BlsdMama Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 We bought a house in May. The well casing (at best) or the well is bad. We are a property disclosure state. The owner marked no known problems with the well. Judging from all the clay filled filters in the basement corner, methinks she knew. Proving it on the other hand is a different story. We have a home warranty (and we bought the extended home warranty) but they cover nothing for well/septic in the first thirty days, and judging from online reviews, they like to write everything up as a pre-existing condition.... which, well, it is. But now what? 10K for a new well? Anyone know of any resources to call or go back to? This is a little overwhelming for me to be honest.... It took us months of living with family to FIND a house, we finally closed, I'm in the third trimester of pregnancy, we're preparing for Ana's graduation party this weekend, and now this. It's not unconquerable and we would have bought the house anyway. BUT we would have paid a little more and put the well repair into escrow for us so that it was covered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 I think that you need to have your water and/or well evaluated. At this point you really don't know the scope of the problem. There may not be a problem. Was a water quality test part of your closing? That would certainly be a factor. Water that has a lot of clay in it isn't necessarily a sign that the well is bad. Our water has a lot of silt and minerals. When we moved in the toilets always had a light coating of it. We put in a higher-quality water filtration system and a better water softener, and it solved the problem. I change the filters downstairs every two weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristyB in TN Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 Unless you had an inspection done, there really isn't a lot you can do about it as far as reaching out to the former home owner. Get lots of different companies to look at it and give their opinion, thoughts, prices, etc. Do not take one guy's opinion on the matter. You may even find someone who can work some rebuilding magic on the system! I have a pool guy like that. He saves me a fortune. I agree completely with G3052, above, it may not be that big a deal. Wells tend to have issues now and again. Home warranties are crappy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted June 4, 2014 Author Share Posted June 4, 2014 We replaced the filter three days ago. It is now solid with clay. G5052, I've grown up with wells my whole life. Are you certain your well casing is in working order? Hard water is definitely something you deal with with a well, absolutely. Caked full of sediment or clay is not something we've ever normally seen. This is well beyond normal. So I called the VA. (It's a VA loan.) There is recourse here. First things first, get an inspection and find out what we're dealing with specifically. Ours is a property disclosure state. It is specifically stated on our paperwork there are no known issues with the well. There is definitely, definitely an issue. We have clay clogging everything..... And the nine days of severe diahrrea (presumably a bacterial contamination) has been delightful while pregnant. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 We replaced the filter three days ago. It is now solid with clay. G5052, I've grown up with wells my whole life. Are you certain your well casing is in working order? Hard water is definitely something you deal with with a well, absolutely. Caked full of sediment or clay is not something we've ever normally seen. This is well beyond normal. We bought this house new, and put into the contract that a more thorough water analysis be done before we did the contract because we saw all of the sediment. And apparently all of the wells in our area are that way, and it was within normal ranges. They said that there probably would be more sediment at first anyway because of the well being new, but we still have some. When we replaced the pump last summer, there was an increase again of course because we had them do a new casing at the same time, but now we're back to changing the filter every three weeks. I'll also note that neighbors who didn't put in more filtration and water softeners have had to replace plumbing. We have not had any problems at all. Changing a filter every a few days is bad though. I'd be worried too. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanabug Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 I really know nothing about wells...but is it possible that there's not enough water in the well to meet your family's demand on it? I'm wondering if the water gets so low that the pump is not totally submerged and therefore sucks up the clay. Just a thought... Hope you are able to resolve the problem soon and at minimal expense!Lana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erin Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 I'm going to hazard a guess that this is just the casing going bad. How old is the well? Do you know? I have a couple of friends who are well-drillers and it was common practice in the not-so-distant past to just use stovepipe for your well-casing. Stovepipe is fairly thin metal and rusts out pretty easily... Not sure if that's the case here, but if you have a lot of soil in your water, it's likely because it's not being isolated (which is the purpose of the casing). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 I really know nothing about wells...but is it possible that there's not enough water in the well to meet your family's demand on it? I'm wondering if the water gets so low that the pump is not totally submerged and therefore sucks up the clay. I've heard of wells that changed dramatically with increased or decreased demand. One had a horrible sulfur smell, with just two people using it. When the neighbor (on the same well) put 20 heifers in the barn, the usage increased and the sulfur smell disappeared. When the heifers were moved, the smell came back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Another Jen Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 We had that. When we moved into our house the water hadn't been used and smelled awful. After all 7 of us were using it constantly it was great. Now that there are only 2 people there, its back to smelling bad. Must be the demand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cera Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 One thing to consider is call all your local companies that deal with wells and ask them for their consult or repair history for that property. If you phrase it right (we just bought this house and are looking to identify what has been done so we can schedule the remaining needed work) most will bend over backward to give you history in hopes they will get the job. (It is a gray area ethically but if the previous owner lied about the status of the well you don't have a lot of choices, and if you find a company that they had contact with you can prove they knew about the issues) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted June 5, 2014 Author Share Posted June 5, 2014 Cera, That is unbelievably helpful advice actually. The well isn't supposed to be that old. Eighteen years, fairly middle aged as far as wells go. However, we were told it was put in when this house was built. But, with our own research we found this was a previous homestead on an acreage so was it new to this house or is it old? Hmmm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted September 29, 2014 Author Share Posted September 29, 2014 A little update.... We're still working on this. Sigh. We're not supposed to test, shock, etc. as a condition of VA loans is that the water is tested. We were never made aware of this and no one on any end, did testing. So now we are told the mortgage company must have the testing done even though they no longer have the mortgage. How is that for interesting. We have two filters on our whole house filter and we have to change them out every 3-5 DAYS. It's getting spendy. Thank goodness for buying them in bulk off Amazon, yeah? Frustrated. We'll see. I admit I still love the house. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Not an expert...but if the casing is going bad, your well could be in danger of collapsing. It's definitely something that needs to be dealt with. I am speaking from years of well living in the Sierra foothills with lava tubes and other "fun" phenomena. Your soil / area is likely different. A good "well guy" is worth his weight in gold. Do you have neighbors that are also on well water? Have they had issues with this? Were the wells drilled and cased around the same time, i.e., housing being established in the area within a given time frame? Cost of casing should depend on how deep the well is. Cera's comment was brilliant. Check if their well service company knew something was not right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krsmom Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 My family drilled water wells for years. I have never heard of casing going bad. I'd be more inclined to believe that someone didn't do their job properly. Do what Cera recommended and certainly talk with your neighbors. Call your local Department of Water Resources and give them your properties legal description. They will be able to provide you with a well completion report. It will have all the information about the well at the time it was drilled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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