Just made the decision to go Geothermal

Good news with no bad?

The diggers were here this morning. They played around in the west field and left bare ground ready for tomorrow. They also took up the hosing that was left here in October, saying it needed to be well warmed before it could be used.

Tomorrow is supposed to be in the 30's so Hooray! Steps closer to geothermal heat!

 

They are here!
Here's the horizontal drilling machine next to my crabapple tree.

Here is the water source for drilling, and way out in the field is the back hoe.

Behold! The horizontal digger at work.

 

Drats! All the machines are now gone. The directional drilling machine "broke" after a short period of drilling. We were told they will be back tomorrow morning. I sure hope whatever broke is easy and fast to fix.

We build this house right where we wanted it placed. We had the basement dug deeper than most because we have a sunken living room and wanted head room under it. Nine feet down for the basement walls; another 4 feet below that for the footings; and we dug a hole down 4-5 feet below the basement floor for a sump pump. Never did we hit so much as a small rock. What are the chances we chose the only spot on 30 acres where there was no limestone? According to the drilling team, that seems to be what happened. Everywhere they try digging, they hit solid limestone. The pictures were taken just West of our house -- about 10 feet from the foundation.

Sooner or later we will get the system in. Limestone, even granite can be drilled. It just takes far longer to do with a greater risk of repeated breakdowns and waits for replacement drills. Sigh!

 

Nope, not this week. Here is the latest E-mail from the contractor:
"Linnae
Thanks...I received it (a legal document). I need this now because we will need to hammer drill the wells. The guys today dug numerous holes and hit rock
between 2 and 11 feet. I think I can get the new drilling team in this Tuesday. You have an incredibly hard site. You are sitting on a rock quarry.
Best Regards
Geothermal connect llc."

So it is official. We -- quite by accident -- found the only dig-able spot for our house and the basement under it on the whole 30 acres of farmland.

 

After the excitement earlier of having the diggers and all their machines arrive Wednesday, set up the drill and start working, we were disappointed once again when their machine broke down and most everyone went away.

The three remaining dug some test holes with their back hoe. Alas, they say all our land is solid limestone and horizontal digging for the heating system is out.

Today, Saturday we sat down to a lunch of homemade corn chowder. When we finished eating, DH looked out the window to see a large flatbed trailer and some new machines. Supposedly, we are going to get a vertical bore system now instead of the horizontal system. This means the contractor will be digging five vertical 'wells' or bore holes down into the water table. This 54 degree water temperature will be used to heat the fluid in our piping, pumped into our heating unit inside, and heat the house. There will be no contact between our system and the water beneath us so there is no danger to the water table.

The bed and Cat are here, but we see no sign of people and no truck used to bring the flatbed. We were told "maybe" the newest addition to our project would start on Tuesday. Perhaps the workers are eager enough to start sooner.

I hope, I hope, I hope we will be getting our system soon!

 

This certainly explains the "escape clause" in most of the contracts that allows them to add to my price for any costs over a set amount for drilling and a set amount for covering the pipe underground. This was one of only 2 who didn't have add ons.

I really was concerned that I knew the exact cost to me before I agreed to have the work done. It's pretty much the reason I went with this contractor. I even asked him about these extras clauses in the other work-papers and he assured me that he doesn't change the agreed upon price.

Waiting sort-of-patiently to see what Tuesday brings.

 

Today is Tuesday, January 20th and the drilling crew arrived about 10:30. I wish I could share the sounds and vibrations of the machine drilling beside the house. Such music to my ear after waiting for so long.

 

Here they are at work. They didn't get started until after noon today.

Here is a peek at the mess their drilling leaves. I'm not sure what this mess will do to my dahlia bed, but I'm not complaining. I just want them done.
I think they have completed the first bore hole and have been working on a second. At two hours per hole, they may well be finished tomorrow and we will be ready for the inside work.

Color me happy!

 

Yes, @Nifty, so far it has. The contractor will use his back hoe to remove much of the powder once the water sinks into the ground. This is a slurry of ground limestone and water. Adding lime to the lawn isn't the worst thing I could do.

 

One of the reasons I chose this contractor is because others set an allotment for drilling and grout expenses. Anything over that amount would be an extra charge for me. Well, so far we have used over twice the grout projected. We were told there are a few "fissures" in the limestone -- like small cave formations -- where the grout will spread out to fill the space instead of staying in place and filling the bore holes.

One more day of grouting the five bore holes before he's done with them. Then the drilling crew will return to pull the casing around the holes out. Right now the five holes look like five new wells. Once the pipes are pulled out and the manifold buried, there will be no sign in the yard that we have Geothermal heating.

We/he have been lucky with this above normal temperature period in January. I fear it will soon return to lower temperatures that make working outside too difficult. Here's hoping he gets the work done quickly and gets inside the basement with the piping so the system can be finished, up and working soon.

 

All the grout is in the bore holes as per DNR requirements. It took a lot more grout than expected, but the last three holes were topped off today.

Tomorrow, we were promised, is the day the pipes are pulled. Then the yard will no longer have any sign of the geothermal system . . . . . other than the mess we will have to clean up this spring. The contractor says he'll be back on Saturday to dig the trench to the house -- IF -- if the frost isn't too deep, if the limestone isn't too close to the top, if nothing else goes wrong.

Saturday is looking like the best day for the coming couple of weeks. I want him done with outside work before it becomes another reason the system can't get in. Sigh!