Building a new house and shop (12 Viewers)
- Thread starter 1911
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1911
chupacabra
- Thread starter
- #23
Septic; there is no sewer out here, 10 miles from the nearest (small) town. The only real choice is between a conventional leach field septic system and the newer aerobic style. The septic system is literally the only permit we need to build the whole compound (house, shop, apartment, roads, everything). I had to pay a licensed soil tester to dig some trenches and say the soil is permeable enough for a leach-field system. I was happy, as a well-designed leach-field system requires zero maintenance, whereas the aerobic system requires regular tweaking and maintenance by a licensed tweaker and maintainer.
Yea, I'm going through the same dilemma right now with which septic system to use. I know the anaerobic system is fool proof if set up properly, but it requires a constant inflow of "bacteria" in order for the process to work. The aerobic would be better for me because it has oxygen speed up the process, but it requires electricity. With the cabin only seeing seasonal use, I don't want to have to run the diesel generator just for the septic system. The real kicker is, only the girls really use it, and they may only be up a couple of times a year. So all this work for such limited use, but it gives me an excuse to bust out my backhoe. Tractor therapy is better than any shrink.
thatcabledude
GOLD Star
A leach field should be a no-brainer for you then.
If you don't mind my 2 cents on aerators. I've lived with septic systems all my life (63) and when the aerators came on the market, people bought into them. The motors are problematic and go out fairly often. My last system, for 20 years now is just two tanks and a four hundred foot leach field. I get them pumped out @ every three years and never a problem. Our old family farm system was just 55 gallons barrels buried in the ground! How deep did you have to drill the well? We went down 480 feet and like yours, 75 gallons a minute, one hell of a well.
Looks like a wonderful place, you'll be happy there.
Looks like a wonderful place, you'll be happy there.
1911
chupacabra
- Thread starter
- #28
Thanks.
Yes, I agree with you on the conventional leach field versus the aerobic; a leach field is what we are putting in, now that the county-approved inspector has given us the green light. Where we are living now, we have a conventional leach field septic system and it has never been pumped in the 13 years we've lived here, and it still works perfectly. We are careful not to flush anything more than toilet paper in it.
I had the well drilled to 200 feet, but the 75 gal/minute sand is at only 80-90 feet.
There is a 'Biofilter" that uses small blocks of foam to capture the bacteria that do all the work... it is said to be maintenance free except for the pump ... but I have already replaced my pump on a standard field after only 4 years - and at another location I need to do the same - so its a coin toss imo.
Also one snag I hit with hydronic pex in the slab was during one season only (- so far) I had water problems and the sump was running like crazy ... and basically I was heating ground water which stole all the heat out of the slab on its way to Lake Superior.... if you use pex in your slab ... make sure you have lots of insulation and attend to the edges carefully as well as have a good (and deep) tile drainage system around the perimeter. Ground water will make life costly if you are heating the slab (suggest you do as I do and make sure that the slab is on its own zone(s) so you can cut it off if necessary. Incidentally if you use staple up radiant on the floor above (assuming there will be more than one floor) -- it will heat your basement pretty well even without pex in the slab. I will say the best advice I got was to find (and refinish) some old cast iron rads which I installed on the top floor and they are GREAT! Wish I had simply used them on all floors.. (basement, main and upper). I am on the shore of Lake Superior and went down several hundred feet to find water. Flow wasnt great (couple of gallons a minute) and my well guy had a great plan that was only going to cost me a couple thousand ... he was going to 'frack' it... I said no and bought two large pressure tanks... then discovered after a few months that drawing from the well slowly cleared sediment and I am now about 10-15gal/min which is plenty adequate for me. Prewire the hell out of the place as you never know what devices or sensors you might want to install ... FWIW I use a 'sensaphone' for home monitoring at the cottage and it will call me/or I can call it to get a reading on everything. Its handy when I am not there. Recommend fibreglass windows (not vinyl) only a few companies make them but they are durable and energy efficient. Dont do what I did which is to install opening windows everywhere. You can save money (and energy) by only installing windows that open in locations you are certain you need them, any way a good HRV system can help keep fresh air circulating while preserving energy. I also recommend insulating any interior walls and hanging insulated doors .... terrific sound proofing and very nice to isolate rooms you are not using....
My hydronic system at the cottage is fed by an electric boiler... not too too bad but hydro rates are getting nasty and my choices are oil, propane, electric. The first two require keeping the driveway snow free which isnt always practical so I finally bit the bullet and a few months ago installed two Mitsubishi Air Source Hyper Heat units which operate down to -25c = -13f .... which should be ok for much of the winter. The 'Specs' indicate that these will be even cheaper than the electric boiler - which remain as a backup... and based on discussions with Mits engineers they think that the air source heat pumps are overall preferable (and more cost effective) to ground source heat pumps (unless you have good geothermal sources) ANd of course the Air Source Heat pumps are great A/C and some are excellent dehumidifiers
BTW ... another factor in energy conservation often overlooked is the use of heavy drapes/curtains ... low tech but very effective.
Also one snag I hit with hydronic pex in the slab was during one season only (- so far) I had water problems and the sump was running like crazy ... and basically I was heating ground water which stole all the heat out of the slab on its way to Lake Superior.... if you use pex in your slab ... make sure you have lots of insulation and attend to the edges carefully as well as have a good (and deep) tile drainage system around the perimeter. Ground water will make life costly if you are heating the slab (suggest you do as I do and make sure that the slab is on its own zone(s) so you can cut it off if necessary. Incidentally if you use staple up radiant on the floor above (assuming there will be more than one floor) -- it will heat your basement pretty well even without pex in the slab. I will say the best advice I got was to find (and refinish) some old cast iron rads which I installed on the top floor and they are GREAT! Wish I had simply used them on all floors.. (basement, main and upper). I am on the shore of Lake Superior and went down several hundred feet to find water. Flow wasnt great (couple of gallons a minute) and my well guy had a great plan that was only going to cost me a couple thousand ... he was going to 'frack' it... I said no and bought two large pressure tanks... then discovered after a few months that drawing from the well slowly cleared sediment and I am now about 10-15gal/min which is plenty adequate for me. Prewire the hell out of the place as you never know what devices or sensors you might want to install ... FWIW I use a 'sensaphone' for home monitoring at the cottage and it will call me/or I can call it to get a reading on everything. Its handy when I am not there. Recommend fibreglass windows (not vinyl) only a few companies make them but they are durable and energy efficient. Dont do what I did which is to install opening windows everywhere. You can save money (and energy) by only installing windows that open in locations you are certain you need them, any way a good HRV system can help keep fresh air circulating while preserving energy. I also recommend insulating any interior walls and hanging insulated doors .... terrific sound proofing and very nice to isolate rooms you are not using....
My hydronic system at the cottage is fed by an electric boiler... not too too bad but hydro rates are getting nasty and my choices are oil, propane, electric. The first two require keeping the driveway snow free which isnt always practical so I finally bit the bullet and a few months ago installed two Mitsubishi Air Source Hyper Heat units which operate down to -25c = -13f .... which should be ok for much of the winter. The 'Specs' indicate that these will be even cheaper than the electric boiler - which remain as a backup... and based on discussions with Mits engineers they think that the air source heat pumps are overall preferable (and more cost effective) to ground source heat pumps (unless you have good geothermal sources) ANd of course the Air Source Heat pumps are great A/C and some are excellent dehumidifiers
BTW ... another factor in energy conservation often overlooked is the use of heavy drapes/curtains ... low tech but very effective.
Not an expert on fireplaces but the guys that have lots of experience convinced be to buy a `North South`burning fireplace and not an Èast West design.-- opinion was they were safer ,burnt better and longer... and one that was as deep as possible to handle (at minimum) a 20`log.
1911
chupacabra
Looking good! Are you erecting the building your self? If your planning on finishing the interior walls, you might see if the company you purchased the building will sell you additional base angle for the inside to allow the bottom of the wall to be screwed. This gave me an 8" void to fill with R30 insulation. I used 3/4" BC plywood on end along the entire inside perimeter. This will provide a solid anchor for future brackets, shelving, etc, and provide protection up to 8'.
It gets pretty hot during the summer and the inside of the building remains much cooler and with the large evaporation cooler we get a 30 degree pull down. During winter months, when the temp is at 30 degrees outside the interior remains a good 12-15 degrees warmer. I can fire up a propane salamander type heater for 20 minutes with the doors closed and be at 60-70 degrees . By 10 am its usually nice out and the doors can be opened for fresh air.
Keep us posted on your progress. Looking forward to seeing more.
Take care.
It gets pretty hot during the summer and the inside of the building remains much cooler and with the large evaporation cooler we get a 30 degree pull down. During winter months, when the temp is at 30 degrees outside the interior remains a good 12-15 degrees warmer. I can fire up a propane salamander type heater for 20 minutes with the doors closed and be at 60-70 degrees . By 10 am its usually nice out and the doors can be opened for fresh air.
Keep us posted on your progress. Looking forward to seeing more.
Take care.
1911
chupacabra
- Thread starter
- #37
Having a construction company (that specializes in metal buildings) build it for us. Thought about doing myself from a Mueller kit, but decided I didn't want a lot of "learner" mistakes on it; this is going to be the last place we ever move to and I want it done right. And for the first time in our lives, we can afford to build what we want, not just what we can afford.
The insulation will be spray-in foam; I forget how many inches thick it will be. It is nice to have plywood on the interior. On my current shop that I have now, I put OSB all around the bottom 8' and just left it unfinished.
It gets hot here in the summer, but winters are pretty mild. I will have some 230v exhaust fans in the eaves and some windows opposite of the bay doors, to get some cross flow ventilation.
Thanks for the ideas and encouragement!
The insulation will be spray-in foam; I forget how many inches thick it will be. It is nice to have plywood on the interior. On my current shop that I have now, I put OSB all around the bottom 8' and just left it unfinished.
It gets hot here in the summer, but winters are pretty mild. I will have some 230v exhaust fans in the eaves and some windows opposite of the bay doors, to get some cross flow ventilation.
Thanks for the ideas and encouragement!
Looks great!
1911
chupacabra
- Thread starter
- #40
LOL, nothing escapes her eye. Biggest problem is her continuing to make various upgrades and changes, long after the bid was accepted - going to be very difficult to know what it is finally going to cost. But she's worth it. Hopefully a learning experience for when we start to build the main house there, next year if all goes according to plan.
