I bought a Culligan HF-360 whole house filter and a Watts hot water
recirculating pump and tried to get quotes from local plumbers in
Manassas, VA using ServiceMagic. I received experessions of interest
from 3 firms but I was surprised to learn that none of them are
familiar with these devices. One quoted $157 per hour and estimated 4
to 5 hours. The other said its $450 firm.

Since the only work involved is cutting existing copper pipe, slipping
a threaded adapter, and soldering it before screwing the devices in
between, I find $500 to be quite steep. Does anyone have any idea what
a reasonable price for this project should be and what kind of
professional should I hire? As I said, local plumbers seem to be
ignorant about what I'm talking about. Can anyone recommend a handyman
around here, or should I look for a soldering/welding expert instead
of a regular plumber?

Thanks for any feedback.

Fil