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Kinda funny we have the same bedspread. lol Too bad Mike can't find somebody with a grader for all that rip rap. He could put the rock on the drive in piles and the grader could push it down in the ditch. Can't remember if you're doing both sides of the ditch or just the edge of the drive. By grading it in, the driveway side of the ditch would be done pretty quick. I know a grader isn't something everybody has just laying around the yard but I think what you've got on the back of your tractor would do the job. Just angle the blade and start pushing.
Thanks. Mike is pushing a lot of it into the ditch but we still have to hand place it up the sides.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lollykoko
Now for a question.... I've been wondering about your water pressure with the pressurized tank between point of use and the well pump. I am thinking of something similar, hoping that a large reservoir and gravity assist will allow pressure somewhere close to "city normal". In your experience, are my hopes out of line?
Thank you for writing in. This is how our system works. We use a well pump using a generator to pump our well water into a 1000 gallon underground tank. From there it siphon feeds to the house and goes to a 12 volt Shurflow pump with pressure tank inside the house.
We have good water pressure but not like city water. I don't think you will be able to get city pressure from a spring. It would be helpful for you to have an additional pump inside. Good luck.
Its been awhile since I have fooled with the numbers for water and waste water, but, I will give it a shot...(Used to post on DIY for a couple of years, under different names, to help people )
One foot of water equals .433 pounds per foot.
Normal water for household in cities is 40-60 psi.
40 X .433 = 17.32 feet. So, if you mount a container 17 to 25 feet high--->THIS MEANS, the highest point that your going to need the water....if you have a shower on the third floor of a house, then, its gotta be 17-25 feet above that shower head, to give you the pressure your wanting, and used to<--- you will have good water pressure, and not need the pressure tank inside the house.
BUT, you will need a good holding tank, and support system, plus, a pump that will PUMP the water from the bottom of the well, to the very top of the tank. (horizontal distances dont count in the pumps lifting capacity).
A tank can be placed on top of a hill, above your place, as long as it has the verticle distance...(horizontal distance doesnt count for anything, its verticle that gives you pressure and must be overcomed by the pump, pumping liquid to the vessel).
You must insulate the outside of the tank, to prevent it from freezing in the cold, unless your going to drain it in the winter time, or, have some kind of heating element in there to prevent freezing.
Also, insulate the piping, going to, and from the tank, to prevent freezing and having a huge break out if it freezes and busts.
Check with your local Regulations in your Area, regarding this installation, as the EPA seems to want to regulate everything under the sun, and even 'that' if it was possible!!
Hope this helps you.
Former Waste Water Class III Ohio Operator 25 years experience.
Just my two cents worth, and a wee bit extra for the collection plate
Hello everyone. This month will be our 3 year anniversary of buying our land. It's been a great 3 years with a lot of ups and downs and a lot of learning. So far this year has been a good one We are making changes and improving things. So now to let you know what we have been up to
Back to the beginning of May. Since Mike and I want to improve on what we have done, we have been talking about getting an electric refrigerator instead of our propane refrigerator. We looked into solar electric refrigerators and they cost over $2000.00 for a regular sized refrigerator. We have been doing some research and we have decided to buy a regular $360.00 electric refrigerator and increase our solar system if needed. Which means we have some shopping to do
Our electric line that runs underground from our solar system to our house isn't sized big enough for more electric usage. We knew at some point we would have to increase the wire size and now is the time. Wouldn't it have been great if we just "knew" everything from the start, lol? I just hope some of you can learn from all of our experience Life is all about learning and since we don't know anyone else who has ever tried to do what we are doing I guess we are the guinea pigs, lol.
So on May 1st it's back to Lowe's for more wire
I know Mike wants to get this job done but I made plans to take my stepdaughter out to go plant shopping and out to lunch. I will help Mike in the morning and then I have to leave him to work on his own.
Before I leave on Monday the 2nd I help Mike get ready to shut our system down and start over
His plan is to turn off our system, change out the underground wire, and rewire the whole system including our indoor electrical panel. It's going to be a long and stressful day for Mike until he gets our electric back up and running.
First Mike disconnects the wiring from the box in the building and also the breaker panel in the house. Next it's time to get the old smaller wire out of the ground and get the larger wire underground.
Time for business. Mike tapes the end of the old smaller wire to the new larger wire.
We have to get about 65 feet of the new wire underground.
We are taped up and ready to go.
Mike stays at one end and pushes the wire down into the pipe underground while I pull from the other end. We cross our fingers and I pull gently while Mike pushes...and it's through to the other end
Mike has a full day of work ahead of him. My stepdaughter shows up to go to town with me. She is doing her first garden this year and I am doing my third garden. We are going to the school and the nursery to buy plants Hours later after buying multiple plants and having lunch we get back home. We had a great time while poor Mike had to work. He got all of the wiring hooked back up in the building and also redid the breaker box inside the house.
The old breaker box.
And the new one. Mike also painted a board and put it behind the box.
He worked really hard and did an awesome job. We are back online and ready for a new refrigerator with a self defrost
We have been hearing a lot of chainsaws lately and that's never a good thing to hear. Today we finally saw where they are cutting and it's right across the way No matter how much land you buy, you just can't protect it all.
As you know, this is what it looked like before it was logged.
At some time it will grow back. The trees won't grow back in our time but hopefully it will eventually turn green.
Tuesday May 3
Mike and I stayed home and redid some house and food organization. My plants are all inside as it is way to cold to plant anything yet.
Wednesday
I called Lowe's and they have my new refrigerator. Woo hoo. Time to go to town and pick it up. Mike and I get it loaded onto the trailer and back home. Ahh....now to get it down to the house. It's tall so we have to be careful getting it down.
It's not too heavy just awkward. I help Mike get it onto the tractor bucket and we strap it in.
Mike backs it down the drive while I make sure it doesn't tip over
We get it down to the house and off the tractor. Next we bring it inside. For now we are going to hook it up in a different location. We have to test our system before we can make the switch over from the propane refrigerator to the new refrigerator.
Mike is reversing the door handle for me. This is a huge peeve of mine. I can't stand when a refrigerator door opens the wrong way.
Since it is late we won't plug the new refrigerator in until the morning. We have to monitor our system and make sure our system can run it without any problems.
The next day we plug it in and I write down every time the refrigerator goes on and for how long. So far so good. If all goes well we can switch the food
We also went out to cut up some wood but our chainsaw is broken and Mike can't get it fixed which is very unusual. We rarely have to drop things off for any type of servicing which i am very thankful for
Friday May 6
It's raining today so we are stuck inside again. First we dropped off the chainsaw.
Back home...the refrigerator is doing great and our system is handling it I moved the food over. Now it's time to advertise our propane refrigerator. We will leave it hooked up for a couple of weeks. Hopefully we can sell it before we have to unhook it and store it.
Saturday-
Another cold day. Mike and I are painting the bathroom. I do the cut in while Mike rolls. This time we use a small roller since it is a tight room. It's amazing how much less paint you waste using the small rollers
Mike painting the bathroom.
It only took us about an hour and now it looks so fresh and clean.
and
On May 9th I painted the electrical box. Much nicer
And the next day Mike starts to clean out the green building again!!!
I don't know if Mike and I will ever be done organizing, lol. We always seem to change things.
That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed the story and I will write again soon. Have a great week and stay cool.
Location: The other side of the Cumberland Plateau
363 posts, read 583,372 times
Reputation: 538
Hard to believe we've been following your story for 3 years....it never grows old (unlike us ).
Even though you ran off with your stepdaughter, you left Mike in good hands and with proper supervision...Nikki . Without Nikki's help, I'm certain Mike would've lolled around the house with his feet propped up (not likely, huh? ).
That clear-cutting sure left an eyesore...Any idea if they might build houses there? Perhaps the landowners are down on their luck in this economy and needed to sell the timber to survive .
So, those little paint rollers work better? I've seen them used on shows that appear on HGTV and wondered about their effectiveness. If you all say they work great, that's good enough for me.
Thanks for taking the time to bring us up to date and as always, looking forward to your next installment.
Thank you for the update. You continue to inspire and educate me. Have a great June!
Aww...you're so sweet. Happy June!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Liondandy
Hard to believe we've been following your story for 3 years....it never grows old (unlike us ). Older, slower and a little bigger
Even though you ran off with your stepdaughter, you left Mike in good hands and with proper supervision...Nikki . Without Nikki's help, I'm certain Mike would've lolled around the house with his feet propped up (not likely, huh? ).
LOL...Niki likes nothing better than working outside with us. She keeps Mike and I inline
That clear-cutting sure left an eyesore...Any idea if they might build houses there? Perhaps the landowners are down on their luck in this economy and needed to sell the timber to survive .
Yeah, it's tough times for a lot of people. So many people around here are land rich and cash poor. I hope they aren't building houses across the way. The man who wons the land already started two developments here and they never sold out...so maybe he just needed the timber money.
So, those little paint rollers work better? I've seen them used on shows that appear on HGTV and wondered about their effectiveness. If you all say they work great, that's good enough for me.
The little rollers don't roll on as heavy but if you are going over a lighter color they work fairly well. We had to do a few touch ups but I figure with all the paint saved it was worth it. They also don't splatter much which is really good for me since I am a slob when I paint
Thanks for taking the time to bring us up to date and as always, looking forward to your next installment. Thank you and have a great day. Stay cool
I must have missed somethin, er, younglisa7, why are you replacing existing 40 year (maybe 50 ?) metal roof with 20 year shingle ? gonna remove the metal roofing ?
I must have missed somethin, er, younglisa7, why are you replacing existing 40 year (maybe 50 ?) metal roof with 20 year shingle ? gonna remove the metal roofing ?
Mike hates it.
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)
First Part Of May 2011
. We have been doing some research and we have decided to buy a regular $360.00 electric refrigerator and increase our solar system if needed.
Life is all about learning and since we don't know anyone else who has ever tried to do what we are doing I guess we are the guinea pigs, lol.
. 
