Sharing my experience - septic tank inspection and location

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Mtarrallo

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I am completely baffled about the situation I have been enduring and wanted to share my experience with hopes that this information helps others. About a year ago we found a home in a beautiful area on a gorgeous piece of property. The home was placed in a location that balanced the front and back pieces of land. It was an older home in a secluded part of town where a lot of work was done without permits also all records of this home or not digitally signed or capped so it was difficult to locate any service and building permits. When going through the inspection we hired a septic company to inspect the septic system. This to me was an obvious thing to do before purchasing a home. When asking the seller where the septic system was located he did not know nor knew when the system was last pumped.so the septic company needed to probe the surrounding property to try and locate the drainfield and the tank. To make a long story short they could not find it and nor did three other companies that the real estate agent hired so at this point we have no clue where it was one plumbing company came and used a sectional machine to snake the vent line on the roof and went exploring in the front of the property to listen for a noise at that time they determined it was under the driveway. They were quick to determine that the driveway needed to be cut so they can locate the lids I put a halt to that as I was not fitting the bill for a home that was not mine yet nor responsible for the maintenance of. Negotiations took place and they determined it would cost about $10,000 to replace the tank to cut the concrete and put in a new drainfield which is about right based off of bids I'd received - they took off $10,000 off the price of the house in the negotiations and we purchased the home. This money would sit in a separate account waiting for a problem to happen so to speak. After we purchased the home I contacted a few more septic companies and explain the situation to them and they refused to follow up or work with me. as life goes on between work family events health issues and what not months of past and eventually we had a slight back up into the bottom shower. I called two more companies and left messages with their service which did not call back the third company I called showed up promptly and used a snake camera and locating device to trace the line and were able to probe A number of feet in front of where the probe was registering under the driveway other members started to probe in that area and they hit the clean out lid and eventually found the main tank lid which was not under the driveway as originally perceived

When they popped the lid they discovered that it most likely was not pumped over the course of 20+ years they stuck a shovel in the lead about 6 inches down and it stood straight up

They were able to clean inspect and certify the tank but most likely the drainfield will need a rejuvenation or replacement and we are planning on upgrading the system to current code anyway for about 9k which will include a 1500 gallon tank and about 800 ft.² of drain field

What may seem obvious to most handy people was not obvious to the previous homeowner I don't understand how somebody cannot even think about something like this.

Always get your septic tank pumped I have heard so many people say I have never pump my septic tank and I don't need to if you want to avoid any problems you should perform regular maintenance just like you took care of your car or other items that you want to last a long time

What I don't understand is why the other septic companies did not employ the same methods to locate the tank properly when I was inspecting the home all I know is it's saved me a bunch of money and the previous homeowner lost out because they did not follow proper septic maintenance

I would be interested to know by others if you've had similar experiences and share your stories in this thread thanks for reading


Mike
 
What is the last picture? It looks like an abandoned 4" well that isn't covered. (It should be capped, filled with cement or plugged at the top for later use)

For the septic, you did exactly what I would have done. Don't mess with something that ain't broke. When it breaks, then deal with it.
 
Believe it or not the last picture is the main lid - it had a 3 inch pipe affixed to the top. The septic guys thought that was odd as well figured it might've been attached for convenience inspection etc. it did have a cap on it however it was buried underneath the ground so it was not obvious that it was present - the ground is still open right now they're putting in two 12 inch risers and a new lid so it will be at grade level.
 
That is odd. I have seen many buried wells, but never seen pipe used as part of a septic lid. That's why I never say "I've seen it all".
 
Most people think that as long as they can flush their toilet their system is working.
Most people do not understand how to properly maintain their system & the damage it can do to their system & their drinking water.
 
I have done several "camera and locates" on septic tanks since I bought my camera and locating equipment.

The reason many, if not most, plumbing and septic companies do not have a camera and locating equipment is cost. I do not have the biggest and best, but I have over $9000 invested in it. It takes a lot to make that money back, and add in repair costs because employees tend to break things, and it often doesn't make financial sense to buy high priced, easily damaged equipment.
 
For most people, septic systems = out of sight, out of mind. There are people who don't even know they have a septic system, they assume they're hooked up to a city sewer. Usually the information about the septic system gets lost along the path of buyers and sellers, especially if it's an older home. Then you might end up with a septic tank underneath a porch, a driveway, a patio, a garage, or an addition of the house.

I've never used a flushable transmitter though I would like to, but some of those can cost hundreds of dollars so you better hope you can get it back. I think most septic companies don't have such high-tech equipment because they don't encounter those kinds of situations very often. It's a return on investment problem. Will I use this equipment enough to justify the cost? Probably not. That's probably also why most of those companies dropped your case, they thought the tank was under the driveway and didn't want to deal with that mess.

So far for me, a soil probe and a shovel have worked pretty well, though I have encountered a few tanks under driveways and patios. But I always probe around to see if maybe the tank is just next to the driveway or patio and not all the way underneath. I also usually probe around the property a little even if we've already located the tank because you never know. In some cases the owner told us the location of the tank and there it was, but then I found another tank elsewhere that they had no idea existed.

And a little background on me, I'm a health inspector and that includes inspecting septic systems. Only been doing septics for about a year though, so I haven't seen as much as others.
 

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