Updating the Well

Hendy's arrived to start work on the new well. This involved a lot of digging and a lot of mess! They needed to install some new pipework, take down the old pump, install a new one and update the ancient housing of the old well. So, first things first - demolition! It had lasted an age, but it was time to say goodbye to the knackered old pump:

Jon was in his element, digging away and making a right old mess!

The black tank was a temporary water pump which they set up whilst the works were underway. And after 2 days of digging, burying and erecting the new housing for the well - it was starting to look a lot neater:

a new overflow pipe was installed and the water tested. Flowing at a rate of 9 gallons a minute(!?) we were definitely back in business:

A series of new pipes were connected up to the pumphouse. Then a new line was run over to provide a water supply for the chicken shed. The old piping was dug up here too:

Then all of the digging work was back filled:

Major surgery around the pumphouse - but all connected and flowing nicely now:

Like a scene out of the Somme in front of the caravan:

Down from the caravan to the bottom of the field:

Just a little bit further - can you see it?

Our lovely new, environmentally approved for public consumption service well:

Good job Hendy's!

Trenching and Drainage

Whilst the weather is on our side, we got on to the pressing task of tackling the problems with drainage around the house. There is a large mixed bush sitting on the south western corner of the front of the house. It has grown over in recent years and blocked the drainage channel to the rear:

 So we cleared that out to see what we were working with:

There is inadequate run off from the guttering into this drain, along with some cement rendering on the outer face of the chimney in the living room. This has resulted in a severe pooling of water around the perimeter of the property and has effected the walls inside the house (they are damp and bleeding salt). So, we had the cement render taken off the chimney, adding in some ventilation for the stack:

A channel was chopped in around the perimeter of the house, which we then back filled with gravel to act as a french drain:

This worked well on the front of the property:

Unfortunately though, due to the height of the groundwater on the older part (the dairy) it was ineffective. We put an aco drain in its place however and this now seems to have done the job:

Next it was the task of fixing our 'down pipe that goes to nowhere' situation, on the outer corner of the old dining room:

The downpipe had been installed but there was no drain for it to run into and it had been like that for, well, ever... this seemed strange and was something we hadn't even noticed until there was some heavy rain. On closer inspection, of the walls internally, it became evident of the effects this had had here too - big cracks, damp wall:

So, Steve bought the digger round and established a new trench over to the lake:

We hit groundwater after a short while but placed a pipe on top then backfilled with gravel:

 

This was put to the test under a strong downpour and was very successful in draining into the lake. So test complete, we back filled the pathway:

built the wall back up:

and laid some cold tarmac down over the surface:

Whilst the digger was on site we got Steve to run another trench,

ready for the outlet from the en-suite of the master bedroom:

It made sense to get all this done together, even though it looks a bit like Armageddon in the garden now! At least all the water is getting away from the property now though - and fingers crossed by the time winter comes we will be nice and dry internally... or at least lets hope so!?

Tackling the Trench

After our failed attempt at digging up a trench recently for the re-siting of the electricity and water feeds, we hired in some help and got a digger on site. Steve and his team have done a sterling job digging out the new route and achieved what would have taken months with our small trowel in a matter of hours.

New route for electricity cabling:

Cabling route and water feed to new pumphouse: 

They've also helped us make good the opening:

And the whole place is starting to look like a proper building site now!