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.

Drilling Till We Hit Water - October 2014

The process of having the well drilled was fairly straightforward, although the company we hired was very busy and they were a month out when we scheduled with them.  On the day of the drill, they arrived with two trucks - the well drilling rig, and the supply truck.  Both are pictured below.

 

The well drilling process begins with installing casing, steel pipe that extends from about one foot above finished grade to at least 10 feet into the ledge or bedrock.  This creates a seal minimizing the chance of ground water entering the well. Typical wells in this area require between 40' and 100' of casing.  We needed 40', and the depth to bedrock at our site was 20'.

Once the casing is installed, the drilling process continues.  A drill bit is sent down the casing, while simultaneously introducing water in the hole to create a "slurry."  The slurry carries debris from the drilling up and out of the hole.

 

The drill bits used with drilling wells are pretty impressive, and although I don't have a photo of the exact bit used for our well, below is an example of a Tricone Rock Bit, similar to what was used for our well.  The bit has three conical rollers with teeth made of a hard material, such as tungsten carbide. The  teeth break rock by crushing as the rollers move around the bottom of the borehole.

As drilling continued, they reached 200', the average well depth, and kept going… no water until a depth of 385 feet!!!  And when we hit water, it gushed at 15 gallons per minute!  Apparently, this much volume could provide water for an entire neighborhood!  In general 5 gallons per minute is able to meet most demands of a residential home, so we certainly don't need to worry about running out of water!

Once the well is drilled, the trench to run the water pipes from the well to the house can be dug.  In the photo below, you can see the top of the well on the left and the trench going to the house.  The well company came back about a week later to connect the well to the house.

The final step is installing and connecting a well pressure tank, otherwise known as the water tank.  There are two pipes coming into the house, one for the water, and the other for the electric to run the pump.  We installed an 35 gallon water tank.  Although we don't have power yet, we can run the well pump using the generator, hook up a hose and have running water!  Exciting!  

Next on the agenda… POWER!!!!!!

The Roof is Finished! October 6, 2014.

We are excited to announce that the roof is finished!  No more wet house with puddles, and another big step completed!  Here are a some photos of the roof being finished, starting with the photo below which shows the house with the plywood completed.

For our supplies, we decided to go with Certainteed Landmark Shingles in the color Heather Blend.  We had several pallets of roofing materials delivered, and we ended up using 64 square of shingles.  So, we had approximately 6400 square feet of finished roof!  No wonder why the roof was such a long project!  That is a big area to finish!

 

Below is a close up of the shingle color - Heather Blend.

The garage was the first area with plywood, and first to be shingled as well.  To finish the roof, the first step is to apply the the ice and water to the eaves, valleys, low angle roofs, and any other area needed.  The product we used for this was Certainteed Winter Guard.  This is a protective layer made of asphalt, and will help stop ice dams on the roof in the winter, which can damage the roof, and cause leaking.

In all areas not covered with the ice and water, another protective wrap is placed, which is usually tar paper.  BP Builders suggested using Titanium UDL30 instead of tar paper.  This is a synthetic roofing underlayment which provides a water, air, and vapor barrier under the shingles.  It self adheres to the roof, and also provides a more slip resistant working surface with small modules on the surface of the material.  I was most impressed with the 40 year warranty on the product, which will surely outlast the shingles!

Before the roof shingles could be completed, we had to finish up all of the roof framing.  We had a couple of areas above our windows in the gable ends which required some traditional framing. Because our house is so well insulated due to the ICF construction, we wanted to make sure that these areas not built with ICF were also well insulated.    We found a product called Zip System, which is a combination of a sheathing panel (like plywood), and foam insulation.  It's made of engineered wood and continuous foam insulation.  So this system does not allow thermal bridging, creating a better insulated area.  We used the 1 1/2" Zip Sheathing, which provides an R-Value of 6.  We will also use spray foam insulation, making the walls R-49.

The Zip sheathing can be seen in the photo below in the gable end over the dining room.  We also used the zip sheathing in the wall of windows in our living room.

      

We also had to finish the roof over our covered porch, including the framing, and the plywood. 

   

The photo below shows the finished porch roof and all of the plywood on the dining room roof has been completed as well. 

Once the framing was completed, the roof shingles could be continued.  Since the roof is steep (10/12 pitch), it's difficult to walk on, and roofing brackets with 2x6 boards were utilized to provide a surface to safely work on, as shown in the photo below.   

Some areas of the house were covered with protective wrap (pictured below) as the roofing was completed.  The ICF does not need to be covered with this, only the areas that are traditionally framed with plywood sheathing.

The roof started to come together nicely when we could see the finished roof on the front of the house.

      

Here are some close ups of the roof completed.

And the roof is DONE!!!!  YES!!!!  It was finished on October 6th… about 5 weeks after we received the trusses.  It's nice to have a roof over our head… although much darker, we need power next!

TRUSS, TRUSS, and More TRUSSES! September 2014

The truss roof was a lot of work, and took longer than we had anticipated due to the complexity of the roof.  We had decided during the planning process that we would hire some help for the roof, and we hired BP Builders to help with some of the trusses and finish the roof afterwards.

The photo below is standing in the house, looking towards the back of the house.  The framed area is the master bedroom, bathroom, laundry room and closet.

The Lull was a fantastic piece of equipment for placing the trusses since it it easily maneuverable and can extend it's reach to place the truss almost exactly where we wanted it.  Technically, it's described as a telescopic forklift.  It's more maneuverable than it looks because it has all wheel steering and crab steering, so the front set of wheels and back set of wheels can steer separately.  I have never seen that before and thought it was pretty impressive.

The photo below shows us using the lull to place the first truss over the dining room.  You can see how far the arm is able to extend to reach the location of the truss.

Aligning large trusses in the foyer of the house.

We also continued to use the backhoe and crane to place trusses when this was the better choice.  Below, the trusses in the main section of the house are being placed.

In the photo below, you can see our progress with the trusses over the main part of the house and the dining room on the right side.

The design of the house incorporates a covered patio, and the framing for this was started as the trusses were being installed.  We had already poured the footings for the patio and backfilled.

In the photo below, the trusses have been placed over the covered front entry and are getting ready to be installed.

 The photo below is taken from standing in the living room, looking towards the kitchen, foyer and stairwell.  At this point, the trusses have been partially installed, and there is no plywood on the roof.

This photo was also taken from the living room, looking at what will be the kitchen!

The front entry roof has been completed with a small overhang, and you can see the plywood on the backside of the roof.

The dog is just too cute not to include photos of him.  But don't let his looks fool you.

He is out at the building site almost every day in the good weather, and he loves overlooking everything from this rock, and letting us know as soon as someone pulls up the driveway!

We were really happy when the last truss was placed… after 163 trusses, this was a fantastic accomplishment!  Below, the large wall of windows is being framed.  

Inside view, looking at the foyer and stairwell (below).

Inside view taken from the front door, looking at the living room (below).  Some of the plywood has been installed on the roof.

You can see the framing of the overhang over the living room windows (below).  The trusses had to be specially designed to be able to accommodate this 2 foot overhang, with a top section of 3 foot overhang.  The end two trusses had to be built lower so that the framing for the overhang could be attached to the top of the trusses, and therefore provide enough support for the weight of the overhang.  

Next we will be finishing up the plywood and then shingles!