Cold day, but well holes ready.

Today was cold.  It only barely made it above freezing up at the property.  The "rain" last night was a mix of snow and ice.  It was still on my truck, even after driving to work.


Even though this is the only source of heat though, it was nice and toasty inside today.  That bodes well for my heating requirements.  I didn't even have it on high.


Today's septic update: the stuff is covered.  If you blow the picture up, you can see some really big culverts out by the road.  They are replacing the ones for the brook tomorrow, so I will have new culverts on both sides of my driveway.



It is clear up by the house too, so I can put in the electric.  I will have to be careful to not hit the pipe with the trencher though.


On a side note, perhaps it is because this is my first experience doing this, but the lack of quality of care I have gotten is disturbing.  Mike Faulkner is cutting a ton of corners, like he took loam out the driveway to cover the pipe instead of hauling better stuff in (and isn't bringing anything in to fix the driveway he destroyed), and while he took a load of trash out of the old foundation, has been leaving all the rest that he encountered lying in the yard, and while it is hard to see in the picture above, his idea of leveling out is pretty bad.  If it was just him though, I would just say I got what I paid for, he was the cheapest for a reason.  But the well drillers did the same kind of stuff and are one of the most reputable well companies around.  I understand the ruts from the drilling rig, but when they pulled the rig out, they drove something else in the back yard and left yet another set of ruts that weren't there when they finished drilling.  I remember us filling in the ruts from the well truck in Argyle, but I don't remember huge issues with the leech field and everything being left completely torn up.  Maybe I don't recall correctly, or maybe because the shale dug up from the leech field was used to build the driveway I just didn't get to see it, but man I have a lot of repair work cut out for me next year.


I didn't get out as early as I would have liked, but I still got some work done.  Since I am working on largely outdoor stuff, I am still a slave to daylight, which is done by a little after 6 at this point.

I started by getting the holes for the well completed.  I ended up borrowing a long bit from work to drill all the way through, and then using a hole saw on both sides.  It worked.  I stuffed my spare CSST in the holes to clearly mark them, and to keep the drafts to a minimum.



I started to hook up the drain line while I was underneath (the well connections and where the waste pipe comes out are pretty close), and ran into an issue; the pipe won't fit over the axle.




I looked at my "soil pipe adapter kit" and I think I can run it under the axles, but that does put it perilously close to the concrete.  Hopefully it won't end up with freezing problem, with the cold radiating up from the concrete.  My "soil pipe adapter kit" is just a 3"coupler, which conveniently is the correct size to fit inside a 4" pipe like the one in the slab and allow me to hook up my 3" soil stack (though it isn't actually a stack...).  It isn't to code, but I am going this route because there is no pipe sticking up out of the slab (it was cut off flush with the concrete), so I can't use the typical fittings.  It will work fine though.


It is actually supposed to be pretty nice this weekend, so I will call Home Depot tomorrow and find out if they have a trencher and the wire, and how the wire is going to work.  I really hope they don't make me buy a whole spool (there is no good way for them to sell me 250 feet).

I also made all the measurements for the skirting, so I know how much I need.  I still haven't found a good place to buy it.  I am considering calling Curtis Lumber in Hoosick, it has been that much of a pain to find.  I have a vague recollection of them having that kind of stuff, and it is only a little over an hour to get there.

I have quite an important weekend coming up; I hope to finish most of the outdoor work, which is important given the lack of daylight this time of year.  I hope to finish the electric, the well prep, the waste line, and it would be nice if I could do the skirting, assuming I find a place and can pick it up tomorrow, though I don't expect that to happen.

I haven't really started anything on the waste PVC line, so I am not going to mark that as in progress.  Likewise I didn't get to doing the outlet for the heat tapes, so the well prep isn't complete.  I have until Monday, when they come to do the pressure tank.  As a result, no movement on the checklist.

Before Occupancy:

1. Install paneling on interior walls.
2. Build floor pan for the bathroom
3. Install bathroom fixtures.
4. Install electric.
5. Complete interior plumbing and test it.
6. Finish running the waste PVC line.
7. Well prep work.
8. Get well installed.
9. Get hot water heater installed.
10. Install flooring.
11. Install skirting.
12. Install some form of cabinets in the kitchen.  
13. Install kitchen sink.
14. Install kitchen appliances.
15. Install enough driveway to satisfy the apron requirements.

Before Winter:

1. Build bed frame.
2. Build closets.
3. Install table.
4. Install heat tapes.
5. Build some sort of porch.
6. Smooth driveway enough to plow/clear
7. Fix snowblower.  
8. Winterize equipment (mower, undercoat the truck, etc).
9. Clear slab
10. Shed work
1. Extend roof to prevent snow pushing on the side.
2. Fix pilings