Need Well Cover Ideas

[ChevyHDGert]

Please post me your photos or ideas for a shelter cover for a water well.

My well was drilled about 2 months ago and I now need to protect it from the winter weather.

Our pressure tank is a little taller than most, maybe 5' tall.

I'm just not sure if I want to make it big enough to also store lawn equipment to free up some room in our garage until I can get a metal building built or just make a little "doghouse" type structure to fit over the tank and wellhead.

Whatever it is, it needs to be built to allow easy access for maintenance and for use of the hose bib that is on it.

 

[Marveltone]

My dad made his well cover out of three layers of 2" pink foam insulation. The wall panels were all laminated and the joints were dadoed to prevent any air leaks. All the foam board was bonded together with construction adhesive. At R5 per inch that makes it a grad total of R30. He heats it with a 60 watt light bulb run through a diode to drop the voltage for improved bulb life. It was sheeted on the outside with texture 111 siding and the inside with aluminum flashing to keep the mice from nesting and chewing on the foam. All sheeting was attached with construction adhesive. Corners were reinforced and trimmed with treated 1X4s and painted a nice, contrasting color to accent the siding.

Lightweight, energy efficient, good looking and durable! :thumbsup:

Hope this helps.

Joe

 

[gauthier]

Well,here in wv we put our pressure tank in a protected place but the well it self is below ground 2-3 feet,[or at least water line is below ground 2-3 ft],,if you have a basement or cellar,,thats the place for your tank,,or even under house,if it is sidened in with maybe a heater or insulation or light bulb.

Course you could make a special house for it,,insulated,,heater or light bulb in it.

 

[nickel plate]

My dad made his well cover out of three layers of 2" pink foam insulation. The wall panels were all laminated and the joints were dadoed to prevent any air leaks. All the foam board was bonded together with construction adhesive. At R5 per inch that makes it a grad total of R30. He heats it with a 60 watt light bulb run through a diode to drop the voltage for improved bulb life. It was sheeted on the outside with texture 111 siding and the inside with aluminum flashing to keep the mice from nesting and chewing on the foam. All sheeting was attached with construction adhesive. Corners were reinforced and trimmed with treated 1X4s and painted a nice, contrasting color to accent the siding.

Lightweight, energy efficient, good looking and durable! :thumbsup:

Hope this helps.

Joe

Joe, your father built a very detailed well house which could withstand his local low temperatures. Good job!
If the OP has a slab with the well head and bladder tank on it and to be enclosed, I suggest to make at least the roof removable in the event that the well driller needs to come back at a future date and deepen the well or change out the shaft pipe.

 

[Marveltone]

Joe, your father built a very detailed well house which could withstand his local low temperatures. Good job!
If the OP has a slab with the well head and bladder tank on it and to be enclosed, I suggest to make at least the roof removable in the event that the well driller needs to come back at a future date and deepen the well or change out the shaft pipe.

That he did! He lives about 15 min away from me... in northern Minnesota. It gets insanely cold up here, and he has never froze up yet. I forgot to add that he built a door into the front so he can check on things periodically. The door is also rabbeted and weatherstripped for weather-tightness. The foam construction also makes it light enough to lift the whole enclosure off if the well needs to be blown out or re-drilled.

Joe

 

[nickel plate]

That he did! He lives about 15 min away from me... in northern Minnesota. It gets insanely cold up here, and he has never froze up yet. I forgot to add that he built a door into the front so he can check on things periodically. The door is also rabbeted and weatherstripped for weather-tightness. The foam construction also makes it light enough to lift the whole enclosure off if the well needs to be blown out or re-drilled.

Joe

Fifteen minutes away??? Post some pics!!!

 

[SandburRanch]

Please post me your photos or ideas for a shelter cover for a water well.

My well was drilled about 2 months ago and I now need to protect it from the winter weather.

Our pressure tank is a little taller than most, maybe 5' tall.

I'm just not sure if I want to make it big enough to also store lawn equipment to free up some room in our garage until I can get a metal building built or just make a little "doghouse" type structure to fit over the tank and wellhead.

Whatever it is, it needs to be built to allow easy access for maintenance and for use of the hose bib that is on it.

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I built an 8x12 for the extra storage. With it full of shelving it will hold a bunch of overflow. Two water lines leave the building - indoor water and outdoor water. Which ever way you decide to build place a frost proof hydrant outside rather than having to access the structure for hose bib use. You'll be glad you did. This submerged pump is easy to pull - have done it twice in 26 years. If the well ever fails another would be drilled in close proximity rather than trying to repair this one.

In your location freezing won't be much of a concern. It was 29ｰF here this AM and 50 in the well house with moderate insulation.

 

[LBrown59]

Well,here in wv we put our pressure tank in a protected place but the well it self is below ground 2-3 feet,[or at least water line is below ground 2-3 ft],,if you have a basement or cellar,,thats the place for your tank,,or even under house,if it is sidened in with maybe a heater or insulation or light bulb.
Course you could make a special house for it,,insulated,,heater or light bulb in it.

But where do you put your pump?
I once put the pump and tank on a shelf under the bath room sink.

 

[inveresk]

We're currently constructing a project here where we have the same issue - an existing pumphouse near the main house that we have to dress up. A couple ideas we've been throwing around is to build something that looks like a high end dog kennel or to construct a miniature stone dovecot. I've attached a couple sketches of ideas I drew up.

 

[dex3361]

I have a drilled well and where I live the accepted frost line is about 36" give or take a few inches depending the the soil type. I built a block structure around the well head with a hinged top. I used pour in block insulation and I also used the extruded polystyrene foam on the outside of the block below grade and also on the lid/roof. it has served me very well. The insulation has paid off well. We had a bad winter a few years ago and we had a winter storm that had the power off for about 20 days and the temps went down to 20 below at night and didn't get above zero through the day. I kept a candle burning in the well house and that kept it from freezing up when the generator wasn't running at night. Not the prettiest but functional.