After many long months of waiting our project started last Monday and immediately the driller ran into trouble. We were scheduled for 6 - 150’ wells drilled into our driveway due to the slope of our yard. By the end of the week they had made it less than 50’ into the first hole. Today they pulled the casing, filled the hole, and left. I’m still waiting to hear anything from my geo contractor. I knew in advance and told them that we were on karst limestone based on the specific radon issues that our neighborhood experiences. When I spoke to the drillers on site they said they were losing water (at first) then air pressure later due to the underground caverns and cracks. They were then unable to get the cuttings back to the surface. Does anyone here have similar experiences or advice? I’m worried this project is shot which would be a huge shame after all this planning and effort.
Well it looks like that’s all folks. The contractor believes my property is no longer conducive to drilling and is way too small for horizontal so the project is cancelled. To their credit they are refunding my deposits promptly and the driller is not charging me for their unsuccessful effort.
That's a lot of wasted time. Just go with a regular heat pump and be happy. Unless you have one already. You'll probably move or die before you see payback.
For sure it didn’t start out about only saving, including eventual equipment replacements we were looking at a long payback period. We’ll start looking at ASHP’s when our ancient AC unit decides to give up the ghost.