Whole House Filter & Recirculating Pump - Need Knowlegeable Plumber in Manassas, VA

I bought a Culligan HF-360 whole house filter and a Watts hot water recirculating pump and tried to get quotes from local plumbers in Manassas, VA using ServiceMagic. I received experessions of interest from 3 firms but I was surprised to learn that none of them are familiar with these devices. One quoted $157 per hour and estimated 4 to 5 hours. The other said its $450 firm.

Since the only work involved is cutting existing copper pipe, slipping a threaded adapter, and soldering it before screwing the devices in between, I find $500 to be quite steep. Does anyone have any idea what a reasonable price for this project should be and what kind of professional should I hire? As I said, local plumbers seem to be ignorant about what I'm talking about. Can anyone recommend a handyman around here, or should I look for a soldering/welding expert instead of a regular plumber?

Thanks for any feedback.

Fil

Part of the profit that many contractors make is on a markup of the materials. This is in addition to the labor. They also are more comfortable installing products from a manufacturer that they have dealt with previously. They know that if there is a problem down the road your reaction will tend towards holding them responsible. No matter where the fault actually lies. Plus there is aso some reservation about the suitability of whatever you bought for the specific purpose. And what they may or may not need in addition to get it installed.

If you are going to buy the materials you are better off doing the labor yourself. Otherwise you might as well let the contractor suggest material choices and pick from those. The contractor is going to get the moeny either way since when you buy the materials they are probaby just going to charge more for the labor. And you avoid the issues surround whose fault it is if there is a problem.

You probably can still find someone but it will be a bit harder and probably not the bigger contractors. Try craig's list and look for handymen..