Depending on where you plan on building, excavation for services and footings will vary. In the Northern hemisphere for instance where the temperature drops below zero, excavations are dug below the frost line to prevent footing upheaval. This frost line is a continuous sheet of ice about one inch in depth and forces its way down as the temperature drops. Under road surfaces it is forced down further because of the constant pressure from vehicles. In the spring when the thaw cycle begins, many roads develop pot holes as a result of the frost line heading to the surface. A skillful backhoe operator can have an excavation prepared in no time ready for the footings to be formed and poured. Once the foundation wall is poured (damp proofing added on the outside), floor joists are in place to provide lateral support to the foundation wall, and a drain tile is placed around the perimeter of the building to handle rain and ground water, once everything is inspected then the excavator be allowed to backfill.

Septic Fields and Wells, Municipal Sewer and Water

If you are building in the country then chances are you will not have sewer or a water main running under the road in front of your lot. A septic field and tank is designed to handle human waste. There are different types of fields depending on the soil conditions. Liquids and solids are flushed from the toilet into the septic tank which is generally a concrete box buried below the ground and located about twenty feet from the house  (refer to your municipalities regulations); Leading from the tank are a series of pipes designed to leach liquid back into the earth. Every so often your septic tank will require emptying. A peat moss septic system works well on smaller lots or near a water course but tend to be more expensive.

When it comes to water, generally a well is dug or drilled depending on the soils condition. I haven’t heard of anyone recently Divining, but the practice to find water underground goes back many years. Divining is often known as Dowsing and I had to research and discovered that it has been known as Doodlebugging or Water Witching. The divining practitioner would be employed to seek out the location of water underground by using a divining rod. Whether this practitioner had divine powers or not the divining rod would immediately tilt down towards the ground which would indicate water below the surface. Now they drill into the ground until they find water.

 Municipal sewer is discharged from each house and runs it course down a network of pipes below the streets until it reaches a sewer treatment plant. You can see roughly where they are located by the manhole covers in the street, which are placed at pipe intersections and changes in grade. Similar to the sewer line, the sanitary line discharges wastewater. Wastewater which is also known as grey water, coined by its cloudy grey appearance is a result of the soaps and detergents used in a household. There is a movement afoot to recycle this wastewater within a dwelling, but due to the environmental concerns and the cost associated with the process, it remains an area that still requires further studies.

Potable water is fed by pipes and runs beside the sanitary and sewer lines before entering the house. In residential developments where the developer has built the infrastructure to a subdivision, all three pipes (sewer, sanitary and water) are capped just inside the property line and are connected to the house before backfilling around the foundation. The height of the sewer line as it enters the house will determine the basement elevation (distance relative to grade) as it is usually below the basement slab. Should the sewer line be higher than the basement slab due to the building design, a pump will be required. The only problem with pumps and all things mechanical is that they do break down.