Day 7: More trenching

The footing trench for the West wall was completed today. The main sewer line was run from the existing septic tank pipe and capped next to the home for future connection to the drains. Utility room footing trenches were completed. The water supply trench was completed. As the initial grading portion of the project is coming to a close, Steve is smoothing out and redistributing the assortment of dirt piles. The site is really taking shape. It is further along than I expected at this stage of the project. Following is a pic looking West down on the home site from the hill to the East.

Thanks for reading. Post a comment if you like.

Catching up to the 21st century, part 12...neighbor's home construction

July, 2007

Construction started on my land partner's (K) home. This created several opportunities to share infrastructure costs - one of the advantages of sharing land with another party.

• Septic System - K and I installed a 2000 gallon septic tank with a leach field approved for both his home and my home. The system uses chamber leaching devices which are slightly more environmentally friendly than rock trenches due to their smaller footprint.
  
  
• Water Supply System - In my county, a home requires a 5000 gallon water storage tank hooked up to a hydrant for the fire department to use in case of a fire. Both K and I bought 5000 gallon tanks, but we shared the pressurization pump and fire hydrant. The hydrant had to be located between 50 and 150 feet from both homes. Fortunately, I knew roughly where my home would be built. We found a convenient location for a shared hydrant.
  
  
• Drainage System - On my property, the roof runoff through gutters must be directed to a device called a level spreader which diffuses the runoff and spreads it over an appropriately sized land area. K and I shared in the trenching and installation of the level spreader and water lines leading to the level spreader.
  
  
• Electric - The local utility (PG&E) required a connection to the main transformer supplying power to our parcel and the 3 parcels that neighbor ours. K and I shared this connection fee as well as the cost of trenching the underground conduit to a splice box near our future home's utility room.
  

Each of these systems will be ready for a simple hookup in the future when my home is built. Thanks for reading. As always, your comments are appreciated.