Hard water in Avondale (coupon, new house, buy)

[shelly85]

We had a guy come out from Home Depot yesterday to look at our water and inquire about getting a water softener. He did some test where he took a sample of water, put some kind of dye in it and then put some drops of another thing it. He said the average is about 7 drops to turn the pink water blue, it took 30 drops to turn ours blue. The softner he recommended would be best for us was $4995, plus $400 for the RO system, plus labor which came to slightly over $6,000. Is that an average price for a decent water softener or was he trying to rope us in to something we really don't need? I know we need something as the buildup on the shower doors and the fact that our dishwasher won't get our dishes clean but that just seems like a lot of money that we don't have right now.

[Master Shake]

Most of Arizona has very hard water, usually 20 grains or higher. A water softener is highly recommended here, but you don't have to pay that much. You can get a decent system for less than $1000 from Home Depot or Lowes and have a regular plumber install it for you (~$100 labor) -- assuming your house is pre-plumbed for a water softener system. If your house is not pre-plumbed, it can cost significantly more to install.

You can also get a good RO system for less than $300, plus ~$100 installation.

The system your guy from Home Depot was trying to sell you is probably worth around $2000, with the rest going to commission! Personally, I would be really surprised if he really was associated with Home Depot.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Master Shake

Most of Arizona has very hard water, usually 20 grains or higher. A water softener is highly recommended here, but you don't have to pay that much. You can get a decent system for less than $1000 from Home Depot or Lowes and have a regular plumber install it for you (~$100 labor) -- assuming your house is pre-plumbed for a water softener system. If your house is not pre-plumbed, it can cost significantly more to install.

You can also get a good RO system for less than $300, plus ~$100 installation.

The system your guy from Home Depot was trying to sell you is probably worth around $2000, with the rest going to commission! Personally, I would be really surprised if he really was associated with Home Depot.

Absolutely! The water softener scam is an old AZ favorite. The water is hard, no doubt, but you can handle it with a Sears or a GE or whatever for way less than $1K (if you are preplumbed. If not pre-plumbed and you are not a skilled DIY'er, you will pay dearly and are better off just putting up with the hard water).

[sh9730]

Matter of fact I just bought the "Water Boss" from Home Depot for UNDER $500.00. Yes my house was pre-plumbed, but I installed it myself, not hard at all....under 2 hours! I used compression fittings rather than welding it since I dont weld...had never done that before, but they worked GREAT!

Total cost with my 10% off coupon from HD including about 3 months at least worth of salt....$465.00.

It is SOOOO much nicer to not have every drip of water stain the counter, shower doors, stovetop etc not leave a big stain! Not too mention no more brown toilets from the standing water in those!

I waited 5 months after moving into my new house before doing this....BIG mistake! Shoulda done it week one!

[Gary Slusser]

IMO, gained from being a dealer for 21 years, any local dealer asking more than $1800-$2000 for a residential softener including normal installation is overcharging their customer.

Big box store brand softeners do not last long. They usually start having problems in 2-5 years and for what you get, the parts are very expensive and only the local service guy will work on them.

If you want to be a DIYer not be dependent on a local dealer for service, or want to fix your own softener when needed, and want to save money while getting a very high quality softener, buy one online with a Clack WS-1 control valve. You can install it yourself in usually 2-3 hours or, hire a plumber for maybe $200-400 of your substantial savings.

Autotrol, Clack, Erie and Fleck are the largest control valve manufacturers in the world. Clack is the largest and oldest of the four. Softeners and filters for the residential and commercial markets use them. You would never find any mass marketed big box store brand softener in a 24 hr car wash, or motel, restaurant, fast food franchise etc. etc.; they all use softeners and filters with those control valves.

[Master Shake]

Originally Posted by sh9730

Matter of fact I just bought the "Water Boss" from Home Depot for UNDER $500.00. Yes my house was pre-plumbed, but I installed it myself, not hard at all....under 2 hours! I used compression fittings rather than welding it since I dont weld...had never done that before, but they worked GREAT!

Total cost with my 10% off coupon from HD including about 3 months at least worth of salt....$465.00.

It is SOOOO much nicer to not have every drip of water stain the counter, shower doors, stovetop etc not leave a big stain! Not too mention no more brown toilets from the standing water in those!

I waited 5 months after moving into my new house before doing this....BIG mistake! Shoulda done it week one!

Good for you!

Next step is to pick up a decent RO system for your kitchen & fridge. Since you were able to install your own water softener, you should be fine with the RO system also. You don't need to be pre-plumbed for RO, but you might have to drill a hole in your sink for the spigot/faucet if you also have a dishwasher air valve on your sink. Other than that, the RO system should be easier than the water softener was.

[sh9730]

Master, yeah, thats a lower priority. I dont drink plain water, EVER, and for guests I have bottled water on hand. Eventually maybe, just to have it in the house since the house has everything else, but not for awhile. But thanks for the confidence in me!