Yes, it has been 52 weeks since we started this renovation project blog. On July 10, 2023 I photographed Al and Josh salvaging barn boards from the old screen porch. It won’t be long now before they are installing those same boards on the game room walls in our new basement.

It was a dramatic week with lots of activity on the worksite. Goodwin Well and Water came to drill a well for our geothermal heating and cooling system. They brought in a big rig and were prepared to drill down 1000 feet to find enough water to support a standing column system.

The drillers got down to 180 feet and hit 30 gallons a minute water flow. So they had to check with their head office who instructed them to stop at 460 feet and set up a 30% bleed. This is the minimum depth required for the geothermal system and the bleed is necessary to keep the well from overflowing. From the design stage of this project, Nils and I have talked about the possibility of adding a wildlife pond to the field but surface water alone would not be sufficient to keep it filled year round. The bleed volume of 5.5 gallon per minute (equivalent of a garden hose open full power) is more than adequate to sustain a pond. So as a result of hitting an artesian well at 180 feet, we will halve our drilling fee and get a pond to boot!

Good news all around, or so we thought.

That evening when I went to collect drinking water samples from the bleed from the old well, I couldn’t get enough to send into the lab for testing. It made me wonder if the geothermal well was pulling from the drinking water well, even though they are about 150 feet apart from each other. I didn’t want to say anything to alarm Nils. But the next day, when the drill started up, the technicians confirmed that the two wells were “communicating” via the same rock fracture, a rare occurrence. This sounded ominous, but we were soon reassured that it does not pose a threat to our drinking water. Phew! But in the process of witnessing the communicating wells, the technician pointed out that our drinking water was being contaminated by ground water infiltration. Happily, this is a fixable problem. On a project this complex, there are bound to be complications.

On Thursday, the plasterers finished their work leaving the interiors looking smooth and bright.

Before they left, we got to see Scott, the Anmar Plastering foreman walking on stilts as he smoothed wet plaster on the ceiling!

As the plasterers were packing up, Crowell Construction carpenters returned to the site to continue siding, adding porch trim and creating supports for the small roofs above each deck door. It was great to see the familiar crew back at work. And on Friday, we were delighted to see our new front door delivered.

This shot, taken after a sudden summer shower, reminds me why we are doing all this.