 lines  18-NOV-1985 12:57
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What type of home are you looking for ??? 

If you would like a post & Beam I can recommend a very good builder. 

By the way, one of the best well drillers I have run across is Ron Dube in
Merrimack, NH. 

            <<< JOET::DUA1:[000000.NOTES$LIBRARY]HOME_WORK.NOTE;1 >>>
                         -< Better living through DIY >-
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Note 734.2       Addition foundation work - bulkhead replacement          2 of 8
VIDEO::FINGERHUT                                     11 lines  26-JAN-1987 09:43
                                   -< Forms >-
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    For your forms, Dick Crowe in Shirley is good.  (I don't think you
    said where you are but if you called Need Pumps you can't be too
    far from Shirley).  Guiguire and DuFresne in Fitchburg is good too.
    I've used them and Dick Crowe.  I've also used Need Pump Co, and
    the owner let me keep his rotary hammer-drill to use over the
    weekend.  I thought that was generous since he didn't know me at
    all.  For your pre-formed bulkhead, get somebody not too far from
    where you live to install it.  If it's guarenteed not to leak
    you wouldn't want them to be too far way when it comes time to bring
    them back to fix it.
    

    
    
    Two suggestions. These were the only two who answered calls on a
    weekend and showed up when they said they would.
    
    Scott Associates -  Clinton and Sterling
    
    A big outfit with lotd of trucks snf men, normally no wait for parts
    to be ordered. Labor is approx. $30/hr.
     
    Westford well and pump - Westford
    
    A one man operation but well equiped don't know his rates.
    

	I wanted to post this note to highly recommend a gentleman that
	I've had do some work on my water system.  His name is Cliff 
	Cummings, and he works out of Rutland Mass and services the 
	general Worcester area and suburbs.  A couple of years ago I 
	had Cliff install a captive air tank for me, and also fix a few
	problems with my water pump.  He did an excellent job, and was 
	very reasonable in price.  Today I had him come over to investigate
	a loss in water pressure.  My system gets a bit complicated because
	there's a captive air tank, a Kinetico filter, and a Hydro Quad
	filter, and a solid block charcoal filter.  Cliff finally isolated
	it to the charcoal block filter.  I hadn't really suspected this 	
	to be the problem since it had been replaced fairly recently. 
	
	Anyway, when I asked him how much he wanted for his time, he 
	said he wouldn't charge me because it wasn't anything serious,
	and I would need to pay for a new charcoal block. (He didn't have
	the replacement filter cartridge.)  He works 7 days a week, days
	and evenings so he's flexible with working hours, and is a nice
	guy as well.  You can reach him at (508) 886 - 6056, and tell him
	that I recommended him.

	Regards, Larry

    
      I  second the recommendation for Cliff. He drilled my well and
    installed everything at my house a few years back. He went 220 feet
    and hit 20 gallons per min. fill rate. Everything for around $2500.
    I have more water than I can ever pump out of the ground and he 
    has never had to return for any problems.

I used Skillings & Sons from Hollis, N.H. (800-441-6281) to drill two wells
for me and to destroy an old hand dug well. Their prices were more reasonable
than the other bids I got (they charged $6.00/ft - others were $6.50 - $7.00/ft).
They were also able to coordinate the whole job which made things easier for
me. I needed a backhoe to fill in the old well and some topsoil spread. Their
prices for other things such as pump, tank etc. were also a little cheaper than
the others. Also, when I called to let them know that water from the well was
flowing into the back yard (it's a true artesian which I guess often give more
water than you need!) they came and dug a trench to channel the water towards
the wetlands and away from the back yard. And, I had a problem with sand in 
my washing machine water line which they said could possibly be solved by
changing the depth of the pump - they came and fixed this too and didn't charge
me for any of this. 
Another company which I got a bid from who seemed good also was Montachusett
well company. I no longer have any info. on where they're located.

Contact Dick Bacon, New England Pump Co., Dunstable, MA.  He has all his own 
drilling equipment, etc.  I had an existing well (some 500' deep) that was 
yielding less than a gallon a minute.  I now have a 7+ GPM well.  It's nice
to be able to wash clothes, water the lawn, and flush the toilet without fear 
of emptying the well.

He does excellent work and is a great guy to do business with.  He allowed me
to spread payments out over 6 months.

Our 800' well went dry a week after we bought our new house.   A company 
was called in to drill another well - this one 1000' with no water. 

We were told about hydrofracturing - and that it could possibly provide 
water in our existing wells. 

Delta Well Co. out of Derry did the job for $1500 and guarenteed water or 
we didn't have to pay.  It worked and now we have all the water we need! 

So I would suggest checking into this alternative if your well goes dry 
because it is half the price of drilling and is pretty much risk free! 

Sherrin 
 

> We were told about hydrofracturing - and that it could possibly provide 
> water in our existing wells. 

> Delta Well Co. out of Derry did the job for $1500 and guarenteed water or 
> we didn't have to pay.  It worked and now we have all the water we need! 

	    How do they do it?  Do they drop dynamite down the hole?

					Tim 

    
    The problem you run into with some drillers is that they
    try to do the job fast and sometimes a little deeper 
    then they have to.  That relates to drilling deeper into your
    checkbook!:)
    
    The motion of the drill head caused the soil to get pushed to
    the outter edges first, then get pulled into the bit and drawn
    out of the hole.   If the drill rate is to fast, you sometimes
    end up filling up a vane of water with dirt.   This is where 
    the hydorfrag come in.  Your try to blow the clog open with
    pressure.
    
    ....The dynamite comes after you get the bill and no water!:)
    
    JD

    	Yeah yeah...sure...Maybe they just came and filled the hole with
    water!

    I used Ed Sullivan from Bolton, MA to drill a well 12 years ago.  He
    charged me for 485' at $6.50 a foot.  Last weekend the motor went,
    and we pulled up 18 sections of 20' pipe to get to the pump. (360').
    
    So, if you use Sullivan Wells, make sure he doesn't mistakenly over
    charge you $800 like he did to me.
    
    Dave
    

    You may in fact have a 485' well.  They don't put the pump at
    the bottom of the well - it's suspended above the bottom by
    some distance, if nothing else to keep any buildup of sediment
    and crud from burying the pump.  125' seems like a lot - my
    pump is 40' above the bottom of my well - but just because
    the pump isn't down 485' doesn't mean the hole isn't.

    re .12

    And make sure he doesn't put you on right after the dancing bears...

    My 3 year old well was zapped by lightning last year. The pump was
    attached to a single section (almost 400 ft.) of PVC pipe. Much easier
    to pull a pump with PVC pipe.
    
    Mike

     This is a recommendation for:
    
    		F.M.Connolly Well Driller
    		78 Merrimack Rd.
    		Amherst NH 03031
    		673-3849
    
    Frank is an elderly gentleman who uses the old-fashion dousing
    method, told me his hit rate is 95%. He doused my site, said 250'
    with 12-15 gpm. The spot he doused then drilled was 185' @ 100++ gpm!
    
    Recommended from another DECCIE......Thanks Steve L.
    Frank and his wife are very pleasant to deal with.
    
    
    Bill

    There's an article on dowsing in this month's "Smithsonian" magazine.

I want to have our water system checked out (possibly/probably back to the
pump) by a pro' from the greater Worcester area - home's in Sutton.  Anyone
know if Cliff Cummings is still taking calls.....

- Joe Whittemore
  BUSY::JWhittemore

    I just had Cliff out to my house today to give me a proposal for a
    water softening system. He goes by Cliff Cummings Water Services. If I
    remember I'll look up the number tonight.
    
    -Brent