Well, Well, Well

I arrived back in Alpena yesterday afternoon, but too late to visit the house site.  Instead I spent the evening settling in at the Rectory at Trinity Episcopal Church.  Thanks to the Rector and Vestry, that's where I'll hang my hat until the house is ready for occupancy.  This morning, when I got to the house site, Chuck's Well Service was set up in the side yard, drilling for water.  I'd expected them Friday, but I've learned that subcontractors come when they have time in their schedule.  Having toured an oil drilling rig a few months ago, I could understand what these guys were doing.  A drilling rig is a remarkable piece of equipment.  In the photos below, notice all the mud!  This is definitely one of those "dirty jobs" you may see profiled on TV!

Chuck's Well Service moved in today!

The mud is what comes up during the drilling.

Chuck's rig towers over my house.

The drilling process is automated,
but there is also a lot of physical labor.

The drillers were finishing up cementing the well this afternoon as I left for Alpena.  The well is about 95 feet deep.  That's a bit better than I expected.  The cost of a well partly reflects the depth to which they have to drill.  The drillers said that in this area you can find water at shallower depths (after all, I'm just a few feet above Lake Huron) but the Health Department sets minimum depths for wells which produce potable water.

The heating guys were on-site today, as well.  The stovepipe for my wood burning stove has been installed.  On the second floor it comes up through the office floor and, in the attic, makes a jog toward the lake to avoid the roof's ridge.  Then it goes out through the roof.  The portion in the office will be enclosed, partly for appearance and partly to protect the pipe from damage.

The stovepipe comes up next to the office wall...

...and then jogs toward the lake before exiting through the roof.

 The heating contractor delivered the boiler for the baseboard heating system, and the domestic hot water tank.  These will be hooked up when the well is finished and the propane tank has been moved to its permanent location near the house.

I'll have a Bobcat in my basement — the boiler which will
drive the baseboard radiators.

Meanwhile, Hap and Doug continue siding the house.  This morning they worked on the south and west sides, and this afternoon on what will become my screened porch.

Hap (left) and Doug (on roof) have made considerable progress,
but there is still a lot of detail work to clean up.

The screened porch area is nearly complete.

We've had snow flurries off and on all day.  From the standpoint of construction, we've been blessed by the lack of snow and moderate temperatures to date.  However, winter is slowly moving in on Presque Isle.  The Old Fashioned Christmas festival is this weekend.  I don't think we'll have snow for the sleigh rides at the New Lighthouse, but then, I suspect that visitors will want to spend most of their time inside! •••