Cleaning Out Our Well - #14

The old well in the middle of our Portuguese quinta has partially collapsed and has a lot of stuff growing in it. Cleaning, securing and ultimately re-building the well has been on our project list since we bought the place but it's one of those activities that needs to be approached with caution. When my sister and her partner said they were planning to visit Portugal for a bit of sport climbing I suggested she make a slight detour to visit us, and - most importantly - bring their climbing gear!
In today's episode we send the girls down the well to clear it out and take one step closer to making it safe.
Buy Merch: makedogrow.tee...
Join Our Members Club: club.makedogro...

[@pamiam9017]

Your sister and her partner are just as awesome as you two are. Great video

[@jackpatteeuw9244]

Long term suggestion, something that is much lower on your "to do" list ! • First, check the bottom of the well. It is extremely muddy/silty or filled with decayed organic material that will have to be removed. Push large stone to the outside edge. • Get sections of large (1m-3m) concrete pipe, the longer the better (yes, you will need a crane or large tractor). Drill 1cm-2cm holes in the first couple of meters and wrap that with heavy duty geo-textile fabric. • Drop the concrete pipe, the end with holes first, into the existing well. Hopefully the bottom of the well will support the pipe ! • Fill in around the pipe with stone/large gravel (5cm-10cm) to within a few cm of the top of the pipe making certain the the top of the pipe remains level in all directions. • Add a layer of geo-textile, the next section of pipe (no holes required). Fill around the pipe with smaller gravel (1cm-4cm) making sure it is level. Top with another layer of geo-textile. • Any additional pipe sections can be back filled around the outside with soil.

[@lorimontcalm9086]

Omg, your sister also does wood jokes!! Yes you must be related! I loved her original introduction. Hugs from 🇨🇦

[@chronicfish]

Guy, the women in your life are *bosses!* 💪💪

[@francespassman168]

Loving all the girl power

[@debbiegarza1287]

Wow! Mad respect to your sis & friend!!!

[@paulimuukkonen192]

If the aim is to have one day clean drinking water from it, you should install concrete rings, place filters and backfill cavity with gravel.

[@halfabee]

There is a Portugal youtube video of it being done.

[@katefinnegan8129]

The KZbinr I saw doing this with the concrete rings is ‘Real Algarve Living’. Not sure of the cost and he did have to hire people to install, but worked fab.

[@MAKEDOGROW]

3m well vs 15m well, very different story

[@MrGigi-dz9cv]

Water can be filtered, treated later.

[@suzipam1234]

We took our sample in a container supplied by the camera back to them to test for drinkability. We were told there was microbes in the water. They will tell you which and how to treat it. It’s very well done. We are in the tabua area

[@paulchadwick4907]

Great video , your sister & her friend are absolutely lovely, good work on the well 👍 😀 xx

[@elizabethmusso5946]

A cone-shaped roof would look cool. Debris would slide down easily I think.

[@mechanics4all405]

you shd mulch between potatoes,to keep evaporation and soil temperature down and also stop weeds,great work

[@carolined3058]

Your sister has a great sense of humor

[@aidenjohns8248]

You need a big inflated tube a bit bigger than the well. so when inflated it seals against the sides, stick it down the well and inflate it, and then pour 4ft of concrete allowing to harden for a few hours before pouring next, this will reduce pressure on bag, and lessen the risk of a collapse.. higher up could add REBAR..

[@suecooper3016]

so great to have free family labour & get jobs done so much quicker & easier. Emma & Cat were awesome with their fearless well cleaning & you now know what to buy Emma for her next birthday!! Result x

[@louisecooper4803]

I picked up on the change in music on your last video and the tension building music on this video didn't go unnoticed either. Made me smile. Loved the video. Thank you.

[@footplate0]

I also picked up on that and was thinking of a heart beat when it played, so great choice

[@Taliesin800]

Really made me laugh - reminded me of who wants to be a millionaire!

[@gaynor3976]

Emma and Cat did really great clearing the well and building the fence round. Looking fantastic now Guy xx

[@monalingan9523]

Thoroughly enjoyed this video. Lovely to see family and friends helping out.

[@LCamp-cr7fs]

That well is a monumental task! Well done so far! That well is so important for your water autonomy and worth saving in the long run.

[@brianshields7137]

To reconstruct the well you could use precast cement segments made above ground and then lifted in to the Welland then built up to the top

[@HeidiPriest]

oh my word, what a large well. Well done to the Girl.

[@Custercounty01]

Perhaps get a quote for a drilled well, I imagine it would be a lot cheaper than trying to repair such a large structure ?

[@FruitsForLife]

When we were in India I saw folks making concrete well rings to fit inside a well. Never seen one in the UK but might be worth checking in Portugal as the results seem pretty solid

[@christobar]

Another youtuber in the algarve just did this. "Real Algarve Living"

[@mowtow90]

20m well - this is very dangeraus. You need a fan to blow air down. In a lot of those old wells , there is a large build of a CO2 and if you dont sent air down , you are going to pass out and possably die. Quite a few well cleaners died this way in my country. The danger grows with well depth.

[@johnb4183]

Exactly or cave in ! I

[@JazzFunkNobby1964]

Yes could be explosive gases down there also.

[@Jorge.1419]

Guy's sister is super funny and nice

[@brettn4337]

It's always good to put family members to work when they visit. Love the suspenseful music by the way. Check out Real Algarve living channel, his well collapsed and he inserted prefab concrete rings in the well and plans to use the rock to clad the above ground section of the concrete rings.

[@MAKEDOGROW]

3m vs 15m well ... not even in the same ballpark unfortunately

[@brettn4337]

@@MAKEDOGROW would it be possible to just replace the collapsed section of your well with the concrete rings?

[@MAKEDOGROW]

@@brettn4337 the collapsed section is just the walls above ground, and there’d be nowhere to put the rings on. We have considered the ring solution, but we’d need a crane to lower them (and a very good engineers spec), and access isn’t great

[@R1chiesART]

Makes you wonder how they did it originally after looking at all this prep and heart stopping footage!?.

[@SwimCoach8]

The ladies were quite lovely and very relaxed in front of the camera. Do they or have they considered trying a KZbin channel of their own? The well is looking great and what a wonderful resource for the gardens. Finally, I did some digging and the donkey (BCS) is availible, locally, here in the states. There is talk of getting back into gardening around these parts. May need to look into one of these little beasts. Thanks so much for all the time you put into the videos. Always look forward to seeing what your up to.

[@MAKEDOGROW]

They have considered making their own channel ... maybe this little taste will prompt them to start. If you’re looking at a BCS, Curtis Stone has a couple of videos that talk through the different attachments and models. Just do t be fooled into thinking it’s easy to change the attachments ... he makes it look super easy, but it’s not (or maybe we just haven’t mastered the magic touch yet)

[@SwimCoach8]

@@MAKEDOGROW Thanks, I will check it out. I will be sure to make the local dealer demo (ease of use) for me hehehehehe.

[@jamesholland5475]

Pressure wash the inside of the well, then coat the inside of the well with gunite, it's a spray concrete, to strengthen and seal the well !! But you'll need to have scaffolding put in first, hanging scaffold would likely be best !

[@skylandparkportugal]

Great video, your sister and her partner are fantastic. We're loving watching your videos while we prepare for our own move to Portugal next year.

[@titannightmare7754]

This may or may not help . I was thinking you can go smaller ! Put a concrete pipe like what thay use in USA for street sewer drainage ! But install vertical stacking thim one buy one . Building a BIG gantry crane with a hoist PLUS big foot to spread the load all over . you can back fill the well with the concrete pipe in place giving a new wall to the well . Just a thought . Have a good day from ((USA)) !

[@MAKEDOGROW]

That’s pretty much what we’re hoping to do, but we’ll get the pros in to do it and hire a proper crane etc. Lowering rings down a 15m well isn’t really a DIY job 😀

[@SolarLantern424]

Strange looking well. Was that a window at the top, and there seems to be square holes for maybe floor joists? Perhaps there used to be a well house if there ever was such a thing.! ;) It looks like the window could be used to acess the well even when it is fenced off, so that might be a handy access / safety feature. You could even have a roof and still use the well via the window. Fancy!

[@johnburnett5624]

On other KZbin channels covering similar Well repairs they used concrete Well Rings to re-enforce the inner well walls; an option worth considering?

[@DerDummePunkt]

Yeah, my thoughts exactly. I don't think increasing the circumference of the wall up top is going to do them any good, my fear would be that the support for whatever Kylie and Guy build up top will erode in a relatively short amount of time, and is then going to collapse into the well too, just like the old wall did. Is there a way around building the inner walls of the well up again?

[@johnburnett5624]

@@DerDummePunkt Yes Concrete Well Rings come in sections which are laid on top of each other until the desired height is reached and they are available in Portugal.

[@DNN88]

Look @ real Algarve living. He did the same thing. Also a awesome channel BTW

[@ericsebina256]

Yes seem to be hustle free the chanel is real algarve living.

[@MAKEDOGROW]

3m vs 15m well ... not even in the same ballpark unfortunately

[@cbwmama8461]

Check out KZbin channel -- Real Algarve Living. He started working on his collapsed well about 5 months ago and finally had concrete rings installed 1 month ago since the interior brickwork was too far gone. What held him up was the unavailability of the rings. Your well is in much better shape than his.

[@MAKEDOGROW]

3m well vs 15m well .....

[@FransBlaas1]

You can lower down concrete tubes as used for sewers, stack them up until top and then fill it up around the tube with concrete.

[@Wlachancegofordividend.]

Love the suspenseful music 👍great work😊🇨🇦

[@HYUKLDER1]

Would clear away the trees, put a small roofed building around it, reconstruct the well wall so it is even and secure at the top, construct a floor across it with a central hatch that opens. Install pumping system. All safe, cannot be entered by unauthorised children, animals, anyone else and is an attractive industrial historic asset that provides natural water for your land. Plus, it would be a very interesting project for us all to watch!

[@michaelnachvorne9250]

This

[@gailday7566]

A thought to secure the edges. My brother is a concrete contractor and he needed to fix a foundation that reached out into a lake. He created a form near the foundation and then poured in against the old foundation a type of concrete that dries and firms up under water. If you created some forms you could lower down then poured in the concrete to the level above the water then you could build back the walls with stone and concrete and then cover it. Just a thought.

[@suzilouden5964]

A deep dive into the inner workings of your little slice of heaven. Thank you for a great video - girls rule 🥰🥰🥰

[@jeanhawken4482]

Amazingly deep

[@junehitchcock170]

Great to see the well clearing.

[@mariapelleya7410]

You are so lucky in having a talented sister & her partner. Well looks much safer although future well project needs much careful planning. Concrete rings sound perfect but $$$; crane to lift into place $$$ and engineering the ring circumference also $$$.

[@MAKEDOGROW]

Yep, we’ve thought of that solution, but don’t think we have the access for a crane. When it comes time we’ll do a little more research and see what’s possible

[@simonlewis6276]

Yes ,pump out ,find the bottom ,go smaller with concrete rings .as a liner ,back fill around the rings .Much easier to cap it as well .

[@MAKEDOGROW]

Not an easy task for a 15m+ well

[@simonlewis6276]

@@MAKEDOGROW true ,but a specialist firm would do it .To insure a good water supply ,if only for crop irrigation .it would be a good investment .With water anything grows in Portugal .Without irrigation and the long hot summers ( and increasingly dry winters ) achieving good regular cropping is always a struggle in my experience .But then I live down south so it might be a far more acute problem here .But then a bore hole might work out not much more ,if your water table is not so far down ,as rebuilding your well as original will be quite a task .We had to drill a thousand feet !Cost a lot ,but in retrospect it was the best investment we could have made . That was twenty years ago now. It’s never dried even in long droughts and we never give water a second thought now. .Before the bore water supply was a constant worry .

[@ronaldlucas5360]

Enjoyed

[@philmoore71]

that ladder will never be more secured. That is a real well, ours is a paltry 3m

[@jackicammidge5901]

I'm so loving the crickets!

[@davidcolman6070]

Glad I found the new channel.

[@101life9]

Awesome beautiful smart helpers. Lucky you ❤👍

[@SydneyTravellersGuide]

The tense drummy music when she's cleaning the well is kinda amusing.

[@anajoaquina]

Lugar incrível, gosto de ver seus vídeos. Mulher Maravilhosa, trabalho de primeira. Abraços Do Brazil.

[@carolbulmer8253]

Another job well done!

[@paulogoncalves8054]

Enjoy Portugal 🇵🇹

[@manuelacavaco4147]

Excellent job!

[@daskasspatzle2396]

If the girls want to enjoy climbing wells in Bulgaria, i could offer my two wells, as well as a flushing toilet, although i do not use it. Some day i should rebuild the outside of one well as well...

[@zweigackroyd7301]

Nice work. Depending on time lag for a longer-term solution, you might need a way to get inside the fence, though? How quickly will the area regrow and require clearing? (Re-do theme?) 🙂

[@lindamorrow7573]

Those girls are...💪...girl power👍

[@dr.momeenkhan]

Good job 👍🏻

[@christinewoolfries6057]

Great soundtrack! I was on the edge of my seat! Seriously though, very interesting and entertaining as always!

[@suzanneribas3746]

You can also make a round floor like the one you have your tent on but much smaller fit to size overlapping circumference of well and have a door for access in the middle. You would have to knock down the rest of the above ground well wall and build a tripod over it so you are able to lower your water bucket from the center. I would first find out the depth of the well, the depth of the water in it and build a ladder from rebar that goes all the way down. Be careful the tree next to it is not growing roots into it and destablizing it. There are probably several places on the property that have water available for drilling. Maybe that would be better. Good luck.

[@jeniceowen5184]

Enjoyed watching

[@bristolveggiebeds5310]

Wow, that's a big hole! Great water source!

[@celiasnyman2885]

You've got some brave girls there.

[@philippearson1230]

Love the video And the Brine Lacrosse top , been involved in lacrosse for nearly 52 year as a player and referee. Love what you guys are doing

[@johnlander3194]

You may wish to line it with concrete rings , then you can fill the sides and top with out with some of the traditional rocks

[@lisascenic]

Here in California, I can buy telescoping one-handed Japanese pruners that hold onto the cut branch until you release it. You might like something like that for both your orchard and your well.

[@susanknight8961]

I watch another channel who just fixed his well and it looks beautiful. The channel is Real Algarve Living. It was a few months ago. I hope this helps and that it gives you some idea how to do it safely.

[@JaminSilbaugh]

That looks like fun! Usually when I’m roped off like that I’m just cleaning gutters or windows.

[@Adrianaagribeiro]

Omg ! You are so funny ! Love whatching !

[@offgridwanabe]

Beautiful old well imagine the skill and work that went into building it likely a 100 years ago, but the budget will likely determine the fix a well liner is likely the cheapest fix.

[@bobbob2831]

Why not, in order to make a new well, lower down a pre-fab liner made of concrete rings which sit one on top of the other ?

[@connienelson2089]

All’s Well that ends Well😎

[@DavidMorpurgo]

Looking forward for when you sis gets a youtube cannel too:)

[@berniewalker8289]

have you consider installing concrete ring liners into the well , this would resolve the issue of the well collapsing as this will be an ongoing issue, my thoughts only, good luck, enjoy your blog

[@MAKEDOGROW]

Not sure a crane could get access, but it is something we’ll research further when the time comes

[@kiskatalin2206]

Very good now how I can check my well.

[@glenyscallaghan1195]

Good job😀

[@thekjartis2281]

I know noting about wells, but a thought came to mind. To get my old chimney approved by the fire department I had to insert a steel chimney inside the old one. What about sort of the same with the well? A concrete insert and fill in the sides with something to keep the water contained in the new well?

[@vickiel1284]

love your choice of background music.

[@ritajohnson5594]

I enjoyed meeting your sister and Cat even more enjoyable that she has the humor gene. The job cleaning the well would not be on my list.

[@dirk-martinwollenhaupt6487]

I wonder if it would make sense to empty the well completely to see what the bottom looks like to have a full picture what you are working with ...

[@jimmyjohnstone5878]

That isn't possible. The groundwater has been reached. 'Emptying' the well would entail pumping out the entire underground aqyifer. That would be impossible in that no pump would manage it, and where would all that water go?

[@davidstoddard9160]

It would be the simple thing to just buy cement culverts the size of where they can rest below on a solid base, whereever that appears to be, and keep adding extentions until you are a few ft above the ground level and put a lid cement lid over that with a removable access to be able to inspect the well as needed.

[@MAKEDOGROW]

Not so simple when it’s a 15m well with obstructions at the bottom

[@DilipSingh-bu5xs]

Hi, your project is very inspiring. Congratulations and all the best! On the fencing built around the wall, I was wondering how are you going to manage the growth of unwanted plants, weeds inside of the fence till such a time you come with the long term fix? I'd say please factor in that

[@MAKEDOGROW]

There’s a small access point on one end so we can get in behind the fence if we need

[@DilipSingh-bu5xs]

@@MAKEDOGROW Oh cool. Didn't notice it! Once again you're doing great

[@Vanosphere]

Well.... Done 😉

[@andreacrashe9894]

*Kia ora (hello) Kylie, Guy, Emma & Kat, Well this was a really awesome video. I thoroughly enjoyed it... abseiling down a well & hanging precariously over the edge of it too. Great mahi (work) done on this. Good to see the BOSS approved...Hope you can get back in easily to weedeat the new growth. Yep Emma & Kat come back soon... loved the humour going on between you all.*

[@howard922]

Turns out you had hidden depths Guy!

[@benloveless9080]

Lower concrete rings one above the other till above ground level and then fill in around the sides

[@kattihatt]

Was this an open hole when you bought it? If it was, it would be quite dangerous...

[@loubob21]

Did you day 15 meters? Or 45 feet? That's enough to make my head swim getting near the edge. I laugh outloud at some point in all your videos. Keep up the great work, on the property and on the video production.

[@arimmer2356]

Next project flushing toilet and big tent for Emma & Kat!!!

[@paulacunha6792]

Great ... work 👧👧👍

[@GupStar]

Imho music is not nessecary here. But if you do, please make it cheerefull. We watch this to relax, it's not a thriller ;)

[@bedlam8159]

Below ground Fred Dibnah-esque with the return of innuendo.......loved it I suppose a rendition of "Ding Dong Dell.......Pussy Down The Well" would have been a step too far though! 🤣

[@MAKEDOGROW]

😂🤣😂

[@floatybisquit]

Your ‘well’come omg did they miss that one!!

[@TexasHomesteaders]

Have you measured the depth of that well? Very nice of them to help.

[@MAKEDOGROW]

We’ve only measured to the water line ... 15m on the day the video was shot, but the water level is much lower than usual due to a very dry winter

[@KnutBluetooth]

Fort Boyard comes to portugal.

[@anitamoolman168]

I’m enjoying the work. Won’t be easier if you put concrete rings down the hole?

[@kathrynchelli3078]

There is a British gentlemen on youtube....think it is Al Garve......he has two espisodes on cleaning out his well and then rebuilding from the bottom up....very interesting.......he removed a lot of trash, then boulders etc......then added concrete rings from the bottom to top and is now going to build a stone wall around the top concrete ring...........check it out..........

[@MAKEDOGROW]

His well is only about 3m, ours is 5 times that depth .... completely different type of project in terms of engineering, machines, cost etc

[@Dracos661]

Is it posable to innerline the well with precast cemenr rings?

[@sreval]

I am in charge and I have Kylie's pemission to say so ...........Keep up the great vids please !!

[@rock-n-rollfoodie]

The music … lol

[@christinetomlinson4132]

Ding dong bell who put the Kat in the well 🤪 great team work chaps but disappointed Guy didn’t get dangled on the rope 😜🥰😲

[@kevinfisher1632]

what cool women and i like the bag for life she is carrying too.

[@robmarth2226]

It's pretty dangerous to put all the weight on a single step of that stairs 😨 But nicely done, can't wait for the next project!