His latest project was our "wishing well". It's not really a functioning wishing well, but we had to do something to insulate the well pump to keep it from freezing up during the winter. It was put on our ASAP list of things to do in December since the pressure switch on the pump already froze twice and Matt lost water mid-shampooing in the shower. He had to dry his soapy self off and go outside in the below freezing temp to thaw out the switch. If it had been me in the shower covered with soap and I lost water, I would have just curled up and cried.
Ever since "the incident", the well has been wrapped up and lit up to keep it nice and warm.
We actually took the temperature one cold night and while the outside air was 17 degrees, it was over 50 in the tarp.
The well drillers wanted to sell us a fake plastic insulating rock for $200. You know the kind you see in everyone else's yards. We were not about to pay $200 for an ugly plastic rock. Especially when we could build a very attractive well house for about the same price (or less).
Matt dug up some rocks (we have no shortage of them and love the FREE part) and cleaned them off. It took three loads like this to complete.
And gathered/bought supplies to build the base. One of those bags has gravel. The other is sand. And he bought mortar mix.
He started by digging a trench to create a foundation of concrete for the rock to sit on. Not really necessary, but couldn't hurt.
Now, just imagine that trench filled with concrete like this (but ring shaped):
He worked on it little by little in the evenings...in the dark. Eventually, it started taking shape.
Lucy's not so sure why she got put up here.
Inside, we still have the lamp to keep it warm, but will end up wiring a permanent light, so we won't have to have a drop cord running across the yard.
Because I am married to an over achieving engineer, I found Matt working on this 3D drawing of the roof:
Awesome and hilarious.
Next, the roof went on.
Then, the cover was cut to shape with a jigsaw.
Lastly, the singles went on.
Other than adding a faux hand crank and bucket, she's done.
Oh, and the cover needs to be permanently attached so it hinges properly for well maintenance purposes.
This is awesome! We recently moved to a property that has a well. That's been an interesting learning experience. I appreciated your entry on the filter too, we need to do that soon. We have a 25ft bored well that just has a cement cylinder sticking out of the ground with a cement cap. Not very attractive.
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