I would say , on the sidea you could go way cheaper. ASk your friends if they know anyone . Maybe craigslist but I find that sketchy . I'd say 1,000 labor or under , and that's a high estimate. Parts , depends on the guys plan and knowledge . If your handy you could pull it off yourself , just be prepared for setbacks or the learning process. Is it a big deal if it takes you 2 days , a week , a month ?
They don't know anyone. I already checked with friends and family. Craigslist...I'd probably get some weirdo that would show up with his tools in a Folgers coffee can and tell me that this doohickee should go here and that doohickee should go over there. I haven't heard the best of things when I have read of crazy news stories about people putting ads up to have work done and getting an unexpected disaster
I thought about checking around trying to find someone who essentially does their own work/has their own business and see what they quote for it. I'd hazard a guess that it won't be anywhere near what the big companies quote.
As for doing it myself...while I'm a handy person and have done a lot of stuff, I don't really feel comfortable doing this particular thing myself (or even with a helper). Plus, I just got good (and bad) news at work tonight stating that our overtime is in fact coming back again next month. So in a way, time is of the essence. I may be called back in to 56 hour weeks next month. I want to at least have the system elevated and water heater changed out and elevated by that time. In that the late spring and early summer storms are on their way, plus June kicks off the 2016 hurricane season. We've had tropical storms come over us before (one caused the flooding of the old system before this one due to power failure). The silly 12v battery backup that was there back then failed. I've since found a replacement battery backup that would power the main pumps with no problem, but I want to get all of this out there just to make sure.