A few things have changed...

A few things have changed since I last wrote. 

We had a small grade change that could have affected the sumac grove.  The site provided an abundant harvest of boulders which we used to build a retaining wall/rock garden.  This helped to manage the grade change in a shorter distance and helped preserve one of our favorite features on the site.  I rented a small backhoe for a day to move them all into place. 

We had planned to install cement plaster over the exterior of the house.  I had done some cement plaster repair work on our last home.  We appreciated the durability of the material that had served for over 100 years on that home, and wanted to replicate that on this home.  After further consideration, we decided that this surface was too important to leave to amateurs in terms of not only appearance, but in the weathering qualities of the material. 

We decided to bid out the installation, and found only two contractors in the area with any experience, and neither had done an entire home.  The bids were far outside of our budget.  I did finish up the cement plaster on the foundation, using up the last of the mortar mix.  The cement mixer has been banished to the back of the garden shed. 

Plan B involves installing plywood sheathing over the exterior rigid foam and installing a pre-stained cedar shake shingle.  The stain is two coats and is finished on all sides of the shingle with a 25 year warranty, and the shingle has a 50 year warranty.  Our first home had cedar shingles that at 110 years required some repairs, so we are confident that the material is durable a bit beyond our lifetime. 

We are beginning to discern patterns for opening and closing windows with an eye on the indoor and outdoor temperatures and humidity levels.  This time of year we can open the windows when it is chilly outside without sacrificing comfort inside.  The thermal mass of the floors keeps us comfortable as the cool air gently cools down the concrete slabs for the daytime.  There is nothing like a cool breeze as you sip your morning coffee and watch the deer graze their way across the meadow.  Even if it is scented by the invasive, though not unpleasant, Autumn Olive bushes.

I have installed the trench and liner for the rainwater harvesting system.  I designed this system as an antidote to a deep aversion I have developed to cleaning gutters.  This is the no maintenance, barrier free gutter system.  A trench, six feet wide and sloping from one end of the house towards a concrete cistern, circles the entire perimeter of the home. It is lined with used rubber roofing that was supplied from a tear-off by a Langerak Roofing Company, a commercial roofing contractor in the area I have worked with in the past.  They stockpile this material in their yard to avoid landfilling it.  They give it way to people who find alternative uses for this material for hunting cabins to pond liners.  I scrubbed the material where it lapped, brushed on a contact cement, and installed a 3” wide ribbon of adhesive that I purchased from Langerak. 

I installed a 2x4 treated board six feet away from the foundation which I secured in the ground with stakes.  This board is two inches below the height where the liner adjoins the house.  If the system ever overflows, then it is designed to overflow onto the lawn.  At the bottom of the trench is a drain tile with a fabric cover called a sock.  The sock is designed to keep small sand and silt particles from clogging the drain tile.  I was more concerned about insects making the tile a home. 

Earthworm Excavating has re-graded the site and installed the base course of gravel.  We used pea gravel as a bedding material to hold everything in place as it is less expensive.  Pea gravel has rounded edges and will not puncture the rubber liner.  On top of this we will have about 4” of one inch round stone.  The larger stones will not deflect as much when you walk on it and has a different texture. The gravel will slope two inches from the house towards the lawn, so that leaves will be less inclined to collect at the foundation wall.

I had installed rigid plastic pipe under the sidewalk and driveway before we poured them.  I excavated the pipe to expose the ends.  I folded the liner partway underneath the pipe, and then held it taught over the pipe opening where I cut a hole smaller than the pipe by about one inch.  I then forced the rubber roofing over the pipe.  The smaller diameter hole left a half inch band of rubber ringing the pipe around with I fastened a band clamp to hold it in place.  I then brushed sand back under the rubber liner to prevent ponding water in the liner around the pipe joint.  The duct tape holds the sock in place so that the gravel does not dislodge it.  I have carefully graded all of the rubber so that there will not be any areas that will puddle.  I do not know if any ponding under the gravel could be potential breeding grounds for mosquitoes, but I have assumed the worst. 

Currently the liner is nailed to the starter course for the siding.  When the gravel is installed I will trim this off and glue it to the foundation wall, both to prevent water from infiltrating behind the liner, and to prevent insects from gaining access.  This may fail as the soils settle over time and it will require periodic inspections. 

The small pipe coming out of the foundation wall is from the sump pump.  We had a long discussion with the building inspector on where to put the discharge.  This pipe expels water from the footing drains.  Based on what I have seen so far, there is little to no risk of this pump ever operating.  However if it did, the discharge should be just ground water, and putting it into the rainwater system is fine.  The concern is if there is a chemical spill in the basement that would contaminate the water in the sump pump.  At this time we are not storing anything that could cause any problems, but future owners might not be as attentive.  I put a wire mesh screen over the end of the pipe to keep gravel and rodents out of the pipe. 

The advantage of the 6’ wide gravel strip is that it captures all of the water from the 30” overhangs regardless of how hard it is raining, it acts as a maintenance strip by allowing easy access around the perimeter of the house, it reduces the potential for pests to infiltrate the home, and it keeps water away from the foundation walls.  The wide eaves would normally prelude planting near the foundation walls, but we prefer the minimalist aesthetic. 

We also installed the cistern which is a 1,000 gallon tank typically used for septic tanks.  It is enough volume to capture half the volume of the runoff of our roof.  Our use for the rainwater includes irrigating the garden and washing the car and driveway.  We did not install graywater toilet fixtures in the house that use rainwater.  Flush fixtures that use rainwater require some water treatment to keep out particulates and organic matter in order to keep them functioning.  Though I have a background in water and wastewater treatment and wanted to implement the technology, it was not a technology my ever practical wife wanted to have to deal with in the event of my demise or impending dementia.  I suspect my demise is imminent on occasion. 

 

Because of the extra volume of water coming into the tank, I installed a 100’ long overflow drain, which is a drain tile with a sock extending out towards the sumac grove from the short length of blue pipe in the foreground.  We used solid pipe near the tank to perfect the seals into the tank and to prevent water infiltration from leaks that could eventually soften the soils and cause the tank to settle.  The soils should be more than capable of accommodating the rainwater overflow load, but in the event they are not more tile can be added and the system is designed to overflow into the yard in the event of an unusual rain event.  

Remaining is the pump and irrigation system which I have roughly sketched out in my mind.  In the next couple of weeks we will be planting a garden and I will be forced to have completed engineering of the system if I expect to forestall my demise.   

Buddy smiling for the camera

We have also become re-acquainted with the local wildlife.  The deer have made a regular circuit through our site, and we see them several time a week.  Butterflies seem to be in abundance this year, turkeys, squirrels which we had not seen before, our brace of eagles, a murder of crows, and two turtles that Judy has named Buddy and Wilson.  Wilson: for the markings on his shell that look like the hand print on the soccer ball in the Tom Hanks movie Castaway.  The cats have claimed the home as their own turf, and thoroughly enjoy the wide window ledges.  Mollie the day cat, bakes it’s brains in the sun, and Lizzie the night cat keeps an inventory of all of the nocturnal animals on the site.

 

Next week we will finish the grading and begin the installation of the plywood sheathing, and I hope to have started seeding the lot and planting the garden.