Today Matt and I met with Modern Heating & Cooling and Sam's Well Drilling out at the lot.  Due to the small size of the lot we will be doing vertical loops as we already knew.  Today's meeting was to determine where on the lot the wells would be drilled.

Here is what was learned:

• The wells need to be 10 feet apart.
• Everything associated with the wells will be at least 6 feet under the ground. There will be no visible evidence on the surface that the wells are there.  Bury them and forget them.
• It will be preferable to do the wells before the foundation is installed, so that the pipes out to the wells can be run under the floor.
• Because of the slope in the middle of the yard, the wells need to be either on the top, or on the bottom. They can't drill in the middle of the hill.
• We are avoiding drilling in the back yard behind the house in case there is a future desire for additions.  (There's a green built home point about planning for additions... I'll have to be sure we claimed that one.) Also this presents less risk to the conservancy as the mud associated with the well drilling will be on the front, not the back, of the lot.

The one unresolved issue is to obtain permission from the owner of the neighboring vacant lot. Part of the drill rig will need to be parked on the adjacent lot while drilling one of the wells. If we do not obtain permission, then this well will be installed under the driveway.

The current plan is to have the wells put in first (starting within the week), before the foundation. This delayed our original estimate of "digging" this week, but with good reason. The plumbing in from the geothermal loops can now run under the foundation, where it will be more efficient than if it ran across the ceiling.

The proposed drilling location is at the front right of the property. That's on the top of the hill, in front of the proposed retaining wall.  I snapped some pictures as the tentative locations of the wells were measured and marked. They will apply for the well permits from the DNR today and should begin excavating and drilling within the week.