Septic System

The septic permit issued after the perc test was done required a 1500 gallon two compartment tank (this is a larger tank than the one for my parents' 3 bathroom house) equipped with a pump which would pump the effluent up to the existing distribution box.

For those unfamiliar with Septic Systems a brief primer.
A Septic System consists of three parts: a tank, a distribution box and a drain field. Effluent from the house (bath water, laundry soap, poopy, etc...) enters the septic tank. in the tank solids settle to the bottom and liquid rises to the top where there is an outlet. The outlet drains via gravity to the distribution box (or D-Box (different than a D-Bag) in the parlance of the trade). The distribution box splits the one input into multiple outputs that lead to the drain field. The drain field is an array of perforated pipes laid on gravel at the permeable layer (that part of the subsoil that water can easily travel through. The liquid effluent (having been separated from its solids) flows through the drain field and gradually seeps into the ground where it is continuously filtered by dirt and other particulates until it reaches ground water. The septic system doesn't so much keep you from dumping sewage into water as much as slows it down considerably.

The system being installed for the bakery differs from this model in two ways. A. it has a two compartment tank (most septic tanks do) this allows for "double separation" and keeps more "shit" (solids) out of the drain field. B. It has a pump. This is because the current D-Box is uphill from where the bakery is located. Typically these things are all gravity fed.

The work is being done by Raymond Harrison and Sons Septic Contractors. The excavator is being operated by a very talented guy named Andrew. It's nice to see someone so good at something you had never considered being good at before. So tuesday the tank was put in, yesterday they laid most of the line to the D-Box and today they finished the line and began work on the inlet side of the box. While they are here they are also excavating the slab and footers for the concrete foundation of the bakery building.
What fun! What a mess!
The trench with pipe being laid in it. (the tank's top is visible in the foreground, Andrew is visible in the middle distance, in the trench)








Backhoe and Oven, together at last.

Stucco: Finish Coat

I chose Charcoal as the color for the finish coat. And when applied I thought it looked grand, a nice rich dark grey, but, alas, all good things must come to an end and as the stucco dried the color ended up lighter. It still looks good but it is sort of like a slightly darker, bluer shade of portland cement. oh well, it still looks pretty snappy.

Stucco

Given that I have had some delays with the health department (which I will tell you all about in due time) I needed an outlet for my building enthusiasm and figured it was long past time to finish the exterior of the oven. When last we left the oven it had been surrounded by a steel stud wall and sheathed in concrete backer board. This was functional but pretty hideous and so something had to be done. Given the enormous amount of cement already in this 70 sq.ft. I thought a little more wouldn't hurt and so I decided to finish the oven with stucco which is essentially the same as mortar.
Stucco goes on in two (or three coats) and given that I couldn't find any info on the pros or cons of one or the other I decided to go for the 2 coat. The first coat is called the scratch coat because once it is partially cured you scratch it to ensure good adhesion with the second coat.
The concrete backer board had to be covered with wire lath, a miserably sharp product that helps the stucco adhere to smooth surfaces. I did not cover the concrete block with wire lath, although some do, and at times I wished I had because the concrete block did not grab the wet stucco with much ease. Now that it's up though I am fairly confident that it is not going anywhere anytime soon. Enough talking:
Some rounding of corners on the front of the oven done with left over stucco












Stucco around the back
















Wire Lath on the front corner of the oven