I should clarify, mine is an interior drainage system, meaning its dug at the foot of the crawlspace. With the way the house is arranged and the pool deck, Ive got zero chance of an outside french drain, which is REALLY the way to fix it when possible.
I got some good news today. Part of the drainage will require moving the water pump tank for the well. I had been wanting the house on county water for a while now, so when in Rome.... I need to get the county to set the meter then trench the 750ft to the house. BUT, when I pulled the septic permit from the county, it showed my tank about dead center of the house (in line with the front door) and the lines running west towards the neighbors barn. I dug out the 100ft tape, did the measuring based on what was drawn and determined there was no way this could be the case. Also, the drawing shows the driveway on that side of the property instead of the side its currently on. So I call the county back and ask them if they updated the drawing after the system is built...... "No sir, why would we update drawings after we issue the permits?"

On to Plan B. I keep in touch with the prior owners (a friend of mine from HS is married to one of their daughters. Small world.), so I called them today. I had an idea that the tank was at the far west corner of the house and the lines ran down the hill, and back to the east. Suspicion confirmed. The rate of growth on the trees in front of the white fence was a good indicator, BUT, what this means is that I can bring the trench up the outside of the fence on the west side of the house, and make a hard 90* and run the water right into the house where the current well water comes in now.

Which brings me to my next question... I could really use the two slots in the house breaker box that the well pump currently occupies. I have two circuits free currently, which are going to be occupied by the sump pumps and the dehumidifier/sump pump for that. Id like to add an outdoor kitchen at some point on the pool deck, which is what Id intended for one of those circuits to go to. So, I am contemplating hitting up my neighbor (who manages one of my electrical supply shops) for some UF-B and trenching/piping the well into the barn. It would a) give me those circuits back, b) give me water in the barn (and I could buy a POU water heater for a sink!) and c) give me a place to put a pump tank and spigot for use for watering the garden. Yes its a lot of effort, but I just cant see abandoning a perfectly good well, and it would be useful for doing major water things like filling the pool or watering the garden that I dont necessarily want to "pay" for. So, what am I missing?

Nope, dont plan to. As long as I can keep it servicable, itll remain in service. The electric situation is that I have two slots free in the breaker box currently. Moving the well off the house would give me four, which is convenient since Im about to lose two slots for the sump pumps and the dehumidifier in the crawlspace. My bigger point is not having water during power outages hence the county water.

Which conveniently...

https://myfox8.com/2018/12/05/prepare-for-significant-winter-weather-models-show-piedmont-triad-could-get-6-12-inches-of-snow/

I have lived in NC all my life. I think we have had one White Christmas that I recall, and that was in 2010. Until last year, I cannot recall a snow that stuck in December other than 2002, and the only reason that one is memorable is because that was the weekend my Grandfather died, I was in college taking exams, and it took me 11 hours to get home for what was normally a 1.5 hour drive. My dad swears that 09-10 they had December snows that amounted to something. The weather data would bear that out. But nothing of this magnitude. The models are close enough now that I feel like its time to get off the fence and be prepared. Conveniently, I work from home on Friday, so that may actually play into my favor in terms of preparations. This week was grocery week, so thats covered.

Might be an interesting weekend here...

We had about 70" of global warming a few years back.

This is the South side of our house.
Deck railing is ~6' off the ground.
Eve of roof is 7.5' above deck.
The drift on the roof is ~5' high.
Attached File


Same view after a couple days digging and snowblowing.
Attached File


After more digging..
Deck is 12' x 60' so that's a shitload of packed snow.
For reference, I'm 6' tall.
Attached File


This is the "slot" we cleared to get to the barn ~200' away.
We had 2 steers, 10 chickens and 1 Llama that needed tending twice / day plus we keep our firewood in the barn.
Attached File


It made for a rough spell but we got thru it..

So with an impending 12+" of global warming inbound, my dad and I spent yesterday with the transfer switch which I finished this morning.



Drywall and vapor barrier out



Switch in place



Line from genset in, and stud drilled/wires pulled into panel


Drywall replacement in, now it just needs patching, but that can wait until later



Wired in



Tested, panel face put back on, and mostly complete. I selected 6 circuits that would get us by with lights, fridge, freezer, and a furnace. Oh, and my IT closet so we can watch TV and have wireless internet of course. #1%erproblems

Ill work on patching tomorrow since it appears there wont be much else to do.

In other preparations:
Ran the bathtubs full of water
Plenty of drinking water and food items I can cook on the propane camp stove if needed
Grabbed the last 2 propane canisters at Walmart last night
Tractor full of diesel, neighbors blade is already on the back
Grabbed 5 gallons of kerosene to have on hand just in case
15 gallons of gas in cans should be enough to keep the generator happy for about a week
Four wheeler full of gas
Got all my cold weather gear ready for action
Got beer and whiskey

Not much else to do now but sit and wait.

My wife unfortunately is working this weekend. I imagine she will go in tomorrow, but we are hoping they close early tomorrow and remain closed on Monday. But, just in case, she is going to pack an overnight bag tonight and there is a hotel about a mile from where she works. Id rather eat the cost of a hotel then chance her having an accident on the way home because the roads are crap and/or because of someone elses stupidity.

Looks good!  How big of a generator are you running?

It's one of the HF 3500 inverters. I've been REALLY happy with it once I fixed a few minor issues with it. Runs like a champ. It did almost 30 hours straight this summer on 5 gal of gas at the 24 hour race I did. The biggest draws on it would be the fridge/freezer and those are only about an amp and a half per. The furnace fan only draws about 100w full tilt. Plenty of headroom for other lights and whatnot.

Edit: I really contemplated my options. They're a few pages back. The well was my big limiting factor and ultimately the decision in going this route. Statistically, we are only without power 12 hours a year here (according to Duke) but it's one of those things where I'd like to have some minor inconvenience versus a bigger genset that drinks gas for no payoff. And whole home gensets are worse IMO.

I've heard LOTS of great things about the HF gennys.  Sounds like it should serve your needs well!  If I ever need a small portable generator that's definitely the route I'll be going.

Now that you mention it, I remember reading about you trying to size a generator for your well.

Speaking of whole house gensets, that's what we'll be doing  Thought long and hard about it and it really came down to convienence.  We only have 5-10 hours a year without power but I swear it ALWAYS happens when I'm traveling for work in winter and my wife is home alone.  She really didn't want to have to mess with a generator.  Between that and my aging parents moving into their house in our yard, a whole house generator made a lot more sense for us.  My parents are splitting the cost 50/50 so that makes it a lot more manageable.

We had to move our underground high voltage feed, transformer, and meter base in order to build their house so we took the opportunity to go ahead and install a 200 amp automatic transfer switch.  It's wired up so it will power our house, their house and our pole barn.  Generator will be going in this coming spring.

Since living here our demand has never been over 5 kVA.  Demand in the new house should be the same and one well feeds both houses.  It's also a variable speed pump so it doesn't have nearly the draw on startup.  Should be able to comfortably get by with a 16kw gen set.

Glad I did that transfer switch now...

I road my trusty steed out to the main road. Everything has been untouched. Passed a Forsyth County sheriff (who was surprisingly cool with me being on the four wheeler in public road) and he said everything East of Walker town is basically without power.

The plan was in place, the plan was executed, and it worked.

Glad to hear everything worked out!

All done just in time.  You even put drywall back over the wall.  I'm glad it worked out as planned.

Fired up around 11:15 and still going on one tank. I'm going to top it off here in a few, run the heat up, then it's bedtime for everyone.

After action report?

After action report.

Things that worked well:
1. Transfer switch and generator - basically like the power never went out downstairs. Enough said.
2. Preparation - probably preaching to the choir here, but I was prepared and had a plan. That had me head and shoulders above 98% of everyone else
3. Lights. Ive been stocking up on the Harbor Freight puck lights (sidebar, the on-chip lights are WAY better than the 27 LED version). These were great for wherever you needed light. Hang one on the towel holder in the bathroom? Yup. The collapsable lanterns were great too (link). Pop one up, put it on the fridge, boom, kitchen lights. My HF Bauer light (link) was also super handy, and you can get them for 20 bucks with coupon.

Things that didnt:
1. While I had a plan for cooking on the propane camp stove, the one thing I failed to neglect was dishes. Moreover, how to clean them once meal prep was done. Open to suggestions, but I resorted to water from one of the tubs and soap to wash, and a rinse basin. Also, Id buy paper products to eat with. Cups, forks, bowls etc. On my list for next time.
2. Tractor blade. Previously never any issues, but this was the first real, heavy snow weve had, and it was HEAVY. The blade would drag the tractor sideways because Im still driving over snow and ice. This has me contemplating building a SSQA plow setup for future use.
3. Ill mention this in passing, but lack of the genset house. Its VERY apparent that its running when it gets dark and quiet outside, because with snow on the ground you can hear a mouse fart. Genset house in the alcove should mitigate 99 percent of that.

Well, funny you mention that...

This week I commissioned my Dad to get started on that in earnest on the pad I had poured, so he did...

First things first, we had both gotten tired of jumping on/off the porch, and since thats less than ideal under prime circumstances and moreso under bad weather, I now have a set of stairs.


Now, on to the enclosure. The brick is obviously the hard part because its the part I cant do.


So, youll notice a few things. Yes, its a LOT larger than my current genset. I wanted the option to go bigger in the future if I desired to. Youll also notice (if you look closely) that the top rows of bricks dont have mortar between them. Thats by design. The other thing youll notice is the angle and current ends of stair treads (Ill go back with a solid piece later) at the top. That will be the home for the extended run tank. Youll also notice that there is allthread sunk into mortar, and thats because I plan to do a 1/2 pressure treated cap, and then a sloped top on top that I can lift when needed for refueling or maintenance. I plan on making the front door all one piece, and I have security measures in mind to make it so you cant pull the door out or lift the lid to get in.

Now, the last thing youll notice if youre observant is that the stairs and porch are at my back in this photo, and the sunroom is to my left. To my right is a fairly large evergreen tree. So what does that mean? That means I have to do something with the exhaust. Portable generators are supposed to be a minimum of 10ft from houses (and now they say 15+ft) to keep from filling the house with CO. So, my plan is to locate the generator, drill a hole in the right side of the enclosure, knock out 1/2 of that brick and put a sleeve in. Ill then extended the generator exhaust through the sleeve, turn a 90* skyward, and build a genturi setup that will sit beside the gutter, curl around the eave at the top, and have about 4ft above the roofline with a cap on it to keep rain from coming down the pipe.

Ill have to measure the pad again, but work has been progressing on the gen house. Unfortunately, it wasnt done by the ice storm we had this weekend and I wound up with the generator in the yard again. So thats going to be priority 1 this week. I really dont lack a ton, just some basic finish work at this point. And yes, I did the pad myself, but in retrospect, I used quickset concrete which was a mistake. You want slow cure for something like that where youre doing a few bags total so that you have time to go back and smooth it before it semi sets up.

While Ive been quiet here, I havent been at home. I built out a new set of shelves for the utility closet, finished a bed for my daughter I had been working on, and worked on water remediation in the barn. I did wind up going to a garage door barrier setup, which has stopped about 90% of the water running in, but still leaks around the edges. I have two small leaks in the roof too that I need to find. Problem with the spray foam is, it makes them HARD to find because they will run down or behind the foam depending on where its at.

Pics to follow of course...

For right now, I could use some advice. With the crawlspace remediation happening soon, and having been without water two days this year because of power outage, and having just had more issues with a pressure switch, and knowing that my pressure tank is undersized, I am contemplating a short term fix for getting the crawlspace drainage done, and a more long term fix. Long term, I am thinking of chunking my current pressure tank (its pretty rusty and Im not sure of the bladder integrity given its age) and buying 2 new tanks, plumbed in parallel. Part 2 of this exercise would be pouring a concrete pad at the well head and moving the pressure switch, filter and tanks there. Part 3 would be trenching a line to the barn and running the electric for the pump from there. Part 4 would be an additional 120v circuit and some form of heat to keep it from freezing. Obviously, Id make sure the enclosure I built was as airtight as possible, but I dont want to a) give up the well water thats useful for filling the pool, watering the garden etc and b) cause myself more headaches than its worth. I think moving it there would give me more space to work with, easier ability to clean the filters, the ability to do a PROPER filter setup, and solve the short cycling issue with 2 or maybe even 3 tanks in parallel. Thoughts?

Generator house construction:
Started with capping the brick portions:

Then moved on to squaring out the front door portion:

Front door portion done:

Then started on a sloped top:


Skinned the sides in pressure treated ply:


This is where Ive left off, because I wanted the top to hinge open, and the way Ive built it, I cant do that because it wont hinge far enough. So, back to the drawing board. Thankfully its supposed to be warmer/dry this week so Ill have an hour or two after work to work with it this week.

Other projects lately:
Finished my daughters bed finally.


Got tired of the cheap-o plastic shelves and had some Lowes bucks to burn, so I decided to build shelves for the utility closet in the barn. They turned out pretty well!






Well, all except for this little guy:


My solution was to flip the switch to the outside of the closet. No biggie. Remember friends, measure twice, cut once!

Now for the crawlspace:

The guys were here week before last. I had moved the well tank prior. They did trench the entire crawlspace and put in the french drain plumbed into two sumps. They then drilled holes in all the block. When I asked how much water was held up in the block, the guy drilling laughed, and said the entire bottom row of block and then some were full of water.

Needless to say, the dehumidifier has run pretty hard for the past week, but I went down to put a sensor down there for a monitor I bought, and it was a cool 60 degrees and 50% RH. Perfect. The block is dry, all of the standing water is gone, and from the looks of it, the drain is catching anything that weeps up from the ground and in through the footer/block currently since the sumps were both about 1/2 full. Everything is covered in black vapor barrier now as well. No more mud! I can definitely tell a difference in the house as well. I think sealing it up really helped with that as its not as cold under the house now.

It was really just a want to make for easier refueling. But given how complex it makes the whole thing, I'm contemplating scrapping it, especially given how often that would potentially happen.

How are you adding sound deadening to that generator enclosure?

What's the ventilation plan on the genny?
Is exhaust going to be piped through a wall / roof?
Looking good and the brickwork should abate some of the noise.

Slots in the brick mortar, and fans in the top to exhaust air pulled in. Exhaust will be piped through the brick, turn 90* skyward, then exit a genturi above roofline.
Im not. Even in its current state with just being sealed up, you can barely hear it standing 5 feet away. Where Im at, sound carries extremely well. Putting four walls around it does 90% of the job, and the genturi handles the rest.

Well, I have a problem.

Two problems actually.

Problem #1. We have suddenly been inundated with geese. Flocks of 20-50 of them on the property, including all the "pleasantries" they leave behind. Ive run them off a few times, but they keep coming back. It was an annoyance until one of them bit my daughter when she was coming home from playing with the neighbors daughter this week. Ive called NCWRC, and basically got no help. And Im tired of goose shit everwhere.

Problem #2. Something has literally died under the breezeway and it smells wretched. The bottom of that floor is insulated with vapor barrier stapled underneath, and I cant find anything. And when I say wretched, I mean stomach turning. I let it air out tonight, but Im wondering if a mouse managed to get into the insulation and die. Since (after the crawlspace fix) that is the last area of bare dirt under the house, Im contemplating putting vapor barrier on the ground and reinsulating it anyway. I dont know what else to do and Im tired of the smell.

Ah, homestead life.

I bet firing a few shotgun shells off will move the geese.  If not then you know the other way to solve the problem.

Perhaps your local wildlife authority can get you some "shell crackers"
These are a 12 gauge round that's fairly quiet but sends a firecracker down range.
Think M-80...
Perhaps you can purchase locally depending on your state laws..
Can you get a "nuisance permit"?
The breast meat from Canadian geese is quite tasty!
That's about the only thing on the bird worth saving..
Slice down the brisket and de-breast similar to a chicken.
Cube it, saute in garlic & butter. Add a bit of lemon pepper....good stuff!
A .22 will take out 2-3 lookout birds before they figure out something is amiss...
See what local laws apply...

Well, still suffering with both problems.
My dad came to mow today (Im tapping him for mowing duties because I will be traveling most the year for work) and managed to get himself accosted behind the barn by a couple of geese before running them off.  I have contacted NCWRC again, and they have run me up the chain to USDA wildlife services. Because part of the area they are occupying is currently leased for cash and growing crops, they thought this would be the best route to obtain some more.... lethal means of management. I have tried the shells method to no avail thus far. My nearest neighbor with cows and horses has also commented that they have been harassing the cows, so I intend to mention this to the biologist when they come out.

In other news, I thought the rancid smell under the porch was gone, but nope! Back with a vengance this week.

My other quandary lately. NC has had SO MUCH rain the past few months. I wanted to plant broccoli this year, and that wont happen. Basically the garden is nothing but mud under the 1" of dry dirt on top. I am contemplating discing it to turn it over so hopefully itll dry some more and then disc it again in a week or two, but I really dont know what to do. We are quickly approaching the "no frost" zone where its time to plant so I want to get stuff planted asap if possible. Its just so wet from months of rain that even if I were to plant, I worry about fungus and mildew from moist soil thats never dried out. Our local farmers are talking about how much the rain has set them back in prepping for tobacco, soy and strawberries so Im not alone in dealing with this apparently. Any thoughts? I feel like if I drag the disc through it now, itll just be big clods of mud.

Geese can be mean bastards.  If it were me, I'd SSS and that would be the end of it.

If you can take a light pass with the disc and not have it ball up it should help it dry out quicker.  Let it dry some more then make a deeper pass with the disc.

Well, Part 1 of water remediation was the crawlspace...

Part 2 starts tomorrow!

Yeah, we did. We had someone trench the whole thing with french drain, 2 sumps, new vapor barrier and a dehumidifier back in January...

But, thats treating a symptom. The larger disease is the hill we live on, and the lovely NC soil. While great for growing 'baccer, it sucks for just about everything else.

Ergo...


So it begins...



There is a little more plumbing to do (hence the open T), but this (save for the last picture) is all glued together and will get tested today with the severe weather we are supposed to have. The last picture I had to throw together because it was pouring and I had already disassembled the downspout. That pipe will get permanently located/trimmed when we build the flowerbed and mulch this weekend hopefully. There is one other gutter on the side of the house which is the main offender for water in the crawlspace.

Borrowing from the HVAC project pictures:


The gutter behind the left unit is that guy. Just out of sight to the right is the crawlspace door, but the ground Im standing on is HIGHER than where that gutter discharges, and last I checked, water does not run uphill without being coaxed to do so. So I will bury and extend that gutter about 20ft out and have a landscape drain similar to the sum discharge.

This post brought to you by Kitties-with-Sigs and her love of groundwater management.

Yes I did actually. I did dry fit and then had a lot of trouble getting it separated again. I also made the mistake of thinking I could accomplish this in a weekend two weeks ago when it's been significantly more work.

Are you referring to the open T line? If so, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Nope. Thats all uphill unfortunately!

Long overdue update.

Last time we left off, we were mitigating water issues. Other than one downspout that needs sealed off, and one that remains to be buried, the lions share of that work is complete...

The t-line (previous post picture ) is now connected to this guy that runs through the mini-crawlspace we constructed over the winter:

I dont plan on keeping the flex pipe, but its a short term fix. Long term, I plan on hard piping and sealing all of it. The flex pipe has a tendency to clog with roof aggregate.

That line, as well as the other two previously pictured now terminate here:

My dad was gracous enough to build me a concrete pad there to direct water flow out onto the driveway. My main concern was erosion with the volume of water exiting there and I am pleased to report it works FANTASTIC. Even with some pretty heavy rain, it doesnt wash over the brick and flows out onto the concrete. Last time I checked, concrete doesnt erode.

On the garden side of things, the garden is in. This year, I have decided to up my watering game a bit just based on size. Part one of this plan are sprinklers:


Part two of this plan are these:


Four 350 gallon food grade IBC totes. This weekend we will plumb them into the barn gutters and build a level platform that we can place them on. For $30 per tote, they were an unbeatable deal AND, if you know anything about IBC totes, these ARE NOT threaded with buttress threads, but are 2" NPT connections! What that means is I dont have to spend $8-15 on adapters to adapt them to normal PVC pipe. To say I won the lottery on those things is an understatement...

One of my long term projects was building decent flower beds.

That started over Easter weekend and Good Friday:

The third bed (immediately right of this one) my Dad finished after.

So then, we planted flowers:

We tried to choose things that were drought tolerant, full sun perennials. Part of doing this was hopefully not having to do it again for a few years.

We also mulched the entire thing:

I am really hoping this will cut down on my weed problems as well as look decent for a good bit!

Lastly, we have had a TON of issues with groundhogs this year:

I have personally killed five of those little terrorists within the past 6 weeks. Theyre EVERYWHERE.

But, other wildlife abounds:

Happened across this guy in the pool...

Three new calves this year!

And then theres these things:

People have been losing their minds thinking theyre ticks. Theyre not. Theyre a variant of a weevil. Apparently the appear in cycles and this year they have been EVERYWHERE. The news has even done public service announcements about it because theyve been so prevalent. My mom and dad both swear there were infestations of these when I was a kid but I certainly dont remember them...

And lastly, I finally broke down and spent some money on tools:

This thing is AWESOME for cleaning the mildew stained concrete on the pool deck. Because of the angle of the house in the winter, portions of the pool deck wont ever truly dry out after it rains, which is a haven for mildew and grime. What took me almost two weeks a few years ago to clean took me two evenings after work. $100 well spent.

And then this:

After a few years of nursing my Porter Cable set with NiCad batteries, I finally bit the bullet and bought into the Ryobi One+ ecosystem. Not pictured is a battery powered fan (hello best buddy when working outside!) and a handheld blower I purchased after. All told, the kit plus two additional 6AH batteries and a spare charger set me back just a tick over $350, and it was a LONG overdue upgrade. I am very much of the "buy once cry once" mentality when it comes to tools, so I expect a good 5-7 years use out of these if not more.

Does that clean better than just a high pressure nozzle or does it just make it easier to clean a large area?  I have brick pavers that I cannot get clean even with 4200 psi and a 15 degree nozzle.  I bought a turbo nozzle which worked great on the stucco but did nothing to clean the pavers.

Yes, no, and sort of. So, yes on cleaning a larger area. Sort of on cleaning "better", hence my caveat. I have the same issue you have with some of my brick. Nothing short of a bath in muratic acid and a hard pressure wash gets it clean. Brick is more porous than concrete. But, to your point, there are just some areas that a 15 degree nozzle will have to be used, and sometimes after a chemical soak. The real benefit to the rotary cleaner is the time suck, or lack of it I should say. You still have to go back with a 15 or 25 degree nozzle to clean up edges and whatnot.

So, unfortunately here on the homestead, we are going on day 2 of no running water.

Yesterday, the pool was low due to the heat weve had and/or lack of rain, so I hooked the hose to the well and turned it on. Normal 2-3x a year activity for us. My daughter got a shower after that. Around the time I was loading the dishwasher and rinsing dishes at 9:30 was the "somethings not right" lightbulb. Hoping for just a plugged filter (as we do get after heavy usage like watering the garden or filling the pool) my heart hit rock bottom when I got into the crawlspace and saw the pressure gauge at 20psi. Investigation mode ensues after that, and I trace 240v all the way out to the fusible link at the wellhead and subsequently 240v going down the bore. Being 10:15 at this point, I threw in the towel.

This morning I dug the ammeter and megger out of my low voltage toolbag and did some further investigation. Upon doing so, I found that I had 240v going down the pipe, but no amps. For all you non electrical people out there, if you have one (one being volts, amps or watts) you should have all three because theyre relational. But to have one (being volts) and no amps means somethings wrong. So I continuity the wires. I have an OL from L1 and L2 to ground. Ok, thats how it should be. L1 to L2 is open.

Just because I was curious, I megged it. Got nothing.

None of these signs are good, so I roll out the poor mans well puller (aka the tractor) and call the local people who drilled it. Hey, we're coming right by there, we can swing by. Awesome!

We hooked their puller tool to the casehead, well head to the bucket, and in 15 minutes we had cleared the bore.

Now, I want to take a second here and back up.... Ive never said it in this thread, but I have moments of "too smart for your own good" (I know thats shocking...) but back when I was generator shopping, and backing out the inrush voltage etc etc, I had this gut feeling something was ....... not right. BUT, this is not my wheelhouse per se. Its just that the math didnt add up to me. The pump up rate I was seeing with the bladder tank, the inrush current on the line, all of that stuff has always seemed very off. The pump seemed to short cycle with too much inrush current, but I wrote it off as head pressure among other explanations I could feasibly explain.

Before I get to the pictures, today I now understand why. When the previous owner of the house replaced the pump circa 2009 timeframe, he replaced it with the proper 1.5HP pump. What he DIDNT do was put a 5GPM pump back in and put a 10GPM instead. As soon as I saw that on the pump label, lots of lightbulbs start going off everywhere. I pulled the pump to repair a splice joint in 2016 just prior to starting this thread. Now, I know.

So on to pictures. Theres a lot of lessons learned here guys. Im tempted to start a whole new thread just so it doesnt get buried here.

This is after we cut the pump loose:

That kids, is 675 ft of 8GA wire and pipe. But its whats on there that I want to show you. Tonight, I took the time to walk the entire thing, and I want someone else not to suffer my fate.

First of all, the torque rings cover the first 150ft of pipe, which is about what youd expect for a well my depth. You can see where the clearance nubs have been scraping against the casing wall. Again, expected. But what wasnt expected was this:

This photo is about 10ft north of the pump itself.

This photo shows an improperly taped/pulled line.
Yet another. WAY too much distance and slack.

Another rub where the lines had gotten kinked. One on the left and the right.
Again, way too much untaped slack.

Another rub.

But this one, this is the kiss of death. You can see the wires are green with corrosion, so this as been rubbing for quite some time. They finally rubbed through. This is my open loop.

Tomorrow we will sink a brand new Grundfos SQ pump, new 10ga wire and properly tape the whole thing. We will also eliminate the splice joint in the wire and have one homerun from pump to fusible link, as well as replace a galvanized union in the well pipe with a brass one.

I hope not to have to revisit this issue for at least a few years. In the meantime, I will be ramping up my plans to get the county water at least to the house.

Thank you for showing that.  I plan on getting a well pump put in the old well at my project house.  What is the proper spacing for taping the wire to the pipe?  My well is only 54 feet deep so I won't have the level of problems that you did but I still want to do it the correct way.