Broekhuis Brothers Well Drilling

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I'm contracting my own house and I wanted to have my well drilled before starting construction to make sure I would have enough water. One driller I talked to was doubtful when I was inquiring about wells in my area, but Lyle said he had drilled several for my neighbors and should be able to get at least 6, maybe up to 30, if I let him put it where he wanted to. They had to drill through 140 feet of clay to get to rock and went down to 190 feet. They said it normally only takes a day to get a well drilled, but they worked an extra half day on it and got me 30 GPM. These guys are busy, but they went the extra mile for me, so I have nothing but good to say. The price includes the pump, tank, and connection to the house, which they will have to come back later for, when it's framed in. It was a bit more than the other driller quoted me, but I went with them because he has 55 years of experience and was a little more confident. My advice to anyone needing a well for a new house, have it drilled as soon as practical and protect the casing to make sure somebody doesn't run over it. A builder would probably want to wait until the house was done, but as a homeowner, I would want to know I have water first. There are no guarantees of quality or quantity when it comes to well water.

Well -- this is a story of what happens when you combine laziness with a lack of ethics in business. In retrospect, my husband and I should have sued the builder, well driller, and the DEQ for allowing this situation to occur in the first place. None of the information was disclosed to us upon purchase. We bought a home that was new construction in Zeeland/Allendale. Broekhuis drilled a well for the property, and we later found out -- the hard way -- that the well only gets 3.5 gallons per minute. This was unbelievable, considering all our neighbors get 15 gpm or more from the same aquifer. When we contacted Broekhuis, they came out and reviewed the well and said there was nothing they could do. Their solution was to charge us $400 for a larger holding tank/bladder to help circumvent water shortages. This was a non-sustainable solution as the tank couldn't actually keep up with the actual demands of a property. We contacted other well drillers, and ultimately had a whole new deep well installed by Raymer of Marne, MI. Lo and behold, Raymer was able to get 12 gpm from the exact same aquifer, just MERE FEET from the Broekhuis well. Raymer said the problem was that Broekhuis used the incorrect point/screen. Raymer said that they would never leave a property in this area with such a low gpm. People will try to get away with anything they can! We were impressed with Raymer -- they were professional from the start, and I think they felt really, really bad for us. We had to pay Raymer almost $7000 to resolve a situation that should have never happened in the first place. This was money we were saving to adopt a child. The whole situation was so distressing, depressing, and made us question our faith in other people -- and we'll never get that $7000 back from the sale of our house. Had Broekhuis fixed the problem and admitted their error, we would have been able to forgive them. Because that was not the case, I have no choice but to tell everyone I can about what happened to us. Karma has a way of catching up with people who lack accountability in business and in life.

Our experience with this company was great. They said they'd call when they were going to be working in our part of town, and they notified us both the day before and while they were en route to our house. The installer worked quickly, was polite, and picked up after himself.

They did what they said they'd do at about the price and time they anticipated. The job was satisfactory, we'll see how it does over time. Given the other ratings I expected a bit more especially on the professional side. They were instead average, nothing special. The tank they put in was ok but the ancillary parts were scronged off the truck which had a mish-mash of used parts both new and used. I may try another company next time but if they also are average I may use this one again, we'll see.

WE USED THEM BECAUSE THEY WERE THE ONES THAT HAD INSTALLED THE WELL MANY YEARS AGO. THEY DID A REALLY GOOD JOB BUT THEY WERE VERY EXPENSIVE, BUT THE JOB WAS A QUALITY JOB THAT THEY DID FOR ME.

THEY WERE VERY BUSY SO IT TOOK TWO WEEKS BEFORE THEY COULD COME OUT. HOWEVER, THEY WERE UP FRONT ABOUT HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE. I WAS VERY PLEASED WITH HOW FRIENDLY THEY WERE AND THEY DID AN EXCELLENT JOB!

THEY WERE VERY PERSONABLE AND PROMPT. THEY HAD GREAT TIME MANAGEMENT AS THEY WORKED AROUND MY AVAILABILITY TO BE PRESENT DURING CONSTRUCTION OF THE WELL.