Building a Pump house shed for a Well?

[slimpickins]

I am thinking of building a shed to protect a water well and I wanted to throw this out here for discussion and maybe collect a few ideas from anyone who has done this before, or is thinking of doing it.
I want to build a multi-purpose shed so that this is not just a small well shed that looks like an outhouse. I'm not trying to build another garage, just something with some storage, or other uses to get a little more return on the investment.
Here are some considerations that I have thought of:

• This shed would be built over the well such that the well would be in a corner of the shed.
• Needs humidity control (my FIL built a pump house/well shed years ago and the humidity from the well was substantial, and he ended up having to install a vent.
• The shed would contain the pressure tank and pump (or multiple pumps) for the house and yard watering systems (for a large acreage yard and garden).
• Want to build it big enough that it can be used for storage for a few other items to reduce the clutter in my other garage - this could include lawn furniture storage over the winter, seasonal yard maintenance and gardening tools, that are always in the way in a car garage.
• Maybe additional use as green house?

Does anyone have a "well shed" like this or something close? If you do, post up some pics and let's see what you have.

Thanks
SP

 

[yatg]

Whatever you do, make it so you can service the pipe/pump in the well without tearing down the shed.

 

[jack stand]

What will you do to keep everything from freezing?
Is this a drilled well?

 

[racecougar]

Turns out that I have a few photos with the pump house in the background, but none of it as the focus of the photo. The well head is actually about 8' behind the house with a lateral running into the house below ground. Upon opening the door, you step down 6-8 steps to the floor, which is well below ground level. The building is insulated and has a thermostatically controlled socket for a heat lamp, but we've found that insulation alone is plenty here in MO.

Building on the left in the photo below. The "outhouse" in the middle is a garden shed.

 

[Firebrick43]

I am thinking of building a shed to protect a water well and I wanted to throw this out here for discussion and maybe collect a few ideas from anyone who has done this before, or is thinking of doing it.
I want to build a multi-purpose shed so that this is not just a small well shed that looks like an outhouse. I'm not trying to build another garage, just something with some storage, or other uses to get a little more return on the investment.
Here are some considerations that I have thought of:

• This shed would be built over the well such that the well would be in a corner of the shed.
• Needs humidity control (my FIL built a pump house/well shed years ago and the humidity from the well was substantial, and he ended up having to install a vent.
• The shed would contain the pressure tank and pump (or multiple pumps) for the house and yard watering systems (for a large acreage yard and garden).
• Want to build it big enough that it can be used for storage for a few other items to reduce the clutter in my other garage - this could include lawn furniture storage over the winter, seasonal yard maintenance and gardening tools, that are always in the way in a car garage.
• Maybe additional use as green house?

Does anyone have a "well shed" like this or something close? If you do, post up some pics and let's see what you have.

Thanks
SP

Is this an old well with a brick lined pit? or is it a modern cased well with a submerged pump/pitless adapter?

 

[jrsavoie]

I would build the shed so the whole shed or at least the part covering the well can be moved out of the way.
Either a lifting eye or rollers/wheels

 

[tez929rr]

I have one that is about 8 by 8 feet. It was here when we moved in but I completely rebuilt the exterior. It has the pressure pump, a water softener, shutoffs for the house supply and supply to other buildings and some switch and control boxes. There was an old well head inside that was no longer in use when we moved in, capped by an old pump with a flywheel that I removed. The actual well head in use is about 50 feet away and is enclosed by a small insulated wooden box I built to keep it out of the weather. Around here, ants getting into well control boxes are a common problem. Your idea sounds pretty good to me; most people around here ignore their well head until it freezes for the first time, and then they typically don’t make the pump house big enough.

 

[slimpickins]

Whatever you do, make it so you can service the pipe/pump in the well without tearing down the shed.

Absolutely. I thought of that but didn't mention it.

 

[dvo]

Build it with a shed roof with metal. Make the last piece over the well head so you can just remove that piece if you ever need to pull the pump (through the roof).

 

[slimpickins]

What will you do to keep everything from freezing?
Is this a drilled well?

I would super insulate the building, but the humidity might still cause a problem and the vent will nullify the good insulation. Depending on how bad the humidity is, and the size of the building, it may only need a small vent. Also, I thought if I had a holding tank in the shed, that would provide a heat sink to stabilize the temperature. A submersible heater in the tank would keep it from freezing. These are all just ideas for now. Thus the reason for my post here is to see if anyone else has done something like this with success stories or what-not-to do stories.
It is a bored well - 30" steel casing. It just sits out in the weather right now and it doesn't freeze, but moving the lines up to the shed and tanks etc. will change the picture.
SP

 

[slimpickins]

Build it with a shed roof with metal. Make the last piece over the well head so you can just remove that piece if you ever need to pull the pump (through the roof).

Good idea! I had thought maybe a roof hatch might work too.

 

[slimpickins]

Is this an old well with a brick lined pit? or is it a modern cased well with a submerged pump/pitless adapter?

30" steel casing. Submersible pump. The lines go to the house 10 feet +/- below grade to get below the frost line.

 

[slimpickins]

I would build the shed so the whole shed or at least the part covering the well can be moved out of the way.
Either a lifting eye or rollers/wheels

Depending on the size of the shed that might be difficult. DVO's idea of a removable roof panel is a good one!

 

[slimpickins]

Turns out that I have a few photos with the pump house in the background, but none of it as the focus of the photo. The well head is actually about 8' behind the house with a lateral running into the house below ground. Upon opening the door, you step down 6-8 steps to the floor, which is well below ground level. The building is insulated and has a thermostatically controlled socket for a heat lamp, but we've found that insulation alone is plenty here in MO.

Building on the left in the photo below. The "outhouse" in the middle is a garden shed.

Looks like a nice shed. How big is it and can you post an interior pic? What is the purpose for the alcove in the front?

 

[slimpickins]

I have one that is about 8 by 8 feet. It was here when we moved in but I completely rebuilt the exterior. It has the pressure pump, a water softener, shutoffs for the house supply and supply to other buildings and some switch and control boxes. There was an old well head inside that was no longer in use when we moved in, capped by an old pump with a flywheel that I removed. The actual well head in use is about 50 feet away and is enclosed by a small insulated wooden box I built to keep it out of the weather. Around here, ants getting into well control boxes are a common problem. Your idea sounds pretty good to me; most people around here ignore their well head until it freezes for the first time, and then they typically don’t make the pump house big enough.

That sounds like exactly what I have in mind, but maybe a bit bigger. Have you got any pics? Was there a reason you didn't build over the well head?

 

[mike93lx]

Why would their be excessive humidity? The casing should be sealed

 

[Firebrick43]

If its a cased well I really don't see why you want to do this?. Keep it all below ground. Everyone I know that had/has a well pit or house is always fighting freezing when it dips below zero. Power goes out for a few days what are you going to do?

I hated a well pit and it was wonderful when we got a cased drilled well and never had to hang heat lamps/heat tape again. Still help and elderly neighbor with theirs.

One neighbor had a pump house and it did have a hinged panel of the roof for pulling the pump string. It was a sucker rod well with an electric pump jack over 100' deep. It still had the windmill tower over it but the head was long gone and used for a tv antenna for years. The pump rod eventually broke and they hated trying to keep it thawed out so he put a cased well in.

 

[Toomanytools?]

What is the advantage of having the well head in the pump house? Most wells in my area the head is capped off and if there is a pump house the well is outside. Just run your outlet up through floor in pump house. Makes servicing easier.

 

[slimpickins]

Why would their be excessive humidity? The casing should be sealed

I'm not sure if the humidity problem persisted, but it was terrible for a few years at least when the FIL first built it. That well was a 300 ft drilled well with a 6" casing.

 

[slimpickins]

What is the advantage of having the well head in the pump house? Most wells in my area the head is capped off and if there is a pump house the well is outside. Just run your outlet up through floor in pump house. Makes servicing easier.

I guess I just think it would be neater o0r less of an eyesore. The well is in our back yard and it's a PITA to mow the grass around as there is a standpipe next to it that DOES freeze up in the winter. So it usually looks like ****. I guess another advantage is to have the well head behind a locked door. We live close to the city on a busy road and have caught people wandering around our yard on occasion. Our well just has a friction fit cover that can be lifted off - I could put a lock on it - but this wasn't the main concern.

 

[mike93lx]

...

 

[tez929rr]

That sounds like exactly what I have in mind, but maybe a bit bigger. Have you got any pics? Was there a reason you didn't build over the well head?

The new well head is 50+ feet away by the storage tank (5000 gallon). It’s uphill so when the power is out we have enough head pressure to flow water without the boost pump. Inside it looks like there was a much smaller concrete slab around the old well head. It probably had a windmill originally and was replaced with the huge pump I removed. Then someone added concrete to make the pad bigger and then installed a bunch of new plumbing. I’ve been here 26 years and the exterior walls of the pump house were already falling apart when I moved in.

 

[Firebrick43]

I guess I just think it would be neater o0r less of an eyesore. The well is in our back yard and it's a PITA to mow the grass around as there is a standpipe next to it that DOES freeze up in the winter. So it usually looks like ****. I guess another advantage is to have the well head behind a locked door. We live close to the city on a busy road and have caught people wandering around our yard on occasion. Our well just has a friction fit cover that can be lifted off - I could put a lock on it - but this wasn't the main concern.

By standpipe i assume its a frost proof hydrant. If they freeze its typically because there is not good drainage at the valve with is actually down at the bottom of the pipe. I am not sure how mowing around a shed is any easier than a casing. I have a hydrant just a few feet away from my casing and use it every day to water my horses all winter. We just removed 4" of sod, put down landscaping cloth, a few inches of ag lime and clean #8 stone on top of that and it makes it easy to mow(you don't have to) and keeps mud from forming. At the hydrant itself it froze until we dug down to bottom and went a few feet past (around 5.5 feet) and filled it back in with stone to 2' then landscaping cloth and soil. Surface is hilled slightly and sloped away from it.

 

[slimpickins]

The new well head is 50+ feet away by the storage tank (5000 gallon). It’s uphill so when the power is out we have enough head pressure to flow water without the boost pump. Inside it looks like there was a much smaller concrete slab around the old well head. It probably had a windmill originally and was replaced with the huge pump I removed. Then someone added concrete to make the pad bigger and then installed a bunch of new plumbing. I’ve been here 26 years and the exterior walls of the pump house were already falling apart when I moved in.

Oh now that's a cool idea having the well uphill so you can still have a bit of water pressure. Only problem is that my house is built on the highest point on my land.
Maybe I should build a tall shed and put the water tank on a second floor!!!

 

[finn]

The humidity likely comes into play because the well pump, tank, and piping are all cooled by the water pumped from the ground into the hardware. The cold ground water brings the outer skin of the “machinery“ below the dew point, causing condensation to form , and cooling the air in the pump house. The cooler air just can’t support as much water vapor, so the relative humidity increases.

 

[Jeff C]

Mine is about 6’ square. We really built it mainly for fun as it sits directly in view out the back of the house. However, it’s big enough to keep the wheelbarrow, shovels, rakes, etc. in. It’s styled to complement the house. Here’s a close up pic and one far away showing how it sits behind the house.

 

[Jackfre]

I’d look at the space you need for the storage you want. Position the pressure tank for easy access and service. For the well head I’d build a dog house that can detach from the main building. That way if the well head needs service it can easily be accessed and the pump and line can be pulled outside.

 

[Firebrick43]

Mine is about 6’ square. We really built it mainly for fun as it sits directly in view out the back of the house. However, it’s big enough to keep the wheelbarrow, shovels, rakes, etc. in. It’s styled to complement the house. Here’s a close up pic and one far away showing how it sits behind the house.

That pump lives in style!

 

[RoninB4]

Just a thought. I lived in a rural area with a pump house that was insulated against freezing. Mice loved chewing on the insulation and made quite a mess of things when time came to replace the well pump. What attracts mice often also attracts snakes in search of mice. While removing on wall to get at the pump I saw the snake tail disappear past my line of sight. Having your hands full and an unknown snake on the other side of the wall you're holding can cause a distinct pucker factor. A remote thermometer in the house with the sensor in the well house can bring some peace of mind during the cold winter months.

 

[racecougar]

Looks like a nice shed. How big is it and can you post an interior pic? What is the purpose for the alcove in the front?

I can get some better photos the next time I'm over there. The door way sticks out from the main square of the building to provide lateral distance for the stairs.

 

[tez929rr]

We just had a guy’s pump house explode Saturday afternoon. He had a **** load of propane and multiple storage barrels stored in there, along with a 500 gallon water tank. The water tank melted and actually helped contain the fire a bit. The pump house and generator inside were complete destroyed, and then we had to keep cooling a leaking 500 gallon propane tank that had been next to it. Cooled it for 5 hours and then got the gas company to drain it. So be careful with what you put in there.

 

[dcg9381]

I've built two pump houses. The first I actually built around the well case drilling, I did about 8x6'. It's easy to get them full when you put a pressure tank, filter, and water softeners in them. I've built both with scrap from the house that was going up at the time. Both were faced in metal with steel roofs / drip edges. Put big doors on them.

You probably want something you can stand up in (gets tiresome being bent over). I put at least 30A of power in there on a sub-panel. You'll need an extra circuit or two if you're going to run a heater, etc.

No problems with humidity, but this is Texas.

 

[Adaylate]

I built a 12X16' pump house, 192 sq. ft. The building jurisdiction allowed 200 sq.ft. without a permit. It has a 10-12 pitch on the roof
(ridge and rafter construction) so I was able to put a 10X12 loft in. I find it has a fair amount of storage, it would work for storing your lawn furniture and garden tools that you mentioned.
I'm in a marine climate and my drilled well is not inside the pumphouse.
Good luck!

 

[firebirdparts]

I don't know how your lawn watering system is related, but it seems there's a big step down in reliability if you mount the pressure tank out there. Nobody does that, because you just don't have to expose that part of the system to freezing. If you don't put it out there, then nothing out there will be subject to freezing. Presumably the lawn watering system can just get winterized. I'm sure it would be a lot less likely to freeze in Texas.

 

[slimpickins]

Just a thought. I lived in a rural area with a pump house that was insulated against freezing. Mice loved chewing on the insulation and made quite a mess of things when time came to replace the well pump. What attracts mice often also attracts snakes in search of mice. While removing on wall to get at the pump I saw the snake tail disappear past my line of sight. Having your hands full and an unknown snake on the other side of the wall you're holding can cause a distinct pucker factor. A remote thermometer in the house with the sensor in the well house can bring some peace of mind during the cold winter months.

Ronin,
Thanks for the input. We don't see many snakes this far north. I've seen a few tiny garter snakes in my entire life. Now mice are another thing. They can be a big problem, along with faxes, gophers, coyotes and badgers. We pretty much have to put a grade beam around anything you build here, and if you are serious about keeping critters out, you need to have the grade beam extend a couple of feet blow grade.
Thanks for the input!
SP

 

[slimpickins]

By standpipe i assume its a frost proof hydrant. If they freeze its typically because there is not good drainage at the valve with is actually down at the bottom of the pipe. I am not sure how mowing around a shed is any easier than a casing. I have a hydrant just a few feet away from my casing and use it every day to water my horses all winter. We just removed 4" of sod, put down landscaping cloth, a few inches of ag lime and clean #8 stone on top of that and it makes it easy to mow(you don't have to) and keeps mud from forming. At the hydrant itself it froze until we dug down to bottom and went a few feet past (around 5.5 feet) and filled it back in with stone to 2' then landscaping cloth and soil. Surface is hilled slightly and sloped away from it.

Yep, I'm aware the valve is at the bottom of the pipe and it was installed before I owned the property so I have no idea if it has the proper drainage at the bottom. My guess is probably not since it freezes. Surface drainage is not bad. It is the water in the pipe that drains out the bottom of the valve when you close it, that causes the problem.
I'm with you on the drainage away from buildings - its one of my other pet peeves is when people build structures without any apparent though about where the water is going to run the comes off the roof or from a circumference of thirty feet around the building.
Thanks for posting!
SP

 

[slimpickins]

We just had a guy’s pump house explode Saturday afternoon. He had a **** load of propane and multiple storage barrels stored in there, along with a 500 gallon water tank. The water tank melted and actually helped contain the fire a bit. The pump house and generator inside were complete destroyed, and then we had to keep cooling a leaking 500 gallon propane tank that had been next to it. Cooled it for 5 hours and then got the gas company to drain it. So be careful with what you put in there.

Wow! What a mess! What started the fire? Is that the water tank in the lower left of the last pic? I looks like its seriously bulged out! I'm always scared of fire, especially living in the country. By the time the fire departments gets to you, don't even bother putting the fire out because you won't want what's left. The only consideration is stopping it from spreading.

I forget who posted it here on GJ but it was several years ago that he posted that he won't leave his garage for at least 30 minutes after doing any welding in his garage - as a fire watch.

Thanks for posting this! Always a good reminder to consider fire prevention at the design phase and all along the way.

SP

 

[tez929rr]

Wow! What a mess! What started the fire? Is that the water tank in the lower left of the last pic? I looks like its seriously bulged out! I'm always scared of fire, especially living in the country. By the time the fire departments gets to you, don't even bother putting the fire out because you won't want what's left. The only consideration is stopping it from spreading.

I forget who posted it here on GJ but it was several years ago that he posted that he won't leave his garage for at least 30 minutes after doing any welding in his garage - as a fire watch.

Thanks for posting this! Always a good reminder to consider fire prevention at the design phase and all along the way.

SP

No idea yet. The investigator has been out but we won’t see the report for a while.

 

[slimpickins]

I built a 12X16' pump house, 192 sq. ft. The building jurisdiction allowed 200 sq.ft. without a permit. It has a 10-12 pitch on the roof
(ridge and rafter construction) so I was able to put a 10X12 loft in. I find it has a fair amount of storage, it would work for storing your lawn furniture and garden tools that you mentioned.
I'm in a marine climate and my drilled well is not inside the pumphouse.
Good luck!

Thanks Adaylate,
Great user name btw! I remember the rest of the saying that used to go along with that. "A day late and a dollar short." Hope the latter part does not apply to you!
Your pump house sounds very close to what I am considering buidling. We have enough land that we can call most "outbuildings" "agricultural" and there is no tax on them. I may even make it big enough for my yard tractor provided the humidity won't be a problem.

I don't know how your lawn watering system is related, but it seems there's a big step down in reliability if you mount the pressure tank out there. Nobody does that, because you just don't have to expose that part of the system to freezing. If you don't put it out there, then nothing out there will be subject to freezing. Presumably the lawn watering system can just get winterized. I'm sure it would be a lot less likely to freeze in Texas.

Thanks FireBird!
The pump house would have to be heated for sure in this part of Canada if I keep the pressure tank in there. Solar supplemental heating might be an option as well. I would plan on making the building as airtight as possible so it shouldn't take too much to heat it. As for the yard watering system I am also considering a second tank for collecting rainwater to lower the demand on the well.
Thanks for your suggestions!
SP

 

[Adaylate]

Slimpickins, that's something my mom and her folks used to say if the cash was a little tight or the birds beat them to the berries, it was always slimpickens!
My "handle" seamed appropriate at the time I chose it because I had just lost out on some "deal"....
The dollar short isn't quite as bad as when trying to raise a family as long the needs and wants balance out!
If I can get my grandkids to help me in the morning I'll see if I can post a picture of my pumphouse.