Can anyone make sense of this Soil test result for soil drainage.

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pepelpue00

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maine
Hi, I am buying a parcal of land and the sellers agent emailed me the soil test results. I appreciate if anyone could put a shine on whether this soil is suitable for septic system. I tried to search for soil test results but its getting to be little confusing. Thank you
 

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  • 18053 - Raitt soil logs p.5.jpg
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I may be mistaken but I see 14” then I see they hit ground water maybe.

That wouldn’t be good......

I’d be calling the county septic licensing dept where you live and get the low down on my property and results from them. They’re the final word on the type system they’ll require based off your tests.
 
I will contact them on Monday. Maybe I should contact the people that performed the soil test too.
 
What you presented here isn’t really a soil test (for a septic system) but rather the soil description. The good news is the description is friable loam, which is as good as it gets. That is, it drains well but also supports growth.

This appears to be an independent soil analysis and not a permit application for a septic system. A permit application for a septic system will become part of the public record on that property in the county or town or whatever jurisdiction has control over licensing and permits for this thing.

Not two years ago, we were under contract to buy a building site here in North Carolina. We contracted for the extensive permit testing process for a septic system. The results were pretty bad in terms of it required so much drainfield that there was too little room for building the home, much smaller than we indicated to the sellers agent and the seller, and much smaller than their own ghost listing for a custom home to be built on the property indicated.

We asked the county inspector if there is anything we could do, and he said hire a soils engineer maybe he can come up with an alternative plan that will work. We did that and the results were even worse but more importantly, he had done this work on the property a couple of years ago for the seller and remembered it!! But because this was done privately and was not part of an application it was not part of the public record.

Thus the seller had withheld material information about the lot and was forced to give back every penny we invested in the testing, the engineer ring, our earnest money, and everything. That we did not lose one penny in the process we lost a lot of time and it was aggravating.

If you are going to buy a building site you must do your own work and hire your own people and believe nothing that the seller tells you. Do it properly through the town or county so it’s on the public record.
 
Thank you Mitchell, that was extremely helpful. I am heading to the city hall to see if there is anything on the record. I will also ask the neighbor to the lot to see what they did for their septic system. Do you have any idea what that "14inch limiting factor" is all about. Thank you
 
I can't speculate on what that "14 inch limiting factor" is.

I do know that if you want to install a proper, working septic system you need to have it professionally designed and reviewed; that may require the assistance of a soils engineer. To get the permit for such it will require a perc test. Here in the county I'm in, Mecklenburg, North Carolina, they require traditional core borings. However, the next county north, Iredell, requires pits to be dug with a back hoe: it's a far more invasive and costly test. The result of the test will determine the needed amount of drainfield, the tank size, and the size of the home that the system will support.

In the aborted attempt I mentioned, we made the permit application, hired a GC to manage the process, and he got the backhoe operator. The county septic guy did the testing with the open pits. Then he drew a rough map with all the required setbacks, etc., which were pretty severe. Our designed system required 240' of double stack T&J panel in a 36" deep trench, 24" wide...and if that wasn't enough, you need an identical drain field called "the repair field" for when the first one fails. So, we needed 480' of double stack T&J panel in those trenches and a certain distance between them. That would only support a 2000 square foot 3 bedroom home which was too small for us on this half acre lot. The owner had a dual listing on the lot, for a custom 2800 square foot 4 bedroom home "to be built". She also had the soils work done but not with a permit, so she knew in advance what the limitations were. That's why we got every penny back including our costs with the GC, the soils engineer, and the permits.

So, hire your own, talk to the town or county...
 
we had a 7 day clause to do our inspections. I was too busy going to the water & sewer department to see if we can get public water and sewer. I think we can manage the public water, with certain conditions, but for sure no public sewer. This Monday will be the 7th day. So, I have to definetly find out if we can have a gravity fed septic system, since anything else would be too expensive. I am going to the city hall to see if they have anything on file. If not, I might have to tell the agent we dont want to go forward with this thing and get back our earnest money. I am going to go check with the next door neighbor, there is only one lot that has a house on in the subdivision, to see how they came out with their septic system. But, they might have gotten a package deal and don't really know much about it. I really appreciate your help. Thank you
 
I’d get my money back or get in writing what type septic system is allowed for the home I intend to build.

Yiu might want to find out how much the type system they specify costs to install on your particular property.

That might affect how much you're will to pay for the property.
 
A seven-day clause to do inspections? On land? What kind of moron agents and sellers are you dealing with? I couldn't get a soils test or permitting process done in that time period for any amount of money or favors. Not possible, certainly not here where no matter what you cannot get a contractor on a normal schedule as they are all booked up, some for months.

Time to back out or talk some sense into these people. You have to live with a septic system for a very long time, so it has to be done correctly. It requires permits, testing and design and it all has to work together.

It's easy to get a home inspection in 7 days, but not plan for a septic.
 
I talked to the original soil tester and she told me that we have to use Eljen In-Drain system with raised bed. She couldn't give me an estimate on the disposal site size. She is booked up for the next 3 weeks. But, she did say that it will take her about 5-7 days to get me a the design. So, I might have to bail out of the offer. I wish they had public sewer, so we didn't have to go through all this. Thank you for all your help guys.
 
That’s an expensive system to install.

Ive heard of people buying land and the septic system ends up costing more than the land.
 
Yes, I was checking out the cost, for just 7' spread it cost $100 contractor price plus all the other junk you have to purchase and the raised bed and you will need to pump after the septic tank to bring effluent to the elevated disposal field. Oh well I need to keep on looking.
 
Lots of good advice above. The licensed professional most likely to have relevant experience is a civil engineer, not a soils engineer (22 years of my geologist career was for soils engineering firms). I interpret the form as indicating that a "groundwater restrictive layer" occurs at 14 inches and that layer is bedrock. Whether bedrock or groundwater, if that soil log is representative of all of the lot (which is not necessarily so) you are not going to install an in-ground septic system on this lot.
 
Thank you Tom. Well if there is bedrock at that level it's going to be very pricey excavation for the full basement foundation. And if it is ground water then there will be problem with the cement foundation down the road even with the sump pump system. I wonder if ICF11 walls will protect the basement from the surrounding underground water.
 
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