When the guy from San Jose Water Company came out to see why water-flow was
inadequate for our new sprinker system he blamed the galvanized steel main
water line, and said he expected a plumber to charge us about $1200 to
replace it (it's about 70 feet from the meter to the house).
So far we've had one plumber come out to give us an estimate, and he first
said $2800, then $2500, and finally $2000.
I'll ask other companies for estimates, of course, but was wondering if
anyone in here has had this work done recently, and how much it ended up
costing.

In article ,
wrote:
When the guy from San Jose Water Company came out to see why water-flow was
inadequate for our new sprinker system he blamed the galvanized steel main
water line, and said he expected a plumber to charge us about $1200 to
replace it (it's about 70 feet from the meter to the house).
So far we've had one plumber come out to give us an estimate, and he first
said $2800, then $2500, and finally $2000.
I'll ask other companies for estimates, of course, but was wondering if
anyone in here has had this work done recently, and how much it ended up
costing.

If this had been me, I would have asked the plumber what shortcuts was
he intending to use to get the lower price. Unless $$ is tight, you
want copper pipe (probably 1 inch) from the meter to the house.

--
Rich Greenberg N6LRT Marietta, GA, USA richgr atsign panix.com + 1 770 321 6507
Eastern time zone. I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67
Canines:Val, Red & Shasta (RIP),Red, husky Owner:Chinook-L
Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L

In alt.home.repair Rich Greenberg wrote:
In article ,
wrote:
When the guy from San Jose Water Company came out to see why water-flow was
inadequate for our new sprinker system he blamed the galvanized steel main
water line, and said he expected a plumber to charge us about $1200 to
replace it (it's about 70 feet from the meter to the house).
So far we've had one plumber come out to give us an estimate, and he first
said $2800, then $2500, and finally $2000.
I'll ask other companies for estimates, of course, but was wondering if
anyone in here has had this work done recently, and how much it ended up
costing.

If this had been me, I would have asked the plumber what shortcuts was
he intending to use to get the lower price. Unless $$ is tight, you
want copper pipe (probably 1 inch) from the meter to the house.

The price was for 1 inch type L copper pipe. He started out at $2800, then
went to $2500 when I expressed my surprise at this price (since the water
company guy had led me to expect a much lower price). Then later he
called me back and said he talked to his boss, who had told him they
would do it for $2000 if I gave them the OK today.

"Rich Greenberg" wrote in message
...
In article ,
wrote:
When the guy from San Jose Water Company came out to see why water-flow
was
inadequate for our new sprinker system he blamed the galvanized steel
main
water line, and said he expected a plumber to charge us about $1200 to
replace it (it's about 70 feet from the meter to the house).
So far we've had one plumber come out to give us an estimate, and he
first
said $2800, then $2500, and finally $2000.
I'll ask other companies for estimates, of course, but was wondering if
anyone in here has had this work done recently, and how much it ended up
costing.

If this had been me, I would have asked the plumber what shortcuts was
he intending to use to get the lower price. Unless $$ is tight, you
want copper pipe (probably 1 inch) from the meter to the house.


I should have known you would show up for a Pipes thread.

--
Rich Greenberg N6LRT Marietta, GA, USA richgr atsign panix.com + 1 770 321
6507
Eastern time zone. I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since
CP-67
Canines:Val, Red & Shasta (RIP),Red, husky
Owner:Chinook-L
Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst
Owner:Sibernet-L

In alt.home.repair 3rd eye wrote:
Shouldn't that tell you something?
You're not buying a car at some hack lot.

It tells me that his first two bids were too high. But is $2000 still
too high? I don't know. That's why I'm asking what other people have
been paying for jobs like this.

This is not rocket science. All you need to do is dig a ditch (good
exercise BTW) lay in a new larger pipe and connect it. Also may need a
building permit in some areas.

I would do it myself including digging the ditch with a shovel. I have done
this before, spent several weeks digging the ditch, but felt great after
all that exercise!

I would replace it with galvanized pipe 1" or larger (easier for
do-it-yourself), plus get a larger water meter from the water company to
equal the size of the new pipe.

(May be 1" pipe from the water main to the water meter, but a 3/4" water
meter? Ask water company what you have and ask for advice about what you
plan to do. If you have a 3/4 water main pipe going to the street, it would
be silly to install a 1" pipe from there to your house unless you also
replace the pipe to the water main and the water meter with 1".)


wrote in message
When the guy from San Jose Water Company came out to see why water-flow
was
inadequate for our new sprinker system he blamed the galvanized steel
main
water line, and said he expected a plumber to charge us about $1200 to
replace it (it's about 70 feet from the meter to the house).
So far we've had one plumber come out to give us an estimate, and he
first
said $2800, then $2500, and finally $2000.
I'll ask other companies for estimates, of course, but was wondering if
anyone in here has had this work done recently, and how much it ended up
costing.

Not exactly the answer you're looking for, but here's my recent (8/04)
experience having a water line put in for a new service in upstate NY
(lots of rock in the yard)

Backhoe dug a 165 ft trench 5 ft down through multiple layers of flat
rock with some dirt (it was more rock than dirt). The copper pipe
installed was type K, 1 inch that came in 100 ft coils.

Total price, digging, laying pipe and backfilling was $10/ft or
$1650.00. That price did not include plumbing work inside. THe pipe
was inserted into the house, flared and a shutoff installed. The rest
was up to me.

Since this was NY and not CA, your mileage may vary.

Tony





On 07 Sep 2004 14:39:53 GMT, wrote:

In alt.home.repair 3rd eye wrote:
Shouldn't that tell you something?
You're not buying a car at some hack lot.

It tells me that his first two bids were too high. But is $2000 still
too high? I don't know. That's why I'm asking what other people have
been paying for jobs like this.

How much water do you normally use during one sprinkling session?
Get a pressure tank that big and it won't matter what your service
line looks like. Or zone the sprinkler system so that it only drives
half the lines at once. That should be cheaper than a new $2000 main.


When the guy from San Jose Water Company came out to see why water-flow was
inadequate for our new sprinker system he blamed the galvanized steel main
water line, and said he expected a plumber to charge us about $1200 to
replace it (it's about 70 feet from the meter to the house).
So far we've had one plumber come out to give us an estimate, and he first
said $2800, then $2500, and finally $2000.
I'll ask other companies for estimates, of course, but was wondering if
anyone in here has had this work done recently, and how much it ended up
costing.

On Tue, 7 Sep 2004 09:15:25 -0700, "Bill"
wrote:

This is not rocket science. All you need to do is dig a ditch (good
exercise BTW) lay in a new larger pipe and connect it. Also may need a
building permit in some areas.

I would do it myself including digging the ditch with a shovel. I have done
this before, spent several weeks digging the ditch, but felt great after
all that exercise!

Personally, I had a laborer dig the trench, total cost of labor and
materials was right at $220. 1" PVC (We don't freeze, not sure if San
Jose would allow PVC...).

Jeff

In alt.home.repair wrote:
When the guy from San Jose Water Company came out to see why water-flow was
inadequate for our new sprinker system he blamed the galvanized steel main
water line, and said he expected a plumber to charge us about $1200 to
replace it (it's about 70 feet from the meter to the house).
So far we've had one plumber come out to give us an estimate, and he first
said $2800, then $2500, and finally $2000.
I'll ask other companies for estimates, of course, but was wondering if
anyone in here has had this work done recently, and how much it ended up
costing.

So I called a few other companies, and got quotes ranging from $1100
to over $4000. I went with the lowest one, and so I ended up hiring
DrainWorks (408-927-9999, they're in the local "valley yellow pages",
but not in SBC's "smart" yellow pages). A guy by the name of Ivan
did the work. Well, he had a helper who did most of the digging), and am
very pleased with the way it turned out. They took care to not damage my
plants (temporarily digging up and replanting where needed), and when
everything was done it was like nothing ever happened. Except now I have
a nice big pipe to feed the sprinklers.