New England B.S. Thread

Morning! Stayed home yesterday for the snow day. Actually got more done than I usually do when I'm here.

Got about 7" of real heavy wet stuff. Actually think it compacted to more like 5 or 6" by the time it got cold again.

 

I think we got about 16" or so in the Conway area!

MY GOD have we had a shitty last two days! We came home Sunday evening, and I went to wash some dishes. The water ran for about 10 seconds then stopped, like someone had turned off the faucet... I had to dig out the pump house cover, drag my very heavy engine hoist through snow, and rig up a way to lift that like 200lb cover. I checked this over with OSHA, and they were cool with it. They said that having two of the 6 wheels of the lift on the ground was totally fine, and having the rear of the lift approximately 2' off the ground actually aided in the mechanical strength of the lift rig.


Finding a company to come help with this issue was annoying as well! Most of the ones I called and left messages with never called me back. Some that answered didn't work on point wells. Another told me the soonest they could be there was the 9th or 10th... Finally we found one who said he'd be there in 45 minutes!

It turns out that the pipes down there froze, causing the jet pump to bind up and burn itself out. Very unfortunately, it cost me about $1,900 to get the pump replaced. The kicker is that pump goes for $450 online

While he was running to get the parts, I ran to Home Depot and grabbed two 2" sheets of 4x8 foam to provide some extra insulation once the replacement was done.


I made two layers of foam. I also had the dude put the light down there to keep things warm.



After all is said and done, I've spent $17,000 in the last two months. If something else goes wrong, I'm going to live in my Crosstrek down by the river.

I have Winterforces on my Crosstrek and I love em!

I'd get 2 new ones and install them in the rear. The rear tires wear faster than the fronts do. You really won't find shops selling second-hand tires because it's a huge liability.

I'm not allowed to go grocery shopping unaccompanied

 

Well, at least you got a closed-cell foam so you don't have to worry about it holding moisture.

 

That should have been built with insulated blocks if you ask me. Might need a brighter lightbulb or even heat tape?

 

Moisture is the least of my concerns

 

There was no bulb or insulation down there at all. And no mortar between the bricks, so without our typical snow blanket, wind got down there.

I spray foamed between the bricks and added all that foam, as well as the lightbulb.

Next year I am going to get a temperature sensing switch to turn a heating element on and off. It's a royal bitch to get that cover off.

 

Oh good yeah, I bet the light will prevent that entirely then.

 

I'm planning on getting one of these, or something like it. That coupled with a temperature controlled switch will make it maintenance-free.

 

Yeah, unless it waterlogs the foam and gives it a zero R-value. Not a problem with closed-cell XPS.

 

My friend's parents have a well like that. It used to freeze constantly in the winter. I have a square shallow well, but the jet pump and tank are in my basement. When I pull the well cover, it's ~1600 gallons of visible water.

 

Same, but mine's round. Pump and tank are in the cellar for ease of maintenance.

 

Most that I see are round. I need a new cover for mine and I can find round ones easily but square not so much. It's a concrete cover now and weighs an awful lot.

I suppose I could build something like Alex's cover. Only downside is it'd be a little odd looking because my well is out front.

 

It's probably a repurposed septic tank

 

@emelianenkov , Jethro’s right, look into heat trace tape. It’s like the heat cord people use for ice damns on their roofs. You put it directly on the pipe and put insulation around it. It’s low draw and will keep the pipes from freezing. That heater will of course work fine, but much higher draw and will actively try to heat the whole space which could result in condensation build up. If you use the heat tape, pipe insulation and a couple of layers of that foam on top, it’d work great and on the cheap since it’s not trying to heat everything.

 

Right, I have a lot of buddies with camps up north that have exposed pipes on 3 season camps that have been converted to 4 season and they use heat tape because it's way less expensive. That milkhouse heater you are looking at is basically a quartz heater and my guess is it will cost you a pretty penny to run. A quartz space heater in a house can add $100 in electricity even being used sporadically.

 

Wow, so I did something right!? That can't be

Oh that's weird... I don't know if I would like that lmao. I wish my jet pump was in my crawlspace, but oh well.

It looked like there was pink foam board in there at one point, then it was removed for whatever stupid reason. I actually found it in my garage, but had broken pieces off to support my truck bed so I don't damage the paint or dent it.

Now that I have it insulated, it should be totally fine. The top-most layer of insulation is at the dirt level. I piled on like 3 layers of that foam. then about 3' down from there I cut and fit more foam board to fit tightly together. It should be pretty much wind proof, which is the biggest issue with that pump house.

My well is in my front yard. It doesn't look too bad. Then again, everyone has one in their front yard in my area. It's just where the water is

I think I'll do just that! Heat tracing and pipe insulation would work wonders.

That heater is just a radiator style heater. They claim it has low draw. My grandma uses one similar in her pump house and it keeps things at like 45 degrees. Nothing astronomical.

 

Who knows!

My neighbor also has a square one that looks to be the same size. The others I've seen are all circular.

My girlfriend's uncle works for a commercial water treatment company and sent my water to their lab for me. All the properties like pH, hardness, metal/chlorine/sodium content were excellent, he said among the best well water he's seen. There is a small amount of bacteria that he saw on dip slides--they don't test bacteria in house so it'd be expensive to send off to see exactly what type and probably not worth it since we don't drink the water and for cooking it's boiled anyway. I suspect iron bacteria.

 

Our well water is some of the best tasting water I've ever had!

 

My parents built a house in upstate NY and had a well drilled. ~430 feet down and it turned out to be artesian. The water flowed out the top at 5 gallons a minute. That was the best water I have ever had. Their original house just down the street was pretty good, and my house now is too.

The realtor thought I was crazy when the first thing I did while looking at the house was go to the kitchen and taste the water. I've been spoiled all my life and refuse to live somewhere I can't drink the tap water. I can't stand municipal chlorinated water. It literally makes me gag.

We're driving down to FL to see my parents and I am planning to bring a couple cases of Poland Springs. The water there is awful.

 

My parents have really good tasting well water