Witching For Water...

"I Want To Believe"

At some point of this adventure we are going to regrade the driveway to take some high and low spots out, making it easier to navigate when the snow hits.  While discussing with Neil what we'd like to do, he mentioned that the water and power lines that currently run to the mobile were not buried very deep.  This meant if we took to much off the highspots of the driveway, the water line could potentially freeze during cold snaps.  Neil also mentioned that he had figured out where the water line was by using "witching rods"... This is the technique we've probably all seen in old movies where some shady looking fellow uses a willow branch to figure out where to dig a new well.  If you're anything like me, skepticism is your first reaction to this method of locating water.  When I chuckled in disbelief, Neil went to his truck and produced two brass rods that had  90 degree bends in them.  He slowly started walking near our well head with the rods held loosely in his hands until one of them rotated outwards.  Again, my gut reaction was that we already knew there was a water line buried near the well and he was manipulating the rods.  I absolutely had to try this myself to be a believer so Neil handed me the rods and told me how to hold them.  I held the rods very loosely and as I approached the area we knew the line was buried, one of the rods slowly moved outwards, parallel to the direction the line was buried...  To say I was astonished is an understatement, I'm now a believer...  I'm also considering that Sasquatch might really exist.

Entry Window

Kitchen Windows

Tuesday morning came with pouring rain and a forecast for more of it all week long.  Jordan and his crew arrived early, followed shortly by the site superintendant, Dan.  I went out to greet everyone and talk about a few changes we had decided to make.  On the back basement wall we had planned for a window under the walkaround porch but after seeing the opening and the way the land lays at the back of the house, the window really seems nonsensical so we have decided to fill it in.  We have also decided to add two windows in the kitchen, one on each side of the range, in hopes of letting in more light.  The front door was originally specified as being 36"s wide but after seeing some houses with wider front doors, we decided to widen ours to 42"s.  We had originally wanted a window on the front of the house to let light into the staircase but because of the roof overhang, a window would not have worked well in this area.  After looking at photos of old house entryways, we decided we could put a window close to the front door to help lighten up our entry.  The final change we wanted to make was in the master-bathroom;  we are planning for a free-standing tub with a window beside it. 

The plan originally called for a large, almost square window that didn't seem to fit well with the theme of the house and because of it's style, you really wouldn't be able to see out of it when sitting in the tub.  At this time we are still a bit undecided between a rectangular window like the one shown here (we won't be having a chandalier), or a double casement window that has two windows that swing outward... something we have to decide by monday because the framers will start framing the main floor.

After going through the changes with Jordan, he and his crew started marking chalk lines in the basement in preparation for the lumber that should've been arriving that morning.  Four hours later the lumber still hadn't arrived which I'm sure must be annoying as anything for Jordan and his crew.  At 12:00pm I was on my way into town and passed a truck loaded with lumber that I hoped was destined for our place.  I got home at 2:00 to find the lumber had arrived and the guys had already made some decent progress.  People always talk about how fast the framing goes up and it really is true.  By the end of the week the basement had been completely framed and the wrap around porch and deck of the right elevation had been framed and were ready for the decking material.  Both Margaret and I get home from work in complete darkness but we can't stop ourselves from going out in the darkness with a flashlight to poke around and see what progress was made.









Moving Right Along...

Drainpipe Installed Around Foundation

It's been a busy couple of weeks around here with the weather co-operating at times only to strike later with a vengeance...   I guess I should've been more careful when asking for rain.  After the foundation was sealed it was time to start installing drainage pipe around the foundation as well as the vertical pipes that the gutters would empty into.  Dan came out and we walked the perimeter of the house marking where we thought the gutters would be least distracting.  We are considering a couple of rain chains as well so we had to consider where they would hang down from the gutters and how they'd disappear into the ground.  On the last monday of November, another crew came out to start installing the vertical pipes that the gutters and rainchains would drain into as well as laying drainage tubing and rock around the perimter of the foundation for any water that  collects in the area.  The pipes all come together and empty into a drainage sump that will collect any debris coming down through the gutters; the water passes through the sump and continues through a pipe under the driveway and finally empties into a drainage ditch.  Because of the amount of rain we get and also being on a hillside, we have some serious potential for water pooling in a few different areas, Neil has been extremely helpful in dealing with all the water but it seems we just get one area draining and flowing to where we want it and then a completely different area starts to form pools when the rain is heavy.  Perhaps the one benefit of building in this weather is that we can effectively deal with these problems now instead of having unforseen problems crop up in the future.

Sump Tank Ready To Be Buried

The weather stayed cool and overcast most of the time while the drainage was being taken care of and it actually turned sunny midweek which was a great time to dig the trench for the services to the house.   Our well is located on the side of the driveway about halfway between the road and the new house.  From the well head, the water is pumped back down the driveway to the pumphouse and from there it will be pumped to the house... I know it sounds ass-backwards, but that's how it works.   The power comes from the street to the pumphouse where a breaker panel is located... we decided to bury the power to the house and it will originate from the panel in the pumphouse.  The services that were to be buried include the power cable, the waterline, a 2" conduit that telephone lines would be fed through, and a second power cable that would be used for a future standby generator.  Because the pump for our water is located in the pumphouse and the standby generator will be located at the house, we needed to run the second cable so that in the case of a power outage, we'd still be able to have running water.

Water Pooling At Pumphouse

Trench For Power & Water Lines

On wednesday Neil started digging the trench from the pumphouse up to the house and because the weather was decent, it went off without a hitch.  We should have taken time to enjoy the success of the day because overnight the rain started and by morning the next day, water was flowing down the trench and pooling at the pumphouse.  This was worriesome because we were going to be partially excavating under the pumphouse to expose some preinstalled tubes that the water line and power cable would pass through to be fed up through the pumphouse foundation, and into the pumphouse.  With all the water flowing through the area around the pumphouse, there was the risk of the concrete slab cracking.  Calvin, who was installing the conduit and cables,  provided a pump to try and drain the water around the pumphouse but because the rains were so heavy the pump was ineffective and Neil had to dig a drainage trench down the side of the pumphouse to drain the pool into a ditch...  This quickly solved the problem.  The following day the weather was dry enough to excavate under the pumphouse and expose the conduit... things went quite smoothly and the water line and power cables were shoved through the conduit and up into the pumphouse.  We were lucky that whoever had installed the pumphouse (before we bought the property) had run four extra conduits for future considerations... this saved us from having to cut through the concrete and repairing it after. 

Power Lines Coming Into Pumphouse

Neil began to back fill the trench later that day.  This involved first laying some crushed rock on top of the lines and then some yellow marking ribbon on the rock and finally filling the trench with dirt.  The marking tape is used as a warning to anyone digging in the area in the future.  If an excavator operator pulls up the yellow tape, they know that if they dig any deeper, they will be hitting a power cable next.  The backfilling itself went smoothly but we had run into a small hitch;  the larger of the two power cables was about eight feet too short to reach the area inside the house where the breaker panel would be located.  The cable ran in a straight line up the driveway to the house and then made a 90degree left turn at the front of the house and another 90degree right turn into the house.  By eliminating the two 90degree turns and cutting the corner we were able to get back about ten feet of cable which effectively solved the problem.

Services Coming Into House

The last step before the framing could start was to backfill the foundation and fill the basement and carport area with crushed gravel.  Friday turned out sunny and Neil started bright and early.  Because a line for the septic system still needs to be installed and we still aren't sure how the front yard will be shaped, we decided to back fill the left side and backside of the foundation as well as a portion of the front of the house.   While Neil was backfilling, a few loads of crushed rock was delivered which Neil then moved into the basement.  Everything was looking good for the framers to get started the following week.

Foundation Backfilled, Spreading Gravel In Foundation