Well House Foundation

Started by kyle l, May 17, 2006, 11:32:07 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

kyle l

I've been lurking for a couple years, gathering ideas for when I finally get to build  :), but now I have some questions. I figure ya'll would be a good source of help.

I need to build a well house. The well is low flow, so I'm looking at putting in one of these:
http://www.wellmanager.com/wellmanager-425CP.htm.

Since the shipping weight is 535 lbs, and holds 425 gallons of water, I figure I need to put a slab that can handle ~3900 lbs for it. I am thinking a well house of 6' x 10' would be a sufficient size. The soil is of a clay type.

Now for my questions:
I have a lot of concrete blocks laying around, so I figured I could use these for the footing. Would this work ok and how many courses should I use?
How thick should I pour the slab?

I greatly appreciate any help ya'll can give.
Thanks!

John Raabe

The most common way to build this would be to form up the perimeter and monopour (at the same time) a 15" wide footing down to frost (w/rebar) and a 4" floor slab with all the piping in place. You should have the pipe bedded in crushed rock and perhaps have a 6 mil poly moisture stop (varies locally with soil and water issues).

If you haven't poured a slab before get some experienced help. You can use the blocks for the walls and take your time but a slab sets up quick.  :o
None of us are as smart as all of us.


glenn kangiser

Most of the well houses around here are just a slab on grade with a dug footing ( thickened edge) if any.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.

glenn kangiser

#3
Another thought-- make the pumphouse and everything in it easily removable if it is over the well in case the well has to be repaired .  It will be necessary to get a well rig over the hole.

If possible and freezing is not a problem it would be better if the house was to the side of the well leaving about 6 feet clearance for working room.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.

Dberry(Guest)

Just a thought.... 6' X 10' is smallish.  Maybe consider making a mid-size garden shed to hold your tools or a small tractor also?   12' X 12' maybe?  

Dan


kyle l

Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it. I haven't done this before, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to find anyone willing to come up the mountain to do the work. My place is in a development in Tennessee, north of Knoxville. There's a few people that have moved in there from out of state that have really turned off the local people (to put it mildly). So finding anyone willing to come up there is a big problem.

I do plan on putting this building off to one side of the well. I already have a small storage building on the land and I want to keep this building small, as if there is a prolonged cold snap, I may have to put a small heater in there or something to keep it warm. I also live out of state, so I'll be having to build this quickly before I have to head back home.

Thanks again for the help.

Amanda_931

That's an interesting system.

Solar heating on your pump house--plenty of insulation on the outside of your slab--extending diagonally a foot or so below the footing?

Even if there's no way to lower the shades at night?

It would take a serious cold spell to freeze the water in that tank.  And thus the submersible pumps.  Although north of Knoxville is not really like almost 100 miles south and west of Nashville.  But PVC pipe out in the open shatters if freezes.  When I lived in Nashville I got really good at fixing it.



Amanda_931

We were wandering around this afternoon looking for a site for a rest stop on the Tour de Wayne bicycle ride in early June.  One place people had suggested was a church--only open on Sundays but pretty much right on the way for most of the people.

We wanted to check that they had power, water, and toilets--looked like it.

They had a big capped pipe 7-8" in diameter coming out of the ground less than a foot with buried conduit feeding into it for the submersible pump. No pump house at all.  Pipes presumably safely buried underground.

With the well-drillers' name cast in the top of the cap.  

Water around here can be anything from springs that rarely go dry, to wells that sometimes do have trouble after a month of no rain to artesian type wells.  No idea what that thing covered.  


glenn kangiser

What you saw was probably a well cap over a pitless adapter to go out underground and protect from freezing, Amanda.

We don't use them much around here but I have seen a couple variations of it in parking lots etc.



http://www.do-it-yourself-pumps.com/you-can-install-a-pump-system.htm  Just an example - don't know them.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.


Amanda_931

That's pretty much exactly what it looked like.  Did make a change from the zillions of pump houses around.  I assumed that all the stuff that normally goes in the pump house went inside the building where it was even more unlikely to freeze.






glenn-k

#10
With this setup it could go directly into a basement or other underground frost free area.