Well House - Part 1
Cement slab
Prep Work
In a previous post, I mentioned how the drillers taped over the well casing to keep out contaminants. For a better seal, the first thing we did was buy a well cap and install.
Ben hopped on the trencher and stubbed out some pipe connections for a future cistern.
Ben built an 8’x8’ frame (this will be the cement floor of the well house), then I filled and compacted the gravel.
Ready to Pour!
On the day of the pour, we brought a trailer with water bladder from home. The plan was to hook up a pump and hose to mix cement, but the pump died on us. We ended up hauling the trailer of water up the hill, and letting gravity fill a bucket with water near the work area. That was super fun, since we had to walk up and down the hill every time the water needed to be turned on or off.
Next we hooked up our brand new Harbor Freight cement mixer to a generator. We thought, “Hey, it’s cheap and we only need a mixer for this one job. We’ll save so much money over buying a more expensive mixer, and it’s the same cost as renting!”
…and then…
We got a few bags mixed and poured before the cement mixer broke. Ben would fix it…break again…repeat…that was a very stressful time. The cement we’d already poured was drying, there are only so many hours of daylight, and the farm isn’t exactly a 5 minute drive from the hardware store.
The mixer vibrated so much that bolts came loose, and some were lost on the ground…yeah, you try to find a couple bolts on the beige ground & under time pressure! Wasn’t happening. The pulley key kept coming loose, and it wasn’t an option to continue with the cement mixer. [Harbor Freight did take the mixer back and refund our money, but too late…never again.]
And so began the saga of mixing 20+ bags of cement by hand. After a few bags, I decided to lean into the torture and embrace that this was my life now & forevermore…stirring & stirring, shoveling, stirring….
Around about this time, I was ready to drop. It was way past sunset, and Ben graciously stayed to finish smoothing the surface while I hightailed it out of there. So much work for an 8’x8’ area!
We had some challenges, built some muscles, and the finish isn’t perfect (we’re amateurs, after all) - but at least the base for our well house is done!
I’ll post updates through the build process & then hooking up the pump & solar. Should be fun. :)
