Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Getting The Septic Tank In And Hooking Up The Water

Good morning.  I am so sorry that I have fallen behind.  There have been a lot of things keeping us/me busy lately.  I have been volunteering at the library for the Summer reading program and I have been taking my granddaughter with me.  Then she stays overnight.  Other than that we have been busy with yard work and watching my gardens grow:)


So let me take you back a few weeks.  We finally got the septic tank in at the store:)


Mike and I picked up all the parts. the tank and the chambers, and stored them in our barn.  On a sunny morning we got a call from our grader that he could dig the hole today:)

Mike and I load everything up on the trailer and take it down to the store.  Since the septic tank is the size of our trailer it takes us 2 trips.

Getting ready to make it happen.  I start out by digging out the sewer pipe that is inside and coming out the building. It has to be cleared so that we can attach a pipe from there to the sewer.




Randy starts digging:





The pipe is out and Mike cuts off what we don't need:




Uh oh…Randy dug too far to one side and cut our electric line.  There is always bound to be excitement even in a simple job, lol:



Luckily Mike has the extra parts to splice the broken wire together:




Taping it up:




Time to drop the tank in the hole.  Randy pulls while Mike and Jimmy push it:





Jimmy standing on the tank while Randy starts digging the ditch for the chambers:




I start putting the chambers next to the ditch while Jimmy and Randy lay them out in the ditch:




The system is checked to make sure it is right and the flow is right then it gets covered.  The pipe is out of the ground so we can hook the tank to the pipe that runs to the building:





Time to dig from the building to the tank:





The vent pipe for the building is in and the sewer pipes are going in:





Next part of the job.  Now that the sewer is hooked up it's time to get the water from the well and into the building.  We run water line out and a corrugated pipe to cover it:





We need to get the water line inside the corrugated pipe.  To do this we tape a plastic water bottle the the end of the water line.  This will make it easier for us to push the water line through the pipe.  I love handy little tips like this:




Digging out behind the building:





Almost to the well:




We got the pipe in the ground:





We got the water line through and it's at the well ready to be hooked up:




Jimmy and his guys leave after that and Mike and I finish up.  Mike starts grading so I can rake it, seed it and then add straw:




Mike works on all the hookups at the building:




And now he has to cover the pipe:




It's starting to look good:




While Mike works behind the building I have gotten most of the dirt raked out, seeded and added straw:




Wa la…no more septic tank:




And the back of the building has been completed:


Now the only thing we can do is hope for rain to let the grass grow:)



Mike decided to expand the parking lot so people can easily turn around.  More gravel:





We got three loads of gravel, 60 toms worth.  Mike uses the tractor to spread it out:




It's a relief to have the hardest jobs on the store completed.  Now we just have to do a second coat of paint, finish up the bathroom and do some clean up.  One of these days we may open it:)


Have a great day.

Ooh…I will post some of my garden pictures next week.  I am so excited.


Monday, June 2, 2014

Once You Do Something Once It Gets Easier The Second Time…Installing Another Well Pump



Hello everyone….

Mike and I are now living in a pumpkin, lol.  Boy when we finally decide to do something we go all the way.  We now have a bright and cheery house that we painted:)  It will be hard to go back to neutral colors now, lol.






I have not received the sample of my laminate yet but I am not in a rush for that project.  It might be a good project for the winter:)


My garden is doing well and I am happy about that.  I will post some pictures next time when things are a bit bigger:)


So…back to the store.  Our grader has not shown yet to help with the septic so Mike and I decided to install the well pump.  Since we have already installed one well pump this year this one will be easier:) and it saves us a ton of money.





Mike unrolling the water line.  Our well is 125 feet deep.  We will use 116 feet of water line plus the pump:




And we will need to run some from inside the store to the well:





Next it's time to unroll the electric wire:





The well pump that we had at the house is still in good shape:





Fitting the water line onto the pump:




Getting the pump hooked up:




Mike adding and tightening the clamps at the water line connection to the pump:





Wrapping it with electrical tape to protect it:




Crimping the electrical connection:




Using the torch to melt the shrink tubing around the electrical connections:




And doubling up on the shrink wrap:





Adding the rubber adapter to protect the connections as it goes down the well:





The second rubber adapter at the halfway point:





Look at all those connections.  Thankfully Mike put the pressure switch, pressure valve, check valve and the well head together before we went down to the store:)




Mike wraps a piece of carpet over the metal to protect our water and electric lines when it goes down the well:






Getting ready to install all 120 feet or so down the pipe.  Mike holds the end with the pump while I help feed the line to him:





That part was easy.:)  Now Mike installs the well head onto the top of the well:





That's it.  Once we get our lines dug Mike will run the electric to the well and also the water lines to the store.



That's all for now. I will write again next week and get you all caught up on my garden….although I will leave you with a picture of my first harvest of the year:)




Have a great week:):)

Lisa