Cost of deep wells ???

[check]

Back in 2003 we drilled a well, and the well driller gave us a choice. Either $4500 flat fee or $20 per foot. We knew some people around who only went 100 feet or so, so we went for $20 a foot. Wrong guess! He went down 400 feet, and it cost us $8000.

We have another property that we need to do well for so being gun shy I went for the fixed $4500. He found enough water at 120 feet. Wrong Guess again!

This is why I don’t gamble.

So 10 years later we bought another property, and all of these were right on Lakefront. but that same well driller told me he could not in good conscience recommend a flat fee. He knew that the soil was Rocky/Sandy, and that he would find water pretty much right away. Sure enough, at 45 feet he found 15 gallons per minute. It was only going to be $20 x 45 = $900, but his minimum was $2500, so that is what we paid. At least I didn’t guess wrong this time!

I have no idea what it would cost now. Fortunately, we have no more wells to drill!

 

[Rockbadchild]

70 to 100k seem crazy to me...

My dad got one done 6 years ago now and it's not very deep, but not sure the depth, but it cost him 12k with the water softener. They didn't reach the bed rock we have a thick over burden, it is true that if they drill a long way and have to ''frack'' to get water it can get expensive pretty quickly.

 

[Rockbadchild]

I would also water witching the location before drilling so you know where to drill to hit water. Not everyone has the capability of doing it and lots of people think it's a myth but there is such thing.

 

[JethroB]

I had a 4 inch 450’ turnkey residential well with 1.5hp pump & 120 gallon pressure tank put in 4 years ago with guaranteed minimum 10 gpm flow. $11,500. A neighbor was recently quoted $25,000. Same company (and pretty much the only one within 50 miles) and the hydrology here is pretty much the same and sand & soft clay.

Also had a 6 inch x 500 ft irrigation well drilled recently to supply the pivots. $46,000 for the hole and casing then $20k for pump and electrics. I learned something there, no lender will finance a well without a property lien or other pledged assets. I suppose it’s hard to repossess a hole.

 

[civilian]

Plus in Colorado even if there is a stream, creek, river crossing the property, you may not be able to use it because someone may have water rights to it. We were looking for property to build on in CO years ago, and heard of people that had to truck water in because they couldn't find water under them for a well. So we built in MI. Jon

 

[westcliffe01]

Unfortunately the well driller with whom I had an interview back in 2012 has not answered his phone nor returned calls for a few days and I think I might get a more honest opinion from him. I did discover the Colorado GIS mapping system for wells Geocortex Viewer for HTML5

With it you can view data for every known well in a map view for the state. Very interesting. In some areas like at the airport in Custer county the wells are 100ft deep or less, the same with wells near the state highway 69 which runs at just about the lowest point of the valley following the contour lines. At that point in the valley one probably has a layer of glacial till very similar to Michigan with bedrock underneath. So drilling a well probably faster and less expensive than drilling solid rock in the higher elevations.

I just have to try to get some more offers on the $/foot number, the $80/foot seems the highest number mentioned so far in this post.

 

[stumblinhorse]

Wondered if you were looking in west cliff area with your name…. I have lived all over the state. Where do you go to buy food if you live in west cliff? I did my weekly trip of 88 miles round trip to the grocery store in -22*F today. There are some 40 acre lots down the road from me for sale starting at 10k an acre... Welcome to Colorado!

 

[westcliffe01]

I had been interested in an old subdivision in Custer County, Centennial Ranch. But it appears that a recent influx of folks from California and NY state resulted in pretty much any available land parcels being bought up now being "flipped" at $150K+ for a 35 acre parcel. These were selling for $23k/parcel back in 2012 while I was getting divorced. It has taken me some time to get back on my feet after paying off the divorce settlement I was handed after the trial... I have to seriously wonder who is going to buy high altitude barren rocky land with no available utilities, no snow clearing, snowed in for 2 months at a time, well costing $70-$100k for 500+ ft through solid rock for $150k a 35 acre parcel ? It had originally not been selling for decades at the $23k per parcel prices but I guess if you sell your house in CA for $3 Million, then it looks cheap and one can afford to own hundreds of acres...

When one reads the covenants of the newer subdivisions, the terms of the agreement are so severe (newer subdivisions usually the developer sold off the water rights to make some cash as one of the first steps in the development process). The contract that was the basis of the sale of the water rights from the original several thousand acre ranch, is now part of the covenants of the new subdivision. So despite the $70k or whatever it is that your new well costs, it has to get a meter and one is only allowed to draw from the aquifer an amount proportional to the rainfall within the catchment area. Which in a dry year may be zero... Furthermore, if a local "water board" were to be established and began distributing water by pipeline from a central location (would be expensive because of the cost of burying pipeline in solid rock) you would be forced to abandon your well that you just recently paid so much money for and would then be obliged to buy water from the water board at whatever charge they decided it was worth... A truly horrific scenario. I would drop dead before I abandoned a $70k well that I had just paid for, just to be replaced by expensive, unreliable and potentially impure city water. Thus obviously I have to reject buying land in any such subdivision, which account for at least 80% of available land in Custer county.

Here is an example of the sort of covenants that I am referring to https://cuernoverde.org/files/CVOA-Covenants-As-Recorded.pdf

 

[stumblinhorse]

I had been interested in an old subdivision in Custer County, Centennial Ranch. But it appears that a recent influx of folks from California and NY state resulted in pretty much any available land parcels being bought up now being "flipped" at $150K+ for a 35 acre parcel. These were selling for $23k/parcel back in 2012 while I was getting divorced. It has taken me some time to get back on my feet after paying off the divorce settlement I was handed after the trial... I have to seriously wonder who is going to buy high altitude barren rocky land with no available utilities, no snow clearing, snowed in for 2 months at a time, well costing $70-$100k for 500+ ft through solid rock for $150k a 35 acre parcel ? It had originally not been selling for decades at the $23k per parcel prices but I guess if you sell your house in CA for $3 Million, then it looks cheap and one can afford to own hundreds of acres...

When one reads the covenants of the newer subdivisions, the terms of the agreement are so severe (newer subdivisions usually the developer sold off the water rights to make some cash as one of the first steps in the development process). The contract that was the basis of the sale of the water rights from the original several thousand acre ranch, is now part of the covenants of the new subdivision. So despite the $70k or whatever it is that your new well costs, it has to get a meter and one is only allowed to draw from the aquifer an amount proportional to the rainfall within the catchment area. Which in a dry year may be zero... Furthermore, if a local "water board" were to be established and began distributing water by pipeline from a central location (would be expensive because of the cost of burying pipeline in solid rock) you would be forced to abandon your well that you just recently paid so much money for and would then be obliged to buy water from the water board at whatever charge they decided it was worth... A truly horrific scenario. I would drop dead before I abandoned a $70k well that I had just paid for, just to be replaced by expensive, unreliable and potentially impure city water. Thus obviously I have to reject buying land in any such subdivision, which account for at least 80% of available land in Custer county.

On top of all that, building a house is both costly and slow in remote areas. I have done it once and got my fill. Building in my county starts at about $500/sqft. That doesn’t include the well or septic or any excavation. And will take multiple years. With the fire we had a 2 1/2 years ago, 300 homes burned and less than 50 are built back. My advice is to buy an existing house…

Those covenants are not common across the state. I live rural so nothing here. The 40s down the road from me are a subdivision. But many places are not subs.

 

[Boss 302]

Glad I don't live out west, that's alot of scratch for drilling a well.

 

[westcliffe01]

The key thing if one is going to move, is to find a community that shares your values. Custer county is beef raising and hay growing country. You still see cowboys on horses and the sound of spurs on the sidewalk on main street in Westcliffe. The community there have done a lot to keep their local government in check. This is very different to what is going on in probably 90% of communities across the US. Where I live in Michigan, we have had a permanent curfew order in force for nearly 20 years. If your kids are found outside after 10 at night with no direct adult supervision, you can be charged with a misdemeanor. I wont even go over the reams of other rules that micro manage our lives. Bear in mind I live in a community of probably 10k inhabitants, average household income $45k, average deputy costs the community $200k/yr and average school teacher earns $60-80k. School superintendent $170k/yr. I have a 1300sq ft house on 1/3 of an acre and a dirt road that might get plowed 2 days after we get snowfall and I pay $4k/yr in property taxes.

The covenants in the subdivisions in Custer County are a product of the development companies which are usually located in one of the big metro areas across the US, those places where they can attract the sort of capital that can buy a 2000+ acre cattle ranch and turn it into a housing subdivision on 35 acre lots. Back in the early 80's some of the developers knew and understood that owning the water rights was a priority, but the later developers saw water rights purely as a cash cow that could be milked and anyone who bought into it would have to live with the consequences later...

 

[westcliffe01]

On top of all that, building a house is both costly and slow in remote areas. I have done it once and got my fill. Building in my county starts at about $500/sqft. That doesn’t include the well or septic or any excavation. And will take multiple years. With the fire we had a 2 1/2 years ago, 300 homes burned and less than 50 are built back. My advice is to buy an existing house…

Those covenants are not common across the state. I live rural so nothing here. The 40s down the road from me are a subdivision. But many places are not subs.

I plan to be my own general contractor. I will hire a crew to get the frame of the house up and weathered in, but after that I will do everything myself. I have done 2 extensive renovations already and I would like the opportunity to do something from scratch rather than muddling my way through several contractors shortcuts... I will anyway build my shop as the first step with a small living quarters so we are not "camping" while building the main house. It will also let me prefabricate parts in the shop nicely out the weather which I can then move into position with my backhoe to keep down how much has to be done in the weather. I understand how short the building season is at 7000+ ft... And how variable the weather is with the thunderstorm every afternoon at 3:30 pm in the summer.

 

[stumblinhorse]

I plan to be my own general contractor. I will hire a crew to get the frame of the house up and weathered in, but after that I will do everything myself. I have done 2 extensive renovations already and I would like the opportunity to do something from scratch rather than muddling my way through several contractors shortcuts... I will anyway build my shop as the first step with a small living quarters so we are not "camping" while building the main house. It will also let me prefabricate parts in the shop nicely out the weather which I can then move into position with my backhoe to keep down how much has to be done in the weather. I understand how short the building season is at 7000+ ft... And how variable the weather is with the thunderstorm every afternoon at 3:30 pm in the summer.

That is the plan of about half of the half built houses out here. That is what I did 10 years ago and had to pay construction loan penalties because it took so long. Had to sell after 3 year of construction. Just no one to hire and I had to do everything myself. Give yourself 2x the amount of time you think. I start months in advance of trying to have anything delivered or done. Last year it took 5 months to get a load of gravel delivered. The year before it took 7 months to get concrete delivered for my shop floor. That is pretty normal for mountain schedules. But with money drying up it will have to get better…

But good luck to you.

 

[westcliffe01]

That is the plan of about half of the half built houses out here. That is what I did 10 years ago and had to pay construction loan penalties because it took so long. Had to sell after 3 year of construction. Just no one to hire and I had to do everything myself. Give yourself 2x the amount of time you think. I start months in advance of trying to have anything delivered or done. Last year it took 5 months to get a load of gravel delivered. The year before it took 7 months to get concrete delivered for my shop floor. That is pretty normal for mountain schedules. But with money drying up it will have to get better…

But good luck to you.

Property I am looking at is in the valley, but not way up the side of a mountain. Also right next to the main local state highway. So I think logistically it will be less problematic. Now on the labor front, Im sure I will have a hard time competing with the crews building the Mc Mansion style summer cabins. There is one thing to try which is to recruit the local Amish, many of whom have moved to the area after giving up on Ohio or Michigan and Northern Indiana. I do not yet know how they are organised but they have always been the go to guys for barns and such...
There will not be any loans involved in my project, no-one wants to loan against anything but turnkey home projects today and this will be my last property so if I cant pay cash it wont get done.

 

[jyoutz]

Property I am looking at is in the valley, but not way up the side of a mountain. Also right next to the main local state highway. So I think logistically it will be less problematic. Now on the labor front, Im sure I will have a hard time competing with the crews building the Mc Mansion style summer cabins. There is one thing to try which is to recruit the local Amish, many of whom have moved to the area after giving up on Ohio or Michigan and Northern Indiana. I do not yet know how they are organised but they have always been the go to guys for barns and such...
There will not be any loans involved in my project, no-one wants to loan against anything but turnkey home projects today and this will be my last property so if I cant pay cash it wont get done.

I’m curious. I’ve never heard of Amish communities in Colorado. There are some in the Westcliffe area?

 

[westcliffe01]

There were some pretty large groups camping at the grape creek campground in 2012 while visiting families who had moved to Custer County.

 

[jyoutz]

I’ve been on the highway loop where you are located. I would think that you’re close enough to Pueblo to have access to construction and well service contractors.

 

[westcliffe01]

I’ve been on the highway loop where you are located. I would think that you’re close enough to Pueblo to have access to construction and well service contractors.

It was a well driller from Pueblo who gave me the $80/foot quote... If Nequett is still in business Im pretty sure I will get a better deal from him. If I can figure out a way to contact him... No website, no facebook account, no cell phone number. Old school.

For construction it is more than an hour 1 way, so it would add significantly to labor cost. But for a basic frame up and close in quote it may not be too bad. The pole barn guys would have it knocked out in 3-4 days. My shop will be 2x6 24" OC framed walls with 5/8" sheathing and then steel screwed to the sheathing so adding a step (same with the roof) but the steel install will be easy by comparison to doing it on purlins. Get both a stiffer building and ease of finishing the inside and insulation compared to a true pole building. It also means that I first have to finish the slab before I can start framing, more or less like a big garage. 40x64 material package is about $37k at Menards, including all the exterior steel and sheathing, trusses etc.

 

[jyoutz]

It was a well driller from Pueblo who gave me the $80/foot quote... If Nequett is still in business Im pretty sure I will get a better deal from him. If I can figure out a way to contact him... No website, no facebook account, no cell phone number. Old school.

I’m about 200 miles from Westcliffe and last I know it was about $50 in my area. You should be able to do better than $80.

 

[civilian]

It was a well driller from Pueblo who gave me the $80/foot quote... If Nequett is still in business Im pretty sure I will get a better deal from him. If I can figure out a way to contact him... No website, no facebook account, no cell phone number. Old school.

May have retired. Jon