Finally Bought Some Land

[ides1056]

Ledge maintains a steady temperature of fifty degrees, as I understand it. If you have a thermal break between your perimeter wall and the slab, you'd have a head start on heating it, I think.

I think system is too grand a term for what you need. Just some perforated schedule 40 pipe atop the ledge inside the perimeter wall before you fill with gravel, then run it up and through the house in a plumbing chase to vent outside. No biggee.

It's not like we are talking about how much seat post should show.

[j44ke]

Ledge maintains a steady temperature of fifty degrees, as I understand it. If you have a thermal break between your perimeter wall and the slab, you'd have a head start on heating it, I think.

I think system is too grand a term for what you need. Just some perforated schedule 40 pipe atop the ledge inside the perimeter wall before you fill with gravel, then run it up and through the house in a plumbing chase to vent outside. No biggee.

It's not like we are talking about how much seat post should show.

Fully insulated slab.

"System" is my generic word choice for whatever gets put in. Given the experience of both the architect and GC, I am sure the gizmo will be appropriate for the situation at hand.

[davids]

We've got the 20 year old version of this super-sophisticated device:UNS 29 - Analog Basement Unit - Humidex (R)

While it's designed to flush cool, humid air from the basement, it also flushes the air most exposed to the radon sources.

[j44ke]

Would be nice to have a break from the rain somewhere in the near future....

[ides1056]

I hope this weather pattern does not extend through the next six months. We'll be buried.

[j44ke]

Getting flatterer.

[ericpmoss]

Flatterer? Make it humpier! ;)

[j44ke]

Those little kids are cool!

[j44ke]

Oh hey, someone put this in our big hole full of rock.

[Mabouya]

Well, it's a start. ;)

Edit: BTW, how can it be a true money pit if it isn't very deep?

[davids]

You should leave some bedrock poking up through whatever you pour as a floor down there.

That's how I roll, at least.

[j44ke]

Well, it's a start. ;)

Edit: BTW, how can it be a true money pit if it isn't very deep?

True. Right now with all this rain it is sort of a money reflecting pool.

You should leave some bedrock poking up through whatever you pour as a floor down there.

That's how I roll, at least.

None of the bedrock sticks up where the interior floor will be. But we are saving almost all the rock removed from the house site and elsewhere. Some of the pieces are huge. And they will go into the landscaping plan. The Hotel Juvet is a model, though I don't think we'll be able to make it that extreme.

[j44ke]

One part of the landscaping that sort of awkward is the septic field. It is rather large and can't have any trees on it. What good is that? So we were thinking of ordering some high yield seed mixes and seeding in the field to make a meadow that hopefully will reseed itself without too much maintenance (other than yanking young trees and blackberries out.)

[davids]

One part of the landscaping that sort of awkward is the septic field. It is rather large and can't have any trees on it. What good is that? So we were thinking of ordering some high yield seed mixes and seeding in the field to make a meadow that hopefully will reseed itself without too much maintenance (other than yanking young trees and blackberries out.)

A diverse meadow would be beautiful! And given the large woods you have, it could be a really nice contrast.


p.s. I was joking about the bedrock in the basement. I need a nice photo of our basement intrusion to set the stage for that joke. Next time...

[xjoex]

One part of the landscaping that sort of awkward is the septic field. It is rather large and can't have any trees on it. What good is that? So we were thinking of ordering some high yield seed mixes and seeding in the field to make a meadow that hopefully will reseed itself without too much maintenance (other than yanking young trees and blackberries out.)

In my experience you will have 0 problems maintaining the plants in the leech field. Even in the arid area around our place in Colorado the plants grow like crazy on that spot. I bought a few bags of local wild flower seed and it took off almost instantly.

-Joe

[rwsaunders]

One part of the landscaping that sort of awkward is the septic field. It is rather large and can't have any trees on it. What good is that? So we were thinking of ordering some high yield seed mixes and seeding in the field to make a meadow that hopefully will reseed itself without too much maintenance (other than yanking young trees and blackberries out.)

There is some science as you know to planting on or near a septic field. Don't be afraid as some smart folks have addressed the issue many times over for sure. When are you getting a "Jorncam" and/or drone so that we can all track your progress? You need a job trailer too, where you can smoke White Owl cigars, drink Maxwell House with sugar and Cremora and hang your Rigid Tool calendar next to the emergency eye wash station and Heimlich maneuver diagram. Mike Noble can set you straight with the proper job trailer interior design.

https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/...26-617_pdf.pdf

[j44ke]

Thanks for the encouragement and the VT document. As Joe reminds me, there should be any problem getting things to grow on the septic field. Plenty of fertilizer.

One of the seed producers is in Ontario. I'll need to talk to them to see what the suitability for their mix would be in NY. I doubt much difference. They have a seed mix that is available in 1000 sq. ft. and 5000 sq. ft. units. The general contractor said whatever we want to grow there, just give it to him and he'll seed the area with a mechanized seeder so the distribution is evenly layered. So that's convenient.

There is also a place in Minnesota that puts more emphasis on native plants, and they have a short grass woodland edge mix of seed species that looks interesting.

And Ernst Conservation Seeds is another company, and the mixes they have are incredible, including things like strip mine repair. When we were considering a property with a large pasture that had been over-grazed and then scraped for topsoil, someone recommended Ernst to us as a resource for seeds in a mix suitable for distribution by agricultural equipment (evidently flower seeds can be too light to use in this kind of equipment.)

Another of the properties we looked at had a house from the 1800's on it and the foundation was 3 rubble-stone walls and a giant lump of bedrock. It looked like a petrified version of The Blob at one end of the basement.

[j44ke]

Jorncam indeed. Any recommendations for a wildlife camera? One of those things you strap to a tree and get night photos of deer or Bigfoot sniffing the lens.

[j44ke]

A couple more beauty shots. Unfortunately the rain this week has stopped concrete work until Thursday. We've already had some minor flooding this weekend in the Hillsdale area. This will may make it less minor.

[mnoble485]

There is some science as you know to planting on or near a septic field. Don't be afraid as some smart folks have addressed the issue many times over for sure. When are you getting a "Jorncam" and/or drone so that we can all track your progress? You need a job trailer too, where you can smoke White Owl cigars, drink Maxwell House with sugar and Cremora and hang your Rigid Tool calendar next to the emergency eye wash station and Heimlich maneuver diagram. Mike Noble can set you straight with the proper job trailer interior design.

https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/...26-617_pdf.pdf

I am a dinosaur with one foot in the La Brea Tar Pits for superintendents and so are the job trailers RW described with his tongue firmly in cheek. Our trailer consists of 10 double wides put together with offices, cubicles, bathrooms (6) and a kitchen. No Maxwell House, only K cups and Half& Half. Most calendars have been replaced by large flat screens. We just completed an 8 story addition to a hospital and the entire jobsite was non smoking from ground break to ribbon cutting so no White Owls either.

Most superintendents these days have a degree and more computer skills than building skills.

I am an old dog who managed to learn enough new tricks to last this long but my days are numbered.

Mike

Mike