First, I feel really old posting this.

Now that I got that out of the way, we are moving into Vintage Oaks off of 46 in about two weeks. We plumbed for a water softener and looking for recommendations on one that has worked well for someone in this area?

Also, has anyone gone above and beyond the Lowes/Home Depot models to the "whole house water systems" that range around $5? If so, do you feel it was worth it?

Thanks!

A friend of mine puts in whole house water softener systems, but I don't think they are going to be around $5.

What's his company name?

Not cheap but I'm big fan of Kinetico. I live in Mountain Springs Ranch which is a few miles further north than Vintage Oaks. Our water comes from CLWSC. Their water barely meets minimum standards. We previously lived in Manvel and were on well water with lot of sediment. Installed a Kinetico there when we moved in. Did nothing over 15 years other than add salt. We replaced the Kenmore water softener that was already here with a Kinetico about nine months ago and also went with their Reverse Osmosis System. Very happy with it all.

F4GIB71 said:

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Not cheap but I'm big fan of Kinetico. I live in Mountain Springs Ranch which is a few miles further north than Vintage Oaks. Our water comes from CLWSC. Their water barely meets minimum standards. We previously lived in Manvel and were on well water with lot of sediment. Installed a Kinetico there when we moved in. Did nothing over 15 years other than add salt. We replaced the Kenmore water softener that was already here with a Kinetico about nine months ago and also went with their Reverse Osmosis System. Very happy with it all.

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Thank you very much for that. My wife is a dentist in Bulverde and one of her patients today was a plumber and actually recommended a Kinetico as well!

Was there a specific model you recommend?

He has worked for Culligan for years, but is going out on his own in 1-2 months.

I had the Kinetico salesman come out. There are a couple of options and recall that capacity is determined by size of house.
Your wife isn't at Summer Hill Dental, is she?

F4GIB71 said:

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I had the Kinetico salesman come out. There are a couple of options and recall that capacity is determined by size of house.
Your wife isn't at Summer Hill Dental, is she?

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Thanks again! No, she is at Bulverde Hills dental! It's a great office owned and ran by Aggies.

I've heard Kinetico is expensive...how bad is it. We're 3900sq ft, 3 1/2 baths?

My builder recommended Jason Edwards (210) 649-7970 - Can't remember what company he is with.

We got a 3M system for far less than the cost of Kinetico and 5 years later still going strong

Don't use Jason's.

(He paid your builder between 250 and 500 for the reccomedation)

I need to correct myself. The scammy Jason is not the same as the above.

I ended up going with Kinetico and they are installing on Tuesday.

Speaking of I got a call from some lady with Jason's Water Systems today wanting to come by my house and she got my number from the builder. I thanked her and let her know I already went with Kinetico and she wanted to know why. I told her word of mouth.

Then she tried to continue to tell me something about how Kinetico doesn't meet certain standards and I thanked her mid-sentence and told her goodbye. Let her know they have been around for 46 years so I'm sure they know what they are doing.

I would never buy or recommend someone that talks down about a competitor.

Of the research I did, Kinetico seems to be the standard that the others try to compare to/achieve. They are more expensive but I usually look at value rather than cost. Had zero issues over 15 years in Manvel on crappy well water. Thought I had an issue with this new one. Service Tech came out, checked everything, and everything was fine. This Kinetico replaced the Kenmore installed by the orginal homeowner. We would occasionally get salty drinking water with the Kenmore. The driving force for replacement was my nurse practitioner wife reading the reports on CLWSC water quality. Looked into a RO system and ended going Kinetico for everything.

Jason's equipment may be just fine, but they come off as quite scammy.

gone

I have one i got from costco about 5 years ago. The resin needs to be replaced. I can't really find a video or instructions on how to do it? What is the price of the kinetico compared to box stores? Looking online it is not worth the repair.

Also, anyone use Alamo Water softener?

I used Alamo Water Softener and was happy with them. They have an standard level "sentry" and an upgraded "gold" level. At the end of 2016 they had a promo to do the "gold" for the price of the "Sentry" so I "splurged". I really liked the warranty on "gold" which at the time was a 7 year parts and labor. They also allowed me to pay it in 4 installments over 4 months without any additional cost. I will warn you it will cost over $2K.

Less expensive options include the Lowe's & HD specials for ~$600-$700.

Another option would be the units sold by Ferguson Plumbing Supply. If I remembered correctly, they sell a Kinetico like system at a fraction of the cost.

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it.

I really want to move within the next year, so hesitant to drop a bunch of money.

I researched online and found a lot of plumbers recommended Fleck (and another brand I can't remember). As long as you choose a unit that has the capacity to provide enough water for your house and use, its pretty easy to install and maintain. I purchased this one from amazon a few years back and installed it myself.

Link: Fleck 5600SXT 48,000 Grain

Whitetail said:

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I researched online and found a lot of plumbers recommended Fleck (and another brand I can't remember). As long as you choose a unit that has the capacity to provide enough water for your house and use, its pretty easy to install and maintain. I purchased this one from amazon a few years back and installed it myself.

Link: Fleck 5600SXT 48,000 Grain

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I was actually looking at that one. How do you like it?

I have kinectico coming out this week for a quote.

AgShaun00 said:

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Whitetail said:

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I researched online and found a lot of plumbers recommended Fleck (and another brand I can't remember). As long as you choose a unit that has the capacity to provide enough water for your house and use, its pretty easy to install and maintain. I purchased this one from amazon a few years back and installed it myself.

Link: Fleck 5600SXT 48,000 Grain

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I was actually looking at that one. How do you like it?

I have kinectico coming out this week for a quote.

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It is fine. Softens the water just like all the others. No issues with flow rate, so size is good. I most liked the $2-4.5k savings of using it and installing it myself versus what I was quoted by Jason's water softeners. I'm sure Kinetico is $$$$$ too.

Heads up... I got a quote of $4,500 for a Kinetico unit for my 3,000 square foot home.

valtosca said:

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Heads up... I got a quote of $4,500 for a Kinetico unit for my 3,000 square foot home.

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valtosca said:

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Heads up... I got a quote of $4,500 for a Kinetico unit for my 3,000 square foot home.

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This is just for their install of the Kinetico? In a house just having the existing water softener replaced? Holy arse-raping, Batman, that price is higher than giraffe poon.

I've been thinking about having one installed, but home is NOT pre-plumbed. I could buy a new fridge/dishwasher/washing machine 3-4 times over EACH for that price. I can only imagine the additional cost to have the plumbing run to add the softener...whew!

valtosca said:

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Heads up... I got a quote of $4,500 for a Kinetico unit for my 3,000 square foot home.

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i almost want to cancel my appt. House is preplumbed so it will be interesting to see what they say.

If I were to do it all over again I like Whitetail's option on the self install. I say that because I am much more versed in plumbing than just two years ago. He's right about how it's not that tough an install.

So after decades of culligan, I just bought a GE from Home Depot installed it myself, easy, can't tell a difference. Oh it cost 450