“How Cold‘s the Well House, Mama?”“Two Degrees and Falling.”

This post is a tribute to Johnny Cash’s classic song:

Around here, you get a similar feeling when the temperature starts dropping in wintertime:

“How cold’s the well house, mama?”
“Two degrees and falling.”
“How cold’s the well house, papa?”
“She said it’s two degrees and falling.”

The pipes have froze up /I hope they don’t break
I’ll try to thaw ‘em out /Before it’s too late

“How cold’s the well house, mama?”
“Two below and falling…”

Insulating the well house was one of the "get ready for winter” chores that I finished this fall:

A friend gave me two- 6 inch thick 4’ x 8’ pieces of Styrofoam which were originally made to build floating boat docks. Thanks, Clint!

I basically made a cube of Styrofoam, with a removable lid or roof.  I then wrapped the cube with 1x4 lumber. This held the cube in place and gave me something to nail the barn-board siding to. When the house was finished, I sealed the joints with “Great Stuff” foam sealer. This “stuff” really is “great.” You spray out a narrow little worm of foam which expands to fill in all of the gaps between the boards. It stops those cold winter winds from blowing through.

The door is a fitted piece. The fat insulation made it too thick to hinge, but it works just fine as a removable panel.  I used the granite "tailing" sand left over from the well drilling to shape and slope the wellhouse floor. It’s much tidier than dirt and leaves. The roof section just sits on top and is attached from the outside with metal brackets.

The funny thing is that the well house still has to have a light on to keep from freezing. When it has frozen, it only took 10 minutes or so to thaw. I’m pretty sure it’s the pressure tank that’s freezing, but its hard to say for sure. The light is really only necessary during prolonged cold spells. One night of cold is generally no problem.

Do you need someone to winterize your home against these cold Asheville winters?
Give your local handyman a call.