Ask This Old House

Repairing a residential well
Richard and well specialist Dave Haynes help a homeowner repair a residential well that is causing a banging sound inside the house. Dave determines that the well pump needs to be replaced, along with a pressurized storage tank inside the basement. Richard and Dave begin by removing the old well pump. They then replace it with a more durable stainless steel unit. They also replace the tank with a much larger tank so that the pump won't over-cycle, which could shorten its life.

Where to Find It: Well specialist
Dave Haynes
Northeast Water Wells, Inc.
800-562-WELL

Pressurized well tank (model no. WX-302) and digital control switch are manufactured by:
Amtrol, Inc.
401-884-6300

Richard and Dave installed a new stainless steel, 3/4 horsepower, 10 gallon-per-minute well pump (model no. 10S07-12) manufactured by:
Grundfos Pumps Corporation
913-227-3400

Repairing a hole in vinyl siding
Tom helps a homeowner patch a hole in his vinyl siding. The homeowner has an extra piece of siding left over from the original installation several years ago, but its color doesn't match the siding on the rest of the house which has faded over time. So instead of using the newer piece of siding for the patch, Tom recommends removing some older siding from a less visible part of the house and using it to patch the hole.

Where to Find It
Tom used a special tool for removing and reinstalling vinyl siding like the one listed below.

SideSwiper II
Malco Products, Inc.800-596-3494