Category: Grounds (Page 6 of 7)

Digging to install the ground loops

August 21, 2013 / stephen

We need to remove around 1100 sq m of soil to a depth of around 1m. This is a lot of soil and we intend to install the ground loops in three sections. We will dig each section, lay the pipes and then refill the hole. We simply don’t have enough space to take all of the soil off in one go.

It took the whole of the first day to remove the top soil (at a depth of around 100-200mm) on 1100 sq qm. The top soil will not be put back until all three sections have been installed and the sub soil put back. If we were to put the top soil back section by section, we would end up with a mess if it rains.

By the end of day 2, we have removed around 250 sq m of subsoil. The mountains of soil are starting to build up and we are running out of space.

We are using an 8 tonne excavator. We tried to get a 30 tonne excavator on site, but it was too big to get up the road. The 8 tonne excavator was the biggest we could fire at the time. We have a 14 tonne excavator turning up in an attempt to speed up the ground work.

Start of day 2 of removing the soil for the ground loops. It took all of the first day to remove the top soil. Now we are starting on the sub soil.

We have started removing the soil for the ground loops. You can see the 150mm of topsoil and then the 700-800mm of subsoil. The piles of soil are starting to build up in the top field. We need to get the ground loops installed in this section so that we put the sub-soil back (making a bit more space!).

Each of the ground loops starts and finishes in a manpower. These are 750mm x 1200mm manholes that are going to be 1000mm deep. The bottom of the manholes are propped up on concrete block to allow for the pipework to be installed.

These are the manholes for the ground loops. You can see the drain pipes in the background. These are installed into the foundations of the extension before the concrete slab can be laid.

We have separated out the top soil and sub soil to make reinstating the field that bit easier.

All of this subsoil and topsoil has been removed to install the ground loops. The pole in the background is in the next field.

Not exactly treasure, but this is the only thing that we have found while digging up the field. It is an old electric bench saw.

Preparing for the ground loops

August 17, 2013 / stephen

Now that all the pipework has been installed, the screed is going to be laid next Tuesday. Until this point, the house is out-of-bounds otherwise the pipeworks may get damaged.

So we are going to take the opportunity to install the ground loops in the top field. There is around 1533m of plastic pipe to bury in the ground – about 1 meter deep. If we have got our calculations right, this means digging up about 1,100 sq m of the top field. The ground loops are a fundamental part of the ground source heat pump. This will extract the heat out of the ground and provide all of the heating and hot water for the property.

The pipes need to be installed as loops where the pipes are around one meter deep and one metre apart. Rather than digging trenches we are going to remove all of the topsoil and subsoil from the field. We will then install the ground loops and replace the subsoil and topsoil. We will do it in sections. By installing the ground loops at this time of the year, there is half a chance that the grass will re-establish before the winter sets in.

We order a 30 ton excavator, but unfortunately we couldn’t get it up the road to the farm. Our plan B is this 8 ton ecavator. It is smaller and will take longer to move the soil, but at least we can get started on Monday.

This carries a 10 tonne load and should make quick work of moving the soil for the ground loops.

Mowing the fields

July 21, 2013 / stephen

Second mow of the season. Each time the fields are mowed the quality of the grass seems to be improved. It is a big job, but it only takes a couple of hours using a tractor and a topper.

The bottom field has quite a slope to it and the best way to mower it is straight up and down the slopes. If you try and mow the slopes sideways, you get the distinct impression that the tractor is going to topple over.

The bottom field has quite a slope to it and the best way to mow it is straight up and down the slopes. If you try and mow the slopes sideways, you get the distinct impression that the tractor is going to topple over.

Jo mowing the grass on the top field where it is nice and flat!

Yup, it is a compact tractor. I haven’t suddenly grown!

Demolishing the lean-to: Day 5

May 14, 2013 / stephen

All done. But it was a real slog. Don’t know why, maybe it was the showery weather. Zep and I had to retreat to the pickup a couple of times when the weather took a turn for the worse. Zep had more sense and stayed in his bed in the cab, even when the rain stopped.

Most of the bricks from the outbuilding are now down in the orchard ready to go into the base of the dry stone wall. However, I cleaned up a few more and have stacked these on the base of the lean-to. I am not sure what these are going to be used for, but there are enough already in the orchard.

The old store-room appears to have flagstones on the floor. A number of them appear to be broken – some no doubt happened when we took down the brick walls, but many of them look like they have been broken for some time. I have removed one of them and they appear to have been laid directly onto an ash floor (which was the standard approach at the time). I will take up a couple of the broken ones this week and have a go with the metal detector. Anything that is under the floor has probably been there for a couple of hundred years.

The bases of the three toilets are now exposed. They appear to have been built with a smooth cement concave floor. There were hinged wooden doors at the back of each of the toilets. I can only imagine that the doors were used to scoop out the contents. Yuck!

Just the base of the store-room and the toilet block left. There is one large upright stone left that is too big for me to move on my own.

One of the flagstones was broken – it probably got damaged when we took down the brick wall – so I have removed it. As expected, it is laid directly onto an ash base – the standard approach in the old days.

No idea how these are meant to work, but with a wooden hinged door at the back, I can only guess that this was used to scoop out the contents.

No idea how these toilets were meant to work, but with a wooden hinged door at the back, I can only guess that this was used to scoop out the contents. Yuck!

These large weight was on the roof. 56lb is a standard weight for potato bags (in the old days anyway!).

This large Avery weight was on the roof. 56lb is a standard weight for potato bags (in the old days anyway!). It is heavy!

Demolishing the lean-to: Day 4

May 12, 2013 / stephen

Almost there. The timber from the roof was cut up using a chainsaw and went on the bonfire (together with odd ends of timber left in the store room).

The brick partitions were demolished using a sledgehammer – we will use the bricks in the foundations of the dry stone wall in the orchard. We moved them using the pickup.

The brick partitions between the old toilet stalls still to be removed.

Just an odd few bricks left!

Demolishing the lean-to: Day 3

May 12, 2013 / stephen

Made some good progress today, despite the rain. It always helps with two of us working together.

All of the facing stones have been “robbed out”, cleaned of any mortar and neatly stacked for later use (whatever that might be!).

Easily removed using a tow rope tied to the pickup truck. We will use the chainsaw on this tomorrow.

Latterly these stalls had been used for storing coal, but original these were the outside toilets for the three cottages. There was a trap door at the back of the building and I can only imagine that this was used to “scoop” out the contents. Yuck!

These are all of the facing stones from the lean-to. The bricks we will use in the foundation of the dry stone wall in the orchard.

Demolishing the lean-to: Day 2

May 10, 2013 / stephen

The weather forecast today wasn’t brilliant. Unfortunately, it was accurate. It rained most of the morning, although that didn’t stop me from working outside until about lunchtime. However, by 2pm the rain had eased and the demolition work re-commenced- brick by brick, the lean-to was taken apart.

At the start of day 2

Almost removed all of the sandstone blocks. I have removed all of the mortar as I took the walls down. The stone has been stacked in the field for use elsewhere.

Planting in the polytunnel

May 8, 2013 / stephen

I am working on the basis that if I am going to have to water the plants in the polytunnel on a daily basis, then I had just as well water a polytunnel full of plants rather than a polytunnel half full of plants.

I am not a keen gardener. I leave that to Jo. But with Jo in London this week and time moving on, I thought I should lend a hand with a bit of planting.

We bought some tomato plants at the weekend and these are now planted in two growbags cut in half. I have stood these upright at one end of the polytunnel.

At the weekend, we planted some mixed lettuce seeds as well as some chilli and beetroot (all as seeds). Today, I planted out the seed potatoes that we bought a couple of weeks ago and allow to “chit” in the dark (whatever that means!). I also planted a couple of rows of parsnips and 6 cabbages (all bought as plants).

Goodness knows whether any of this will grow, but let’s see.

The end bed contains 9 seed potatoe plants. The bed next door contains two rows of parsnips and 6 cabbages.

The end bed contains 9 seed potato plants. The bed next door contains two rows of parsnips and 6 cabbages.

Each one planted in half of a growbag (gaffer tape put around the middle and then cut in half with a Stanley knife). We have inserted and upside down plastic bottle with the lid and bottom removed. This acts to funnel the water deep inside the bag.

Setting up the raised beds in the polytunnel

May 7, 2013 / stephen

One side of the polytunnel has been set up with staging. The other side is going to have raised beds for growing vegetables.

I picked up the raised beds and the “veggie” soil from Tommy Topsoil (http://www.tommytopsoil.com/) near Halifax this morning. I bought loose soil which was loaded onto the back of the pickup as well as two 8ft x 4ft raised beds. It took most of the afternoon to set them up, but they are now ready for planting.

The L200 will carry about 1 ton on the back. With a cubic meter of soil on the back, we are just about full!

Two raised beds (8ft x 4ft) setup side by side. It took a cubic meter of soil to fill these two raised beds.

Polytunnel – Day 6

May 3, 2013 / stephen

Just about done. The excess plastic around the door frames has been trimmed. The excess around the edges of the polytunnel will be buried in a trench around the polytunnel. This will help ensure that the polytunnel isn’t going to go anywhere in strong winds. We will probably put a row of patio slabs around the edge of the polytunnel to keep the grass at bay – we will not be able to use the strimmer up against the polytunnel.

I would have dug the trench today and backfilled it, but the physio has told me to take it easy with my back.

The plastic covering the polytunnel has now been trimmed around the door frames. The plastic just needs to be tensioned and then the excess around the edges buried into a trench around the polytunnel.