Geothermal trenching, part 1

Here's a picture from last month of the inside of the basement after we poured the foundation (the wheelbarrow is there for scale). Those 12 foot high walls are daunting. It took until the very end of December to get all the forms taken down from pouring the foundation, what a huge project that was. After that we get to fill and patch the concrete where the various metal pieces went in, and waterproof parts of the foundation. Fortunately, since we are building on a hill, much of the water (rainfall etc) heads downhill and doesn't pose much of a flooding threat. Unfortunately, the flowing water itself can cause problems (keep reading....)

These photos are from yesterday: the trench is 6 feet deep, to carry the geothermal lines away from the house and back. (Part of the heating and cooling system for the house is a geothermal heat pump, which uses pipes set 6 feet underground to collect and distribute heat and cooling, at an even 50 degrees from the ground temperature, to help heat and cool the house). Since the lines need to be 6 feet deep, they needed to be laid under the electrical lines, which only need to be 4 feet deep, SO, we had to get this set in first. James dug a 150' trench, 6 feet deep, off the west side of the house. The blue tubing lays at the bottom of the trench, and the return tubing going back to the house has to lay a foot higher, pegged into position with metal stakes. James and I spent yesterday afternoon placing the stakes. The left photo is the trench running along side the house; the right photo is James down in the trench at the other end. We had a system of ropes and harnesses and ladders to keep him safe while he crawled through the trench to pound in the stakes. The pictures were taken before the rain started; shortly after that it got quite wet; by the end of the project, there were several inches of water running down the trench, with a few spots where the water was 2 feet high and over the top of his boots. (We have pictures of him emptying the water out of the boots). We were both spattered with mud by the end. Definitely one of those days when we have to keep the goal in mind; we are still trying to dry out clothing.