Seemed like it rained almost every other day. Dates in chart above are when I emptied the rain gauge, not dates of actual rain. This does not include snowfall. Also, there has been a color change in siding for the house.
A little more progress on the house, basement floor being poured. Framing is to start tomorrow.
It’s been a while since the last post. Not a lot has happened over the last year, but I did do a few projects and a lot of planning, though. I will do some project posts in the future. As of now, things are changing around here pretty quickly. The new house has finally been started. After much planning and finding contractors, things are happening.
Here are some pictures of the house I designed, renderings from the program I used to design the house. When the house is finished, we’ll see how close I came.
Here are some pictures of the actual house being built.
Had our septic system inspection done for building the new house, the system failed. So we had to get a perc test done to see if we could get a new septic system. We do qualify for a sand mound septic system, at this time we are in the design stage. Things were looking pretty bad for awhile. We were told we’d possibly have to get holding tanks or a small stream discharge system, both very expensive in the end. The small stream discharge system also needs state DEP approval which can take a year or more. It also requires more inspections, paper work needs to be submitted regularly, chemical treatment of discharge, and regular testing of what’s being discharged.
So I got an IBC to hold the water for the perc test.
Took about 15 hours to fill from the well.
Now to the rainwater harvesting part.
After the perc test was finished, moved the IBC up to the pole barn. This is where the first version of the system is going to be set up. Version one is mainly for testing and is also used to clean equipment. Ordered from Amazon (couldn’t find anything local) –
All lights now working. Used Hyperikon T-8, 15 watt, 6,000K frosted LED tubes. These tubes are awesome, it’s like daylight inside the shop now. They have a rated lifetime of 45,000 hours. All 48 tubes worked fine not one bad one. Others I looked at, reviews stated about getting bad tubes delivered and hassles with returns of defective tubes. Best part only about $0.11 / hour to run all the lights and should last like 20 years. Electricity with all fees is $0.16 / kWh (kilowatt hour) in our area. Fluorescent tubes would cost about $0.24 / hour. Lifetime savings for using LED tubes come to $5,820.00 if each tube last 45,000 hours.
Update.
All lights still working, had a minor altercation with one of the lights. While working on the front end loader on tractor I raised it up just a little too far. Hit one of the light fixtures and knocked one of the tubes out of the fixture. After hitting light and falling 10 feet to concrete floor, I thought that was it for it.
I thought damage to tube was terminal. Took pliers and straightened out housing best I could. Straightened sheet metal on light fixture and put everything back together. As you can see the tube lit up – doesn’t look the best but still works.
Very impressed with these LED tubes. If that would have been a regular fluorescent tube, it would have shattered and I would have had a small haz-mat situation from the mercury in the tube. Would definitely recommend and buy again. Thanks Hyperikon.
Finished plywood by entry door. Insulated and put wood casing trim around entry door.
Haven’t decided yet what I’ll be doing with the rest of the walls as far as wall covering. Or about insulating the ceiling or roof area. This bay will get a second layer of foam insulation and covered with 3/4″ plywood. this is for the in floor radiant heating system. On the outside of this wall I’m planning for a rain water catchment system. It will have a faucet out by driveway to wash off equipment and a deep sink in this bay for hand washing. This system will also be used to water garden and hopefully green house.