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Old 12-02-2018, 10:24 PM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,441 posts, read 61,346,326 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Usrname View Post
Cert of occupancy is the result of successful final inspection of newly built dwelling, in some states.
You mentioned that shallow sandpoint well wouldn't pass portable water test -- I wondered why such test would be required (by the state?), since one can drive own point well without creating any records. Thought you meant a situation where this was the only well and the state/health department required it to pass a test before they declare new place habitable.
Shallow water or 'surface water' has not been properly filtered, and may be loaded with bacteria. If you hammer a pipe 6 foot in the ground and start pumping out water, the water you get may be loaded with bacteria.

A drilled well going down 60 or 100 foot, should generally provide clean safe water.

If you want to license a kitchen, so you can market food, you will need the water tested. Even bottling maple requires a safe water source for cleaning your equipment and it needs to be tested.

The house I live in now, I built. The building permit came with a certificate of self-inspection and completion. It has never had any government inspector in it. When I was done building this house I signed the certificate and mailed it to the state.

In this state, if you are working on an owner-occupied dwelling you do not need a licensed electrician or plumber to do the work in your home.

I also own a commercial building in a nearby city, I am remodeling parts of that building and the city is requiring me to get a Certificate of Occupancy before I can fill it with tenants.

Before I retired, in my travels I have owned four apartment complexes previously. This will be the first time that I have been required to get a Certificate of Occupancy for apartments.
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Old 12-03-2018, 07:55 AM
 
Location: Aishalton, GY
1,459 posts, read 1,399,356 times
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If you are building anywhere in America where you cut the ground you will need to test for radon. Even if its on a slab - you will need to run 2" pipe from under it thru the roof. I used cast iron just as I did for my other vents.

Spud well vs drilled vs springs. Spuds cost less but there's more bacteria. Drilled has a liner that prevents infiltration. Springs are mostly surface - some are seasonal. Artesian are deeper usually on an angle. All need filtration - 10mic to 5 mic and uv for final.
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Old 12-03-2018, 10:08 AM
 
367 posts, read 420,599 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Submariner View Post
Shallow water or 'surface water' has not been properly filtered, and may be loaded with bacteria. If you hammer a pipe 6 foot in the ground and start pumping out water, the water you get may be loaded with bacteria.

A drilled well going down 60 or 100 foot, should generally provide clean safe water.

If you want to license a kitchen, so you can market food, you will need the water tested. Even bottling maple requires a safe water source for cleaning your equipment and it needs to be tested.

The house I live in now, I built. The building permit came with a certificate of self-inspection and completion. It has never had any government inspector in it. When I was done building this house I signed the certificate and mailed it to the state.

In this state, if you are working on an owner-occupied dwelling you do not need a licensed electrician or plumber to do the work in your home.

I also own a commercial building in a nearby city, I am remodeling parts of that building and the city is requiring me to get a Certificate of Occupancy before I can fill it with tenants.

Before I retired, in my travels I have owned four apartment complexes previously. This will be the first time that I have been required to get a Certificate of Occupancy for apartments.
Yes, I'd boil it or treat/filter it of course, if I drunk it....pesticides, fertilizers are another concern.
I thought of shallow well just as a backup, if can't pump from the main one for some reason, or for irrigation. Nice to always have a backup option. Used to water being very hard to come by and being bad even from deep wells.

Wow, nice process for owner-occupied home, pretty reasonable.
As to water source...a lot of places require portable water source for final inspection to pass (may be worded differently than occupancy cert, but same thing) - one place I considered years ago had hundreds of feet depth to any water, but the county wouldn't let anyone live with hauled tank water, required 30K well. Explanation? "Fire regulations". (as if low gpm well would be any better than full water tank in fire scenario, not to mention electricity would be out and there might be no generator = no pump)
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Old 12-04-2018, 07:20 PM
 
367 posts, read 420,599 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Submariner View Post
A well must be over 100 feet from the nearest septic or leech field.

Most of the towns are Unorganized, they enjoy much lower taxes
and the zoning is handled by the state.
Curious, in Maine Unorganized territories...who clears most roads in winter - the county? Or are roads maintained by some local associations everyone pays into?
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Old 12-04-2018, 07:45 PM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,441 posts, read 61,346,326 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Usrname View Post
Curious, in Maine Unorganized territories...who clears most roads in winter - the county? Or are roads maintained by some local associations everyone pays into?
In organized towns, each municipality plows and salts its own roads.

In the Unorganized Townships [most of the state], the county administrates the contracts to private bids for who does each road. Generally these are plowed without salt.

Most landowners have their own plow trucks, so whether running shopping errands or commuting to work they will drop their blades and clear some of the snow off the roads to help.
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Old 12-05-2018, 02:14 PM
 
367 posts, read 420,599 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Submariner View Post
In organized towns, each municipality plows and salts its own roads.

In the Unorganized Townships [most of the state], the county administrates the contracts to private bids for who does each road. Generally these are plowed without salt.

Most landowners have their own plow trucks, so whether running shopping errands or commuting to work they will drop their blades and clear some of the snow off the roads to help.
I see -- sounds like they clear often enough for people to be able to get out to work daily...

I read another thread on Mane and West WA comparison where you said "Washington winters are damp and dark. Maine winters are cold and bright." I hope so.... I was under impression earlier that Maine got dark, overcast winters, kind of like West WA but much colder, though number of sunny days per year seem to greatly vary between Northern and Southern Maine. I had lived in Olympic Peninsula, didn't like it at all: extremely wet winters -- mold and moss everywhere, nothing ever dries out -- and dark...very depressing fall/winter/spring and nice summers, but it's only 3-4 non-overcast months.
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Old 12-05-2018, 02:49 PM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,441 posts, read 61,346,326 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Usrname View Post
I see -- sounds like they clear often enough for people to be able to get out to work daily...
Often we will see a snow storm every 5 or 6 days. The storms themselves may be brief, and as the precipitation is fading the roads are cleaned. Then we commonly have 4 to 5 days of clear sunny skies.

This is why solar power systems work so well here for powering homes.

This winter so far has been unusual for us. A lot of overcast skies than is normal.



Quote:
... I read another thread on Mane and West WA comparison where you said "Washington winters are damp and dark. Maine winters are cold and bright." I hope so.... I was under impression earlier that Maine got dark, overcast winters, kind of like West WA but much colder, though number of sunny days per year seem to greatly vary between Northern and Southern Maine. I had lived in Olympic Peninsula, didn't like it at all: extremely wet winters -- mold and moss everywhere, nothing ever dries out -- and dark...very depressing fall/winter/spring and nice summers, but it's only 3-4 non-overcast months.
I owned a home in Bremerton for 5 years. Most of my time was spent underwater, but I was in Washington sporadically. It seemed like the overcast, fog and rain was year-round. I could easily see how people affected by 'Seasonal Effect Disorder' would have a difficult time living in that region
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Old 12-05-2018, 03:27 PM
 
367 posts, read 420,599 times
Reputation: 425
Quote:
Originally Posted by Submariner View Post
Often we will see a snow storm every 5 or 6 days. The storms themselves may be brief, and as the precipitation is fading the roads are cleaned. Then we commonly have 4 to 5 days of clear sunny skies.

This is why solar power systems work so well here for powering homes.

This winter so far has been unusual for us. A lot of overcast skies than is normal.
This sounds like good snow frequency... Looking at forecast for central Maine now: seeing entire week without precipitation and may be even sunny.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Submariner View Post
I owned a home in Bremerton for 5 years. Most of my time was spent underwater.
I thought by being "underwater" you meant just the fact of being in Western WA in rainy season...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Submariner View Post
It seemed like the overcast, fog and rain was year-round. I could easily see how people affected by 'Seasonal Effect Disorder' would have a difficult time living in that region
Oh I was hit by SAD like never before there. Some say it's just "mist" all the time and not heavy rains... I was in the wettest part of Olympic Peninsula and for 3 months starting the Fall it was heavy rain pounding the hell out of my roof, and later moderate rains mixed with "mist". Issues with property crime too, had to watch out all the time.
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Old 12-05-2018, 03:42 PM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,441 posts, read 61,346,326 times
Reputation: 30387
Quote:
Originally Posted by Usrname View Post
... I thought by being "underwater" you meant just the fact of being in Western WA in rainy season...
I reported onboard one sub homeported in Charleston SC, did a couple deployments on it, then rode that sub through the Panama Canal and up to the shipyard in Bremerton Washington, where it was decommissioned [which took another year]. Then I was transferred over to a boat homeported at Subase Bangor, and I made a half dozen deployments on that boat. So during my time in Washington, I was on one of two different boats.
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