What happens on the estimate visit: the hour we spend in your house before a 13D number exists

People call expecting a number on the phone. We give a range from the published table, $2 to $7 per sprinklered square foot for a retrofit and $1.35 to $1.60 for new construction, and then we ask to come look, because the spread between $2 and $7 is decided by things nobody can see from the street. This article walks through what we measure in that visit, in the order we do it, so you know what the hour is for and can check that whoever else bids the job did the same work. A quote that skipped these steps is a guess with a signature on it.

Before we arrive

We ask three questions on the phone. Public water or a well. Year the house was built. Whether the basement ceiling is finished. Those answers sort most Northern Virginia houses into a bucket before anyone drives anywhere. A 2004 colonial in South Riding on Loudoun Water with an unfinished basement is one bucket. A 1962 rambler in Annandale with a finished basement, plaster ceilings upstairs, and a three quarter inch service is another, and the visit for the second one runs longer.

At the curb and in the basement: the water supply

The water supply decides whether a 13D system is simple, costly, or not possible on the existing service, so we start there. On public water we find the meter, read its size off the body, and read the service line size where it enters the house. Then we put a gauge on an outside hose bib and record static pressure, which in Fairfax Water and Loudoun Water territory runs anywhere from the 40s to over 100 psi depending on which pressure zone the street sits in. We note the water authority, because Fairfax Water, Loudoun Water, the Prince William County Service Authority, Virginia American Water in Alexandria, and Arlington each handle the meter and the flow test differently, and the meter and service line article spells out the fees. A static reading alone does not finish the calculation. The design needs flow and residual pressure, and that comes from a hydrant flow test the authority runs or releases on request. We order that after the visit if the static number is close.

On a well, the visit changes. We look at the pump, the pressure tank, the well yield if there is a record of it, and the space where a storage tank could go. The well water page covers why a tank and pump add $3,000 to $6,000 to the system, and the visit is where we find out whether the tank fits in the utility room or has to go somewhere harder.

The riser location

Every system has one riser, the vertical assembly with the control valve, check valve, gauges, and drain that the riser parts article describes. It goes where the water service enters, which in most Northern Virginia houses is the basement utility room or, in a slab house, a closet near the front wall. We measure the wall space next to the main shutoff, check for a floor drain or a path to one for the test connection, and note whether the water heater and furnace crowd the spot. A riser that has to go on the far side of a finished basement adds pipe and patching to the price.

Room by room, with a tape and a camera

Then we walk every floor. For each room we record length, width, ceiling height, ceiling type, and what is above it. That last item decides most of the retrofit price. A room under an accessible attic gets heads fed from above with almost no patching. A room under a finished floor gets heads fed from a soffit, a closet, or a cut in the ceiling, and the drywall work is what pushes a job toward the top of the range. We photograph every ceiling so the designer can see the beams, the recessed lights, the ceiling fans, and the vaults, because head spacing bends around all of them and the vaulted ceiling article explains why a cathedral living room costs more than a flat one.

We mark the rooms 13D lets the design skip, which are listed in rooms without sprinklers: the attached garage, small bathrooms, small closets, open porches, and the attic. The square footage left after those come out is the sprinklered square footage the table prices against, and it is usually 10 to 20 percent less than the number on the tax record.

What we are quietly checking

• Pipe material in the house. Gray polybutylene or rusted galvanized changes the design and sometimes requires the plumber before us. The polybutylene article explains why.
• Spaces that will freeze. An unheated bonus room over the garage, a crawlspace, a three season porch. Each one needs a plan, and that plan has a cost.
• Heat sources. Wood stoves, inserts, and a range under a low ceiling change which head goes where.
• Plans you have not mentioned. A basement you intend to finish next year, an addition on the drawing board. Pipe stubbed now is far cheaper than pipe added later.
• Why you want the system. A county trade on a long driveway, the kind on the fire access alternative page, has paperwork that shapes the design. A parent who cannot get out fast shapes it differently.

What you get, and when

The visit ends with a room list, a water supply sheet, and photographs. Within a few business days you get a written quote that states the sprinklered square footage, the price, the water supply assumptions, what is included (design, permit, rough in, heads, test, final), and what is not (painting after patching, upgrading the water service if the flow test fails). It also states what happens if the flow test comes back short, because a quote that ignores that question is the one that turns into a change order. The article on comparing bids lists what a complete quote has to contain, and ours is written to pass that list.

Questions people ask during the visit

Do I need to be home? Yes, for the first one. We need every room, the basement, and the attic hatch, and we would rather you see what we are measuring.

Is the visit free? Yes for a retrofit or new construction quote. A diagnosis on an existing system that is leaking or alarming is a service call at the flat visit rate on the inspection page.

Can you quote from the plans? For new construction, yes, and the number holds if the water supply matches the plans. For an existing house, plans tell us the rooms and not the ceilings, and the ceilings are the price.

County details that affect the design live on the Fairfax County guide, Loudoun guide, Arlington and Alexandria guide, and Prince William guide.