Good thinking Brettski. The last time I had a small pack of elephants in a room with a hot tub things got out of hand and we lost our security deposit. Although it might not have been the elephants so much as the monkeys. They can't handle their tequila.
Then this other bit of news might be somewhat timely... About this time last year, we finally got utility power pulled in some 2000+ feet underground and hooked up. Wow...what a neat concept to flip a switch and get light without a generator! Well, we are into the next bitter-sweet upgrade: a septic system. Bitter cuz it's another multi-thousand dollar expenditure. Sweet cuz I am weary of not only using a porti-potty for our business, but the bi-weekly cleanout procedure is...well...getting pretty old. From previous posts, you may (or may not) recall that I had significant issues with getting a septic field area approved. My original location plans dissolved with the perc test. Fortunately, I have a creative excavator/septic guy that has the right friends at the county. After a personal visit to the jobsite by the county players, we were granted a permit for a conventional system in the most unlikely spot...behind the gar/apt...and uphill. Shows to go ya, I had nary an inkling that the new zone was plausible. This past weekend while Dski and I are screwing away (building the interior partition walls...come on!), my dirt guy is removing a couple dozen scraggly trees to open up the field area.
We are installing a 1500 gal tank to anticipate the possiblity of a house next to the gar/apt somewhere later in time. To maintain a "nearly out of control" budget, we are laying in the smaller septic field suitable to service only the current structure and leaving enough real estate for possible expansion later. It is a difficult decision, particularly since septic systems are quickly losing EPA acceptance. Even if we had the dough for the larger field, it would not guarantee that 15 years from now the county health dept would approve hooking up another structure to it, carte blanche. OTOH, the minimal cost to upgrade to the larger tank is an affordable risk.
