Logan arrived, and we have had a busy week, not without hiccups and dumb-ass attacks.
We finally finished up the cistern, applying 2 more coats of sealant. I used a fan with dryer venting that Wylie and I made to blow in fresh air before going into the cistern. Additionally, I parked the tractor over the manhole and went in with a harness and chest harness. Logan was at the top, so if there was a problem with the air, Logan could pull me out. And finally, I wore a respirator while painting. The photo on the right shows the painted cistern with the (semi) vertical overflow pipe behind the ladder. The long blue pipe is the input from the spring box, and the small, pipe that is cut off in the corner is where the out-flowing water will head to the cabin. The mud is from my shoes plus some bentonite I used to seal the overflow pipe. The vertical concrete pilar (with spirals) is support for the cistern top.
With the Ford 550, it was no problem hauling the mixer/pump up and putting it just above the cabin location (left photo). The tents can be seen in the background. We also rented an excavator, and it only took a couple days before a track came off. Logan has put the tracks back on so many times it only took an hour or so for him to get it back up and running. In the photo on the right he’s pumping in grease to tighten the track.
The cellar needed considerable digging out after sitting all winter. Logan worked the excavator down and got most of it, and we cleaned up the details with a spud bar and shovel. Then we put in forms for the cellar wall footings and laid out two rows of 1/2 inch rebar (center photo). The photo on the right shows the cellar form ready to pour.
Nice water pressure!
We set up our electrical system that includes the solar cells shown above, and underneath is a charge controller, two 12 V batteries in parallel, and an inverter. Hopefully this will give us all the power we need as we settle in.
Addendum: July 10
I hope to update the posts once a week, so I am adding the following to get to the end of the week.
We poured the cellar footings (left above). Logan added a pressure washer to clean the mixer/pump afterwards — it really helped!
Putting up the ICFs (Insulated Concrete Forms) went fairly quickly. The incoming waterline sits on top of the second row. We also put the plumbing into a frost-free hydrant out just above the second row.
We built a frame inside the cellar so we can get in and out, complete the higher levels, and have a platform for pouring the concrete. Ultimately, we will convert the frame to support the metal decking roof when we pour it. At the end of the week we have five levels of ICFs up, with three more to go (right image).
Here’s a brief list of some (certainly not all) of the problems we ran into during the first week:
I needed a new brush for the second coat of the cistern sealant, so we wrote notes in the house not to forget the brush. We didn’t. I forgot the paint instead.
The track came off the excavator, as noted above.
We made arrangements for Kenyon Noble to deliver materials to our site, which should have been a huge time savings. We warned them the road was sketchy and they would need multiple trips. We guided the driver up and: (1) We got many of the right materials, but some wrong ones, plus we didn’t get some of what was ordered (short on rebar, no cement, no 4″ PVC pipe); and (2) The driver was so wigged out by the road that they are not going to deliver any more.
When we set up for our first pour (the cellar footings) it turns out we were missing a critical part of the pump (the reducer). We ordered another and it only cost us 2 days.
Logan brought another load of premix gravel up this morning, but encountered slick roads due to a local rainstorm at Skookum. He needed the excavator to get unstuck.
My knee is complaining, an ominous sign so early in the project!