Geothermal System - November 2014

We did a lot of research on heating/cooling systems and decided to go with a geothermal  heat pump system.  Geothermal heat pumps are recognized as the highest efficiency heating, cooling and domestic hot water system available.  Since our house will be extremely energy efficient, we wanted our heating system to be equally as efficient.  Geothermal systems can be up to 70% more efficient as compared to traditional systems.  Plus, we can say that we HEAT AND COOL WITH DIRT, NOT OIL!  The other deciding factor was that there are government incentives and rebates for installing this type of system, making it cost-effective and a smart decision.  

Basically, a geothermal system uses the ground to heat and cool the house.  It works by using the difference in temperature between the outside air and the ground.  The ground absorbs the heat of the sun keeping the ground temperature at a constant 55 degree temperature during both the summer and winter months.

The system has two components:  a heat pump, which is the inside unit, and the ground loop, which are underground pipes which connect to the heat pump.  There are two main ways to accomplish the ground loops: geothermal wells, where several wells are drilled hundreds of feet down into the ground, or horizontal ground loops, where the pipes are laid in trenches about 5-6 feet deep.  Either system works well.  We decided to use horizontal ground loops because we have the space, and we were able to do the digging ourselves, versus paying to have several wells drilled, which would have cost around 10K, just for the wells.

How does this work?  The heat pump circulates a water mixture throughout the entire underground loop.  In the winter, the water absorbs the heat from the earth and returns it to the indoor heat pump.  The heat pump extracts the heat from the water and then distributes it throughout the home as warm air.  In the summer, the indoor heat pump takes the heat and humidity from the house and places it back into the earth.

So here is how we accomplished this…. We dug, dug more, and kept digging until we dug 1000 feet of trench.  It sounds like a lot, but it feels like even more when you are digging through rocks and hardpan.  We actually excavated MORE dirt than the actual house.  This was a TON of work and took a TON of time.  We started this project towards the end of October.

Steve digging a geothermal trench.

Our system required 1000 feet of underground pipes, and this was done by digging four 250' trenches.  Since our lot is wooded, the bulk of the trenches were in the woods.  We laid out the trenches in the woods with as minimal disruption of the trees as possible, except when we had no choice.  This made the project take longer, so hopefully it will be worth it when the woods fill back in to their natural state.

Three of the trenches partially completed.

 The photo below is standing at the end of one of the trenches looking towards the house.

Once the trenches reached the tree line, they were merged and opened into one HUGE hole!  Each geothermal water pipe needs 18" of soil around it before another pipe can be laid, so there would be 8 pipes coming through this section.

The photo below is the view from the roof of the house.  You can see the four trenches and where they join into one large trench.  The trenches were 5-6 feet deep.

Once the trenches were all dug, we needed to prepare the trenches for the pipe.  This included moving all the large rocks out of the trenches…. and there were SO MANY rocks!

Once this was completed, King Energy came in to lay the pipes and start installing the actual geothermal system.

Does this look like 1000' of pipe?  

I unfortunately don't have a photo of the pipes being installed in our trenches, but basically, it looked similar to the photos below.

All of the pipes go directly through the house concrete walls and into the utility room in the basement.  From here, they will be connected to the geothermal heat pump.

And then the clean up begins.  Backfilling the trenches was quite a process, but we got it done… and only a week or so before the first forecast of SNOW!  Phew!!!

Backfilling the geothermal trenches.

After we backfilled the trenches, the weather turned really rainy, and the ground was VERY soft, which meant, we were not able to do a good job of grading until the ground firmed up again… which may be next year!  We finished the backfilling of the trenches around November 15, 2014.

Rough backfilling of the geothermal trenches.

Very rough grade over the large geothermal trench.  

The next step for the geothermal system will be the duct work and installation of the geothermal heat pump inside the house.

We are THANKFUL - November 27, 2014

Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks.  This year we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to all of our friends and family for their support and help during our homebuilding process!

Steve and Katie - February 22, 2014

Since the purchase of our building lot in February of 2012, we have been diligently working towards our goal of building our own home.  The official house design process started in September of 2013 and we broke ground on April 3, 2014.

We have been in full building mode for 8 straight months and have been totally immersed in this project, with little time to do much of anything else.  It's a sacrifice, it's hard work and it's intense.  It's also our dream, it's what we want to do, and we are making it happen one step at a time.

Although we try to express our thanks each day to those who help us, we wanted to take the time to express how THANKFUL and GRATEFUL we are for the support of our family and friends.  This post is dedicated to all of YOU who have helped us to get this far, and have supported us in this endeavor.

This dream started for both of us growing up and hearing stories about our Dad's building the homes that we were so fortunate enough to enjoy growing up in.  It was inspiring then, and it still is now.  Our Dad's have both been helping us with this project 3-4 days a week, and often more.  We are thankful that they both have the time to share with us, the ability to help us, and the desire to work alongside us in this project.  And most of all, thank you for believing in us, and helping us to turn our dream into a reality.

Our Dad's have helped us every step of the way -  from excavation, to building forms, stacking ICF blocks, pouring concrete, building walls, placing beams and trusses, shoveling dirt and stone, digging trenches, helping solve problems, working in the heat, rain and cold, and so much more - THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS.

Steve's Dad - Mike

Katie's Dad - Barry

Steve and Barry

Steve and Mike

Although our Mom's can't be out helping all day, without all the food that is sent out to the building site each day, the hardworking guys would not be able to survive!  Thank you for sending your support in the form of  thoughtfulness, caring and FOOD!  :)  And thank you for helping when you can…from picking up materials, cleaning, sweeping, showing up with a surprise afternoon Starbucks coffee or a three course meal….we couldn't ask for better Mom's…. You are the BEST and you are APPRECIATED!!!

Steve and his Mom - Marie

Katie and her Mom - Marilyn

From the first day of our house building project, we have had the help of friends and family.  It started with Katie's cousin Kim and our house design.  With our ideas, and her expertise, we were able to come up with an incredible home design that both met our needs, and stayed within our size restrictions. Thank you Kim for your extreme hard work, time, patience and for guiding us through this process.  It is awesome to see the design go from paper to real life!

When it came time to apply for a construction loan, we were thankful for Steve's Aunt Denise!  This was a big process, and even more difficult for us, since we are not only the homeowners, but also the  the General Contractor and builder.  This is uncommon, and makes it difficult to get a construction loan.  Without Denise's help to navigate this path, getting a construction loan would have been almost impossible!  Thank you!

When we were ready to break ground and start excavation, Uncle Mike offered the use of his mini-excavator, and Katie's Dad brought out the Kubota tractor.  What a huge help!  This gave us three machines, and we needed them all to get the job done!

Breaking ground with Uncle Mike's Mini Excavator - April 3, 2014.

Barry and the Kubota

We have had the help of lots of friends and family members…. from Joel's help with excavation and concrete, Mike's help with ICF (and concrete), Uncle Raymond and Uncle Alain's help with carpentry, Kevin's help with the concrete pours, Cousin Nathan's help with electrical supplies, just to name some of the projects.  We are lucky to have such AWESOME and TALENTED friends and family!  THANK YOU ALL!

Steve, Joel, Mike, Barry during the excavation phase - April 5, 2014.

Mike, Uncle Raymond and Steve working on the subfloor - June 7, 2014.

Steve, pump truck operator, Joel, Mike and Kevin getting ready for the big concrete pour - July 21, 2014.

Mike, Steve, Joel an Ed working on the garage floor - July 11, 2014.

Uncle Alain helping install the ceiling joists in the garage- August 1, 2014. 

And of course, we have had lots of visitors thus far… and I am sure more to come!  We enjoy showing friends and family our progress, and we appreciate your visits!  Here are some photos of our visitors from near and far!  (Note: we are missing some folks in the photos, so come back again, and we'll take more pictures!)

Kristin's visit from CO in November 2012 with Memere, Mom, Dad, Steve and Katie.

Celebrating Dad's Birthday in April 2014.

Sissi and Kristin in May 2014.

Memere, Sissi and Tante Cecile in June 2014.

Paul visits from D.C. with Memere and Laura in June 2014.

Karen and Alainna visit during Alainna's summer vacation in CT from Iowa (August 2014).  

Aunt Sue and Melanie Visit in August 2014 (with Kristin, Marie, Steve and Mike)

Aunt Joyce's visit from Florida in September 2014.

Debbie and Carson's visit from Virginia in September 2014.

Also, a special thank you to all of our good friends who have remained close to us, despite the fact that we haven't been able to spend much time together.  Thank your for visiting us at the building site, listening to our crazy stories, laughing with us, offering help, caring about what we are doing, and just being there for us!  We are blessed to have you in our lives!    

On this Thanksgiving Day, we are thankful for so much, but most of all, the LOVE and FRIENDSHIP we share with our family and friends.  THANK YOU ALL and Happy Thanksgiving!

Septic System - November 2014

The planning for the septic started just after we purchased our land.  It was actually the first project we encountered after purchasing the property.  Every building lot must be approved for a septic system, and although we purchased an "approved building lot" we needed to retest our soil for septic since the testing was done in the 80's when the building lot was established.  Three test pits had to be dug as well as a hole for the percolation test.  The test pits for the soil testing were dug with the Kubota, and we dug the hole for the perc test by hand (these were about 2' deep x 6"wide).  The town sanitarian came out to the site to do the testing, which consisted of a soil evaluation in the three test pits, and the perk test in the deep hole(s).  For the perk test, the sanitarian fills the hole with water, and measures how much the water drops in 30 minutes.  The results of both tests indicate whether or not you can have a septic, and if you need an engineered septic system.  When we got the results, we celebrated because we did NOT need an engineered septic system!

Digging the test pits - March 2012

The next phase of the septic design comes when the site plan is developed.  The site plan includes the layout of the building lot including the house, garage, well, geothermal and septic.  The engineer who did our site plan was able to provide the specifications required for our septic system based on the information we provided from the sanitarian and our house design.  The specifications were indicated on the site plan.     

Site Plan showing septic system in relation to the house.

We had initially planned to hire a contractor to do our septic, however, after looking at the plan, talking with the town, and doing some research, we decided that this was a project that could be done ourselves.

Since we had to learn all about how a septic system works (at least I did), I thought I would share this information as part of the blog for those of you who are interested.  

The septic system consist of two basic parts - the septic tank and the soil absorption areas.    

The septic goes from the wastewater pipe in the house, to the septic tank, then out of the tank to the distribution box and into the drain field.

The septic tank is a watertight box made of either concrete, fiberglass or polyethylene (plastic).  (We purchased a plastic septic tank).  The septic tank treats the wastewater naturally by holding it in the tank long enough for solids and liquids to separate.  The wastewater forms three layers in the tank.  Solids lighter than water (oils, grease) float to the top creating the scum layer.  Solids heavier than water sink to the bottom to form the sludge layer.  This leaves a middle layer of partially clarified wastewater.  A bacteria naturally forms in the layers of scum and sludge which naturally breaks down the solids.  The solids that are not able to break down are eventually removed by pumping the tank.  

The liquid layer flows out of the tank to the distribution box that helps to equally distribute the water into the drain field.  Below is a photo of our septic tank and distribution box:

The most time consuming part of installing the septic system, was the leach field.  Our leach field consists of two sections of double infiltrators.  Each section is 42' long and had to be exactly at the proper height as specified by the engineer.  A traditional leach field is made up of stone and pipe.  The infiltrator systems seem to be the current standard; they have a smaller footprint and are much easier to install.  The infiltrators are plastic chambers open on the bottom, with sidewall louvers that allow the water to drain from both the bottom and sides of the chamber.  

Both trenches needed to be at a specific elevation as determined by the engineer.  This was achieved by using the transit during excavation to get the correct elevations.  The trenches also had to be level and raked out so that the infiltrators could be installed.  A laser level was utilized to ensure that the trenches were level.  

Prepared trench with infiltrators ready to be installed.

The infiltrators were installed in two rows as shown in our design below.  Once the infiltrators were in place, they are covered with stone, followed by fabric, and then backfilled.

Below is a photo of the all the infiltrators in the drain field after installation.  At this point, we were ready for the first inspection, which is done by the local health district, and not the town.  For the first inspection, the drain field, tank, and pipes are inspected.

THE DAY OF INSPECTION

The day of the septic inspection was a torrential downpour.  I was onsite for the inspection, and although everything looked fine initially, we didn't realize until during the inspection that the septic trenches had caved in due to the rain that day, leaving piles of dirt, mud and water covering the edges of all the infiltrators.

Despite the status of the trench, the inspection went relatively well.  A transit was utilized during the inspection to make sure that the system was built at the proper elevation, and that everything was level.  The inspector seemed impressed that the system was within a 1/2" of being perfectly level, and within a few inches of the exact elevation specified.

When the inspector went to check out the tank, he had a bit of a surprise… he stepped on the tank, and then realized that the tank was floating!  The water from the rain storm had drained into the hole, and filled up enough to make the tank float.  Luckily, it didn't seem to be a big deal, and he would just check that the tank was level when he came out for the second part of the inspection.

With the caved in trenches and a floating tank, we had a lot of work to do later that day when the rain died down.  We were also rushed because a snow storm was predicted, which meant that we needed to somehow finish the septic with only one day left of work.  I spent the rest of the afternoon digging out the infiltrators and unburying them the best I could, until it got dark, which was at about 4:30 or so.  When Steve got out of work, he came out and we used the sump pump to pump out the water in the tank hole.  It doesn't look like a lot of water from the photo, but we pumped out a LOT of water!    Luckily, the tank was still perfectly level once the water was drained.  All the hard work paid off because the next day, the infiltrators were ready to be covered with the septic stone.

Half of the trench was able to be covered with stone using the backhoe, however the back half of the trench could not be accessed due to the soft ground.  So, the rest of the stone had to be moved with wheel barrows.  The material was dumped directly into the wheel barrows to make it a little bit easier.

Below is a photo of the back portion of the septic covered with stone.

The final step before backfilling was to cover the system with an approved septic filter fabric.  It's basically a fancy version of landscaping fabric.  The fabric keeps sediment and dirt out of the infiltrators, helping to keep the septic flowing freely.

The inspector was able to come out that day for a final inspection, and gave us the approval so that we could backfill the system.  Steve spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening backfilling, and it was covered before the snow came!  Later, we celebrated this milestone of finishing all the major in-ground work for the house!  The septic was finished two days before Thanksgiving!

Septic system backfilled.