I need advice on well drilling / service

My well casing is collapsing and I'm hoping it holds up until I get someone lined up to replace it.. I need to get educated so I know I'm getting a good job.

My well is currently in the basement . Actually the previous owner built a sunroom on top of the well. Someone told me that it's possible to replace the casing even though it is in the basement. However,  I'm thinking it's better to just re-drill the well outside of the house so that it is not an issue if I ever sell the house.

Is this something that you can get quotes from different companies?

Although I've been in this house for 20 years, I've never had to touch anything on the well other than changing the filter so I'm a little bit lost as to what to look for.

Thanks in advance!

You can get quotes. There is usually a flat fee to set up the rig, regardless of if they drill or find water, then a charge of X dollars per foot they have to drill, and possibly X dollars extra over a certain depth.

Do you know how deep your well is now? 
 

In reply to Brett_Murphy :

Not Exactly, I was told most of the wells in this area or around 100 foot some 75 some125.

Your local governing body should have records on the depth of the well.  If you can't track it down the well driller should be able to help find the records (or else they can just measure it themselves.)

Are there different quality of casings / pumps that I should request.

What size is the well casing in your basement?  Most basement wells are hand driven 2" galvanized pipe and have a suction well pump doing its job sitting next to the casing.  Those are hand driven into the ground in 5' sections.  Outdoor wells are completely different.  Truck comes in with a drill rig.  Shallow well pumps are drilled with a big corkscrew drill bit and only go down 20 to 30 feet.  Deep wells go down to bed rock, then go thru the bed rock until they hit water.  So the first thing you need to do is figure out what you have, and whats feasible where you live.  How deep is clean water?  Start by asking what the neighbors have.  Well guys will know what you need, but well drilling is expensive.

Well drilling is an established service. Grab a few different quotes. About the only option you will be asked about is the size of the well. It will be "x" size for the house, and "+x" for any irrigation or fire protection you might want.

The only bummer about outside wells is freezing. Make sure everything above ground is totally protected. Ask me how I know. It's no fun when your water doesn't work.

Ants love pressure switches as well. Ask me.... never mind. 

It is a 6" casing with the pump inside the well.

6"?! For a house?

Wow. I always thought a 2" was overkill even for a big house. I had a 4" but that included irrigation for fruit trees.

Depends on your area, but 1 1/2" should do it. However, the well guy will know for sure.

Good luck!

In reply to Shadeux :

I should have mentioned that I am in Ohio so I'm sure things are a little different than Florida.

Shadeux said:

6"?! For a house?

Wow. I always thought a 2" was overkill even for a big house. I had a 4" but that included irrigation for fruit trees.

Depends on your area, but 1 1/2" should do it. However, the well guy will know for sure.

Good luck!

The casing has to be large enough to put the pump down the well. The casing isn't the water pipe coming from the pump to the house - that would run inside the casing and typically be in the 1 to 2 inch range. The casing keeps the hole from collapsing.

Shadeux said:

The only bummer about outside wells is freezing. Make sure everything above ground is totally protected. Ask me how I know. It's no fun when your water doesn't work.

Outside wells are common in colder climates.  They use a submersible pump that hangs at the bottom of a vertical pipe, and that vertical pipe connects to the horizontal pipe that goes to the house using what is called a pitless adapter.  Everything is inside the well casing, and the pitless adapter is down below frost level.  In most cases they never freeze, unless there is a long stretch of unusually cold weather.

Thanks for the recommendations. Needed almost the same

Thanks for everyone's input. I got three proposals and made my decision. The company I went with gave me two estimates based on 100 foot and 150 foot well. Four properties around me average depth of well is 114 feet. They come out tomorrow to mark off where the well will go so that the county can come out and give their stamp of approval.

Price came out to pretty much what I expected it to be. Still going to be Ramen noodles for the next couple years. If you break down the cost over the 20 years I've lived here, it works out to about $30 a month which is quite bit less than city water.

I had a similar scenario, 40+ year old steel well casing was quickly deteriorating and wasn't worth attempting repairs after it finally blew out the drop pipe. New 5"x100' deep well is running a lot cleaner since I'm not battling the iron from the old rusting casing. Cost was similar to yours. 

Check what water testing is required for to satisfy the permit. My county only requires testing for bacteria which is probably the least of your worries and easily remedied. This is the same county as Flint, MI so it's not a shocker the regulations are the bare minimum. I ponied up for a pretty extensive water test and found I had arsenic over EPA allowable ppb. That tacked on a few hundred more for a RO filter setup. So now that I have the equivalent $ of a nice miata buried in the ground I can eat my ramen knowing it won't slowly kill me.  

So my well is done. 125' and deeper than the original well. I think this water is better too. The guy that was running the rig said that he found water at 80 foot but the water had a lot of iron in it but at  125 feet it was a lot better according to his test. Of course I'll have to wait for the county to do their test before I can consume the water.

next is repairing all the damage from the equipment. I didn't have much of a driveway in the first place but now after all the 30 ton trucks going through it's really bad. It's a good thing I have gravel or asphalt would've really got tore up. My next question is what to do with all the grinding's from the well drilling. It's kind of a slurry mess but I was wondering if it would be OK to throw this on my gravel driveway. I would guess this would be ground up Limestones which is what's on my drive now. Anybody see any reason why this would be a bad idea?I'm not sure what else to do with it.