rowyn | I Will Be So Glad When This Is Over

Juanita from the inspection company tried to call me again yesterday. She'd found out that, no, $300 doesn't cover the cost of digging up the septic tank cover. That's another $50 -- if it's less than 15" underground -- or $250 if it's deeper than that. Of course, I have no idea how deep it is. On the bright side, those costs do includ burying it again. Juanita's been impressively helpful about all of this; she's going to call the county and find out if they have any information on it. Apparently, the county has kept good records on septic tank installations since the 80s or so, and they may know how deep it is and when it was last pumped. Pumping it would be another $175. Juanita suggested I try to talk the sellers into sharing the costs, so I sent an email to my agent to find out. I must admit that it seems silly to pay $350-$550 to look at the tank and then not pay the additional $175 to pump it -- but even dumber to pay to have the septic tank pumped if the results of the inspection make me decide not to buy the place. I don't have a lot of faith in the seller's willingness to put another dime into their house, but, what the heck, worth a shot.

I called the first company I'd talked to, to confirm that, nope, their cost hadn't included unearthing it, either. I'm afraid the septic tank is going to turn out to be even more trouble to own than it is to buy. Hmp.

Anyway, I asked Juanita if we could do the house and septic tank inspections on different days, so that I needn't pay the small fortune to deal with the tank if the house has termites or is sliding off the foundation or some other deal-breaker. So I feel a little better about that.

Wish I'd suggested that last Friday; then I could've had the house done on Monday after all. Sigh. One more day to wait.

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I honestly think you're handling this process amazingly well! You're encountering a few bumps here and there (and this whole septic tank nonsense sounds like a pretty big bump to me) but you're soldiering on, regardless. That in itself is no mean feat. :-)

Agreed, just think of it as one step at a time, as long as there's no immediate 'must move in right now' rush, and rushing would be a bad thing because you'd probably leave stuff undone.

Yah. I'm pretty sure that if I can't get out of my apartment by 12/6, I can get the complex to give me another week or month or whatever. I get the impression there are a lot of vacancies in this building right now. The "apartments for rent" sign never comes down.

And whining every step of the way. :) But seriously -- thank you, Sophrani. I do like the house. Once all this is past (ugh -- still have to find movers) I think I'll be really happy there. And hey -- it's only money. I knew buying a house would be expensive. I just have to keep that in mind when I go "I can't believe I'm paying over $1000 to inspect a house". :/

Septic tanks - what a tasty topic ;)

Have you ever lived in a house with one? If not - let me know - we have one and I'll be glad to discuss the pros and cons if you like.

Meantime, Be good - The Lady, Anne

No, I have never lived in a house with a septic tank before. (Never owned a house, either, for that matter.) I would be thrilled to hear any advice or experience or suggestions you have to offer! I read a little bit about them online, and they sound kinda cool, actually. I suppose that's a bit weird of me. :)

The house we have now was built in the '60s just outside of town. They've never run sewers here, so the house are required to have at least 1/2 acre. I like it, because it means that (for the time being, anyway) the density will remain low.

We're only the third owners of the home - the first family had 6 children and the folks we bought from (Dave and Rose) had 5, so the facilities have gotten a real workout over the years.

There have been 3 tanks installed over the years. The currently active one has been in use about 15 years. Dave had it cleaned and inspected before he put the house on the market, and had the certs, so we didn't have to go thru what you're doing now. We did have our own inspection of the home and property, but we didn't have to worry about the septic system.

I always tell guests that we have septic - I have to be concerned about what's flushed - I only want biodegradable material going down the drain. And I'm very careful about what goes down the kitchen drain - I minimize how much grease gets rinsed down. I try to scrape all pans (into the trash) before I wash them.

I just had ours pumped - first time in over 5 years. With just the two of us (most of the time) it didn't really need it, but I figured better safe than sorry. I could have waited another year without any problem. The rates here are about the same as what you were quoted, right down to the fee for digging up the yard.

Out here I don't have to worry about a hard ground freeze - that's something you'll have to be concerned about. Whoever does the inspection should be able to tell you if you have to do anything or watch for anything - but there probably isn't anything you need to worry about.

Have you talked to any of the neighbors to ask if they have any problems? Or, does your agent have experience with any of the local properties?

And - you might want to check at the village hall (or city hall) to see if there are any plans to run sewer lines into the area in the near future (3 - 5 years). If so, you'll probably get hit with an assessment. I went thru that years ago in a house I had in Illinois.

You were right about 'just flushing something once a month' - there are a lot of products available, and they each claim to be the best. The guy that pumped us this year said they're all about the same.

I always check products that will wind up in the tank to be sure they're safe for septic systems - like cleaning products and Drano kind of things. It says right on the label if it is.

One more thing - you don't want to use a lot of "kills all the bacteria" kind of soaps - after all, it's bacteria down there doing what it has to do to keep things moving (so to speak). If you're a clean freak you might have to re-think the kind of products you're going to use. AmWay has some good cleaning products that are 'septic friendly'.

Can't think of anything else right now - if anything comes to mind I'll pass it on.

I'm so excited for you - what do your folks think about your adventure?

Have a GREAT day - be good - The Lady, Anne

I know something else I was going to ask about - does the house have a basement? Any signs of flooding? How's the sump pump? Where does it pump to?

I've bailed a lot of basements over the years - probably made me the woman I am today.

I'll write more as I think of things.

I Will Be So Glad When This Is Over

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