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Building a house in Trinidad

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pugboy
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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby pugboy » July 13th, 2021, 6:47 pm

i wonder what exactly the sand filter filtering
in terms of physical particles or not

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby Gladiator » July 13th, 2021, 10:38 pm

The sand filter is more for proper water absorbtion into the soil and even drainaige into the boulders/coarse gravel. section The key is to increase surfice area that would encourage microbial growth to break down the nutrients in the effluent.

With the old design people would say the boulders is to "filter" the water. The boulders was just to reinforce the hole to ensure it didnt collapse. The surface area of the boulders would again redistribute the water, slow it down and grow microbes to aid in nutrient treatment.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby pugboy » July 13th, 2021, 10:45 pm

i wonder how them soakaway does look when you dig up an old one

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby Gladiator » July 13th, 2021, 11:34 pm

pugboy wrote:i wonder how them soakaway does look when you dig up an old one


It forms a thick slime called a biomat... smells bad also. If you pay enough, there are contractors that will dig it up, wash out the boulders and reuse it...

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carluva
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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby carluva » July 17th, 2021, 9:47 am

Quick update and question.

I excavated to locate the existing soakaway.

The line from the septic tank to the soakaway was blocked with some big stones which was restricting the flow. The stones were cleared, after much effort, to improve the flow, but there are still blockages. Our guess is that over years, the pressure of the subsurface water pushed stones into the only void which was the 4" line.

I originally planned to do over the soakaway only, but now I have decided to condemn the cesspit and do a new one.... Never know what could happen in the future plus the incremental cost to do the new cesspit as I am in the ground is smaller compare to a future redo.

Here's the question. Earlier, a few shots from the TT standard were posted. For cases where the water table is within 1.8m, a seepage pit is not recommended. The standard does not go further to state what to do in such cases. In planning and thinking ahead, does anyone know what septic system design applies if the water table is higher than 1.8m below grade? I have not started major excavation, but curious to know what would apply if a high water table is encountered.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby pugboy » July 17th, 2021, 11:47 am

any pics of the soakaway?
curious to see how an old one looks

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carluva
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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby carluva » July 17th, 2021, 1:14 pm

Not much to see. All that is visible is the line from the septic tank into the soakaway. The majority of stones and material has been removed to be able to free the line and to create a void (pit) from where I can treat the water (as best as I can) and then discard occasionally until the new system is up and running.

I will however post pics and updates on the progress of the job once started.

By the way, if I don't have depth, I can make up volume by increasing length and breadth of everything else. That ought to take care of higher water table.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby marcop2487 » July 22nd, 2021, 2:22 am

Does anyone have 3/4” plyboard and boxing board available for sale at a decent price. New or used in good condition is okay as well.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby marcop2487 » July 22nd, 2021, 2:22 am

Does anyone have 3/4” plyboard and boxing board available for sale at a decent price. New or used in good condition is okay as well.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby worksux101 » July 24th, 2021, 3:15 pm

Any recommendations for house movers? A few appliances and bits of furniture

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shake d livin wake d dead
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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby shake d livin wake d dead » July 24th, 2021, 3:41 pm

worksux101 wrote:Any recommendations for house movers? A few appliances and bits of furniture


Depending on the area, I have a padna with a good size open tray who does transport for furniture plus. If you interested, I could send you the #. He from Freeport side

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby Jerry84 » July 27th, 2021, 4:04 pm

Good day. Not sure if this was covered before but I was wondering what options I have in making my bathroom bug proof.
I have a vent that's approximately 2ft x 1ft. Want to maintain the vent but just prevent insects (mosquitoes, flies and roaches) from coming in. Also I was thinking of a diy fix as I really don't want to open my house up to potential exposure to the virus (my daughter was dreamed high risk).
Any suggestions are welcomed.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby ProtonPowder » July 27th, 2021, 5:26 pm

Jerry84 wrote:Good day. Not sure if this was covered before but I was wondering what options I have in making my bathroom bug proof.
I have a vent that's approximately 2ft x 1ft. Want to maintain the vent but just prevent insects (mosquitoes, flies and roaches) from coming in. Also I was thinking of a diy fix as I really don't want to open my house up to potential exposure to the virus (my daughter was dreamed high risk).
Any suggestions are welcomed.

womens' pantyhose/stockings are a good diy dust/bug screen material

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby adnj » July 27th, 2021, 6:08 pm

You can use a piece of wire or fiberglass screen from the hardware or from scrap.

Build a frame from wood or just use a hot-melt glue gun to put a bead of glue around the opening a bit at a time. Trim the excess away once the adhesive has cured.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby Jerry84 » July 27th, 2021, 6:55 pm

Thanks for the suggestions
adnj wrote:You can use a piece of wire or fiberglass screen from the hardware or from scrap.

Build a frame from wood or just use a hot-melt glue gun to put a bead of glue around the opening a bit at a time. Trim the excess away once the adhesive has cured.

Can you advise as to what exactly is the fiberglass screen you're referring too and which hardware I may be able to get it from?

I've been to a couple hardwares in the San Juan area and none seem to have anything for this purpose

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby adnj » July 27th, 2021, 7:17 pm

Jerry84 wrote:Thanks for the suggestions
adnj wrote:You can use a piece of wire or fiberglass screen from the hardware or from scrap.

Build a frame from wood or just use a hot-melt glue gun to put a bead of glue around the opening a bit at a time. Trim the excess away once the adhesive has cured.

Can you advise as to what exactly is the fiberglass screen you're referring too and which hardware I may be able to get it from?

I've been to a couple hardwares in the San Juan area and none seem to have anything for this purpose
They would probably call it "mosquito mesh." The same thing that you would use on a window or door.

It will typically come on a 3 foot roll. It's inexpensive so buy extra just in case of errors.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby Duane 3NE 2NR » July 27th, 2021, 9:52 pm

Jerry84 wrote:Thanks for the suggestions
adnj wrote:You can use a piece of wire or fiberglass screen from the hardware or from scrap.

Build a frame from wood or just use a hot-melt glue gun to put a bead of glue around the opening a bit at a time. Trim the excess away once the adhesive has cured.

Can you advise as to what exactly is the fiberglass screen you're referring too and which hardware I may be able to get it from?

I've been to a couple hardwares in the San Juan area and none seem to have anything for this purpose

Fibreglass screen mesh looks like this and sold by the foot from the roll

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61ea4NLnzpL._AC_SY355_.jpg (40.93 KiB) Viewed 2986 times

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carluva
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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby carluva » July 28th, 2021, 11:32 am

First round of pics for the septic tank work.

Pump sump base made.

Septic tank Lids framed up and ready to cast.

Steel work bent for septic tank.

Line from existing septic tank identified and trench cut across the top of the existing tank to allow for extending the line to the new system.

Perforated pipe on site for lines from soakaway into rubble drain (6") and for a higher rubble drain to handle surface water (4"). Geotextile fabric onsite for lining the soakaway and rubble drains.

Sulphur resistant cement ordered from TCL for use in all areas where sewage and black water are/may be.

Sump pump purchased for interim use is dewatering holes as required. Will be repurposed as effluent pump after.

Backhoe was planned for today but didn't proceed due to weather. Hoping to excavate on Friday once weather is decent.
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carluva
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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby carluva » July 31st, 2021, 8:21 am

Second round of pics. The first is the hold for the new cesspit.

The second shows the view from the cesspit to soakaway and trench for rubble drain.

The third is the lining with geotextile fabric.

The fourth is the soakaway.

The last is the line up of pipes from cesspit to soakaway and then to trench and pump sump.



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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby pugboy » July 31st, 2021, 11:21 am

soakaway pipe to trench/rubble drain is gonna be same height as outflow from cesspit? and like waist to sump collection?

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carluva
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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby carluva » July 31st, 2021, 11:24 am

No pugboy.

You can't see it in pic but all the lines are lower that the previous one. We know the depth of the line to the existing cesspit so the outlet line from the cesspit is lower than the I let line. And the line from the soakaway to the rubble drain is lower than the outlet line from the cesspit into the soakaway.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby pugboy » July 31st, 2021, 11:34 am

yeah I know the cesspit outlet is always below the inlet so it is supposed to be filled up to that outlet and every flush/input results is slight overflow out to the soakaway

why i asked was because I was wondering if the sump collection is meant to collect only if soakaway has been fully saturated(same or higher than soakaway intake) and is its own pool or if it is below the soakway intake to always have a minor collection

btw the big vertical pipe in the soakaway is for inspection ?

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carluva
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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby carluva » July 31st, 2021, 11:48 am

pugboy wrote:yeah I know the cesspit outlet is always below the inlet so it is supposed to be filled up to that outlet and every flush/input results is slight overflow out to the soakaway

why i asked was because I was wondering if the sump collection is meant to collect only if soakaway has been fully saturated(same or higher than soakaway intake) and is its own pool or if it is below the soakway intake to always have a minor collection

btw the big vertical pipe in the soakaway is for inspection ?


The line to the sump is lower than the line from the soakaway and it's graded to the sump. There could be some runoff from the soakaway which enters the sump for discharge.

Ideally, the system should allow for percolation to the surrounding earth. The soakaway ought to purify the water and allow for seepage. If the soakawy gets filled with water, then runoff from the soakaway would go into the rubble drain which should allow for further purification and seepage.

If the system gets inundated with water, for example in heavy rainfalls (which was the issue with mines which prompted this work) then the rubble drain will channel water to the sump for discharge.

I consulted with someone at WASA's watewater section who advised that this is a suitable system.

The vertical line in the soakaway is for inspection and as a cleanout port. That is peforated pipe so if the entire system should back up (hopefully never given how its constructed), the truck can empty out the soakaway as well.

The black corrugated lines are all perforated pipe.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby pugboy » July 31st, 2021, 11:54 am

as an emergency measure it might make sense to an intake pump pipe from the soakaway inspection to the sump so you could manually empty the soakaway yourself with a switch.

I have heard of commercial buildings having a float operated pump setup which empties like that to an aerating tank of some sort then to treatment and out to drain.

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carluva
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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby carluva » July 31st, 2021, 12:30 pm

This is the opposite end. This is the sump.

I cannot fit a pump in that vertical line in the soakaway.

So, my emergency backup is a higher rubble drain. See the trench to the left? That is the rough cut out for the higher rubble drain that will handle excess rainwater and surface water. A 4" perforated pipe is going there.

Hopefully wil the combination of these two lines, I should deal with all the water in this area and prevent future backups due to the excess rainfall we are having.

Good idea though with that pump. As I'm in the construction now, feel free to through any more suggestions or questions.
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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby pugboy » July 31st, 2021, 1:49 pm

chances are if the main rubble drain is saturated then the soil below the upper trench will also be
what about just combining to make a wider rubble drain or as they call it in north america a bigger drain field

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby Toyo1777 » July 31st, 2021, 8:33 pm

Best size for a one bedroom apartment in terms of square feet

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby Fadakartel » August 1st, 2021, 4:38 am

Toyo1777 wrote:Best size for a one bedroom apartment in terms of square feet


I would say 120 or 144 sqft.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby shake d livin wake d dead » August 1st, 2021, 7:58 am

What is fair price for the following scope of works? Its a plumbing job

3 toilets and baths, 1 laundry room and kitchen. Person is only required to
Run out all lines (hot and cold for showers only) for inside as well as toilets etc. All pipes on the outside will run out on building etc. No venting for toilets as yet.

No water is being placed in the building as well as septic tank not being done at the moment. All the work being done is just to ensure I can safely carry out tiling inside after. So im just looking for an average labour cost for job described.

Thanks

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby carluva » August 2nd, 2021, 10:40 am

More pics.

The soakaway filled with boulders.

Rubble drain filled with 3/4" stone.

Outlet line from septic tank to soakaway set in place.

Trenches and soakaway covered with geotextile fabric.
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