From the quote to zero grains

Stage one: the free quote, by phone

It is one call, usually about fifteen minutes, and it costs nothing. We start from the number your supply publishes, which for most of our 33 towns is on record and on this site. Then your household: how many people, how many bathrooms, whether the water heater is on its way out. Then the plumbing: where the main comes in and where the nearest drain is, which decides where the system lives. On a private well, dig out any lab result you have; hardness and iron vary house by house there, and iron changes what the system has to be.

You end the call with a one-page itemized quote in your inbox: the equipment by make and model, the installation, and the total, written out. It is good for 30 days. Nothing about it requires a decision on the call, and no one will ask you for one.

If you do go ahead, you have three business days to cancel, in writing, and two copies of the cancellation notice come with the contract. That is written into the contract, not left to a phone call.

Stage two: sizing and specifying

A softener is rated in grains of capacity, and picking the right one is arithmetic on four numbers: your hardness, your iron, your household size, and your peak flow. Missing in either direction has a cost, which is the whole reason the number comes first. The softener page works through each of the four.

Every piece of equipment is named on the quote by make and model, so you know exactly what you are buying before you sign. Naming the model is what turns a description into something you can check.

Stage three: installation day

Installation is a visit scheduled once you have signed and the equipment is in hand and approved for use in Wisconsin (SPS 384), on a date you pick. It is done by licensed Wisconsin plumbing contractors working under a responsible master plumber, who pull any permit the job needs. This matters more than it sounds: a softener ties into your main line ahead of the water heater and needs a drain, so it is plumbing work under the state code, not an appliance dropped in a corner.

Before anything is connected, the plumber tests your tap: hardness, and iron on a well. That reading is what the system is set up against. The build itself is set at the quote; if the install-day reading calls for a different one, it comes as a written change order you can decline before any work starts.

Plan on a morning. Water is off for part of it. Before anyone leaves you get walked through the bypass valve, the salt lid, how much salt to add and how often, and what the display is telling you. If a reverse-osmosis unit is part of the job, its pre- and post-filters change every six to twelve months and the membrane every three to five years.

Stage four: the retest, then payment

Softener installs end with the same test they started with that morning. Same kit, same tap, and this time the reading should be zero grains. You watch that one too. The before and after readings stay with you.

Full payment is due when the installation is complete, and the retest is part of the installation. Not on the call, and not on signature.

What to have ready, and what to ask anyone

Two things make the call go faster. Know where your main shutoff and water heater are, since the install location follows the plumbing. And if you are on a private well, dig out any lab results you already have.

These questions are worth asking every company that quotes your house, not only this one:

• Who is doing the installation, and are they licensed Wisconsin plumbing contractors?
• Who pulls the permit, if the job needs one?
• What make and model is on the quote?
• Is the quote itemized, and how long is it good for?
• When is payment due, and is the water retested before the plumber leaves?

Softening removes hardness minerals. It is not a health or safety treatment, and we will never market it as one. On a private well, the state-certified lab tests for bacteria and nitrates are a separate matter and not something we sell.