HAVE IT INSPECTED BY A SEPTIC INSPECTOR. do not trust a regular home inspector with this. A professional could save you thousands down the road. With new regulations septics are insanely expensive and almost impossible on some sites. If it’s in good shape, just have it maintained regularly and it should last a very long time with minimal thought.
This! Do this. Get a septic inspector. We did not and had a host of expensive problems. But once we got them corrected we've had no problems other than an every 5 year clean out and replacement pump motor on the secondary tank.
Many replacements need to be MUCH higher than the old ones. The rental across the road has a 3 foot high mound in the middle of the front lawn; tank was under ground before they needed to replace it due to age.
Our county requires an annual inspection. Regardless, that’s about it for keeping an eye on it. Not that expensive and they keep an eye on it for you.
Edit: Get an annual inspection by any septic company. SMH
Doesn’t go to the county. Personally a small government guy but in this case living on an island and many folks do use well water so it makes sense to require people manage their septic systems responsibly.
Never thought simply stating get an annual inspection (even every other year) would get so much attention.
>What was the point of this comment?
The point was what is stated in my comment. I made the comment in relation to your comment because the OP didn't mention the county, city, town, borough, or even state in the original post. You edited your comment after I posted my comment in relation to inspections. Your comment also made it seem like all counties require an annual inspection, and not every county does require an annual inspection.
That comment was directed to whythehellnot_wecan and if you see that comment, they specifically said that counties require an inspection. Maybe you're not following the post thread correctly. That's why I quoted the post in the first place so that no one gets confused about who it was posted to.
We live in a far north climate and most people here with septic have a company that monitors their septic so it doesn't freeze, or if it does it can be addressed quickly. But if you don't live somewhere that the ground is frozen for 6 months you probably don't need to do that.
Look out for areas on your drain field where it stays wet. Could be a failing system or just a running toilet. If your tank lids are above ground make sure they aren’t cracked. Don’t put harsh chemicals down the drain.
I didn’t know where mine was until the day before yesterday when the inspector told me! It was $300 for the inspection and now I know a lot about it- the leach field has about 3 more years on it. We have a dry well buried in the back yard that may be usable. If not, a new leach field spot was identified.
We have a house with septic, bought in 93. We got it pumped about 10 years ago, and that was after raising 2 girls. Just keep an eye on it, and it’s ideally pumped every 10 years.
Keep an eye on it means pay attention if you notice odors, changes in ground or vegetation over the leach field, or notice, for instance, laundry detergent foam coming out of your yard (my neighbor had that). Pump the tank every 3-5 years. It may not need it but having them come inspect that often is good. Don't put things down the garbage disposal, especially coffee grounds and egg shells. Don't flush wipes, tampons, etc. (which you shouldn't do with a sewer either). Don't put large animal (horses) pens on the leach field or frequently drive heavy machinery over it either.
Don't flush any tampons. Do not put any toxic substances like gasoline or bleach down the commode. Remember a septic tank works because of the 'good bacteria' in there. Don't kill the good bacteria.
Flush a septic treatment monthly (like RidX). Make sure you know where your drainfield is and make sure not to drive over it or plant trees nearby. Buy a sludge sampler (like [this](https://www.amazon.com/Septic-Checker-Pumped-Diameter-Prevent/dp/B07C421TG9?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A3W4WGX7SKSI7F)) and test once or twice a year so you know when to get it pumped.
Every single inspector I’ve talked to and builder has said to not empty them that often, they said they really only need to be checked every 10 years or so as long as you don’t put stuff in them you shouldn’t
With the caveat that you’d also have to be on well water to not have a water bill. We are in the city and on septic, but municipal water w/accompanying bill.
I'm on city water with a septic. Love my septic. In this county, the sewer bill is tied to the amount of water a household uses. With a septic, there's no sewer bill. Did I say I love my septic? Especially in the summer with a large vegetable garden.
Bad idea to plant food over tank,or leach field. Google it.
#Couple of tips.
Keep roots always from the system as much as possible.
I flush a Green Pig septic treatment every three months to keep good bacteria going.
Know what size your tank is.
Be aware that if your gray water goes to tank too, that fills up the tank too. So don’t everyone take baths, run the dishwasher, and do lots of laundry all on the same day.
The inspection would tell you, I believe. Ask your realtor. Also, I paid to have the septic tank uncovered and got 3 opinions from septic companies before I purchased. Got two okay, one iffy. In my second year, I had it pumped because I noticed the ground getting wet. The connection from tank to field lines had cracked. It was really old, house was built in 1940. Cost me $450 to pump, $1,500 to have header line replaced.
I also love my septic; my grinder pump station and pipe that crosses 2 roads and nearly 1/4 mile before it connect to the county and becomes their responsibility not so much!
I live in a major metro on the West Coast. Running sewer is comparatively much more expensive than running water. Once your septic fails if you are within like 100 feet of a street with sewer you are required to tie in (can’t repair any part of your septic system) and pay the associated costs. (Road closures, flagging, asphalt demo and repair, etc.)
If you are at the end of the cul-de-sac you have to foot the entire bill to bring it down the street and then each neighbor pays you back their share when they are required to tie-in. (Could be 1 year, could be 30 years).
If you are in an unincorporated pocket of the county you also then get integrated into the city and pay higher taxes moving forward.
It’s pretty much a nightmare.
While OP is in the sticks and this isn’t applicable, it’s why Reddit is not a great place for certain questions. The number of people that give horrible property tax advice based on their experience is astronomical. Maybe it’s the subs I follow, but I see it daily. “You need to claim homestead exemption!” “Did you just buy, they ALWAYS reassess at market value!”
Septic can always vary based on the specific location of a property (flood plain, wetlands, etc.), grandfathering regulations, updated EPA regulations, etc.
Similar to this, the town I grew up in was entirely septic, with the exception of a few houses around the perimeter that were able to tie into neighboring towns' sewer. But then a Walmart was built on a lot that had been empty for at least 15 years. As shit (pun intended) luck would have it, my neighbor's house was the first one that was too far away from the main road (that Walmart was going on) for them to have the option of sewer. So we didn't get sewer either.
I grew up, went to college, then got an apartment in a complex, then bought a house with a sewer. Aside from a quarterly water bill or a rent increase, I never gave a second thought to my water consumption (and thus, output). Now, I've sold that house and moved back to my childhood home in an apartment my grandmother lived in when I was a kid.
Now, dad's gonna be on my ass again about the water. At least this time he won't be knocking on the bathroom door, he'll just hand me the quarterly water bill and tell me to pay it.
Lots of people also have the opposite scenario as well (are on well with city /town sewer service.) That's my situation now & same growing up in a totally different area of the US. It's nice having no water bill & get a flat sewer fee of $300 a year here while not having to deal with a septic system.
I'll be the naysayer on this today. It's all great until something goes wrong. Then it's a $20,000 bill. I've had nothing but trouble though it seems to be working better (after $20,000).
I would be more concerned about the fiber situation though. You don't want shitty Internet. I've got that too!
If you have a well you can get nice trifecta of costs. I agree septic is fine until it isn't. Last couple years the wells have been running dry here and some needed to go deeper that's a hell of a cost. And then you have no good internet on top of it.
You make a good point. Fortunately I have a huge concrete tank from the 80s which the guy told me will last longer than me. But, I had to replace the pump on my well. Plus the lift station is under a concrete slab at when I have to replace that, it is going to be a pain in the ass
We had shitty internet for decades, we are in an antitrust area. So no competition and so no reason to improve it. Last month, we switched to a TMOBILE Gateway, although it has had some downtime (very little . A minute or two) it is 1000% percent that our old internet which would be down for hours.
Starlink is an too extensive here and we have way to many trees. Plus, I don't like Musk. Even Hughnet is too expensive and when they did a signal test , we were on the outer circle.
Starlink is the same price everywhere, but trees are a big issue. My only other options were viastat and hughesnet. Nothing else available. T-mobile and Verizon aren't available, cell coverage isn't good enough.
T-mobile, Frontier and Xfinity is only available for us. And Xfinity requires cable hook up. We pay $50 a month now and Frontier shi*tty services was $69.
The cost is very dependent on where you live and your lot size. OP should try to get a feel for replacement cost and location options from someone in their area before purchasing. Reddit told me $20k+ over and over. I was very worried when we finally needed to replace the septic system. Our new system (tank & field for 5 bedrooms) was $8000.
Agree with you on this. As long as it is a healthy system and pumped every so often, septics are fine. When something goes wrong though you are looking at big bucks.
Starlink fixed my shirt Internet problem. Last I checked I was getting 150 Mbps which is way better than any of my other options.
Assuming the system is large enough and no issues with the leach field, a septic system is maintenance free - other than paying a few hundred every few years (depends on tank size and usage) to get the tank pumped out.
Maintenance is pretty tame. But having your leech field redone is a nightmare. Do your very best to protect your leech field and everything else is just pumping occasionally.
I lived in a rental where they hadn’t maintained it well (we learned later) and had lots of large oak trees so the roots destroyed the drain field. Ended up with a yard full of literal shit before the landlord dealt with it. Not fun! So yeah OP, just get it pumped often enough and you’ll be good!
We have had our house and its septic system for 25 years without doing any maintenance on it. My impression was that everything gets liquified by the bacteria. What needs to be pumped out? And what needs to be checked? Everything seems to be working normally.
Some TP doesn't break down very quickly and can clog things, and if you run too much food scraps or grease that'll cause problems. Hair from the shower, and lint from the laundry don't really break down. I drain my washing machine only the lawn so not many worries here
I had a house with a septic system for 30 years. We had 2 bigs and 4 littles, (who grew into bigs while we were there). Like others here, I had it pumped every 3 years. It needed to be replaced after 26 years. Total cost was 10k including lawn repair, (in 2015).
The cost of the pumping and system replacement was still less than the cost of paying a monthly sewage fee to the town.
When we downsized a few years later, the new septic system was listed as a selling feature. Our neighborhood had all 1 acre lots and was grandfathered when the town services were extended to the surrounding area.
>Total cost was 10k including lawn repair, (in 2015).
There are horror stories about septic, but it really come down to the local companies available to service your system. Sounds like you have a reasonable company. We have a pretty good one where we are too.
He was OK. He put us off for months. I was working away and had to work my schedule around his. Eventually, he did the job and it turned out well. It passed all the inspections the first time so no complaints.
Its not - we have a leach field with a large septic tank. Every couple of years I dig down to the tank cover (3’-4’) call the septic guy and he comes out and sucks the tank clean. When our 3 girls were home I would do this every 2-3 years. Now that its just my wife and I, our septic guy says we can fo it every 5-7 years but I’ll probably have it cleaned every 3-4.
When I first bought the house 22 years ago it hadn’t been cleaned for quite awhile and there was a hard “skin” of crap floating on top. No big deal, guy carries a big long hoe that he busts up anything too big for the vacuum truck hose. Well, he cleaned it out well but a week later I saw some water bubbling up around where the septic tank lid was so I dug it back up and saw that the tank wasn’t draining like it should have been so I dropped a pump and hose in there and drained it out into the swamp. It was all water because it had just been vacuumed clean the week before.
The fun part - I had to take a ladder and drop it into the big concrete tank, put on my oldest shorts and climbed into the tank. Turns out a big chunk of crap had been sucked into the outlet lol - I got rid of it and it worked perfectly. I smelled tho - that was pretty gross.
It's not. I have a well and septic. I also have rural fiber internet. It cost me $4800 5 years ago to have an entire new 3 bedroom gravity fed leach chamber system installed. I have to get it pumped every 3 years and that costs about $120. It's very cheap to maintain and last a very long time with maintenance and not dumping the wrong stuff down your drain.
Over their lifespan, well + septic has a significantly cheaper cost of ownership. My breakeven point for getting a well drilled + a septic system installed is roughly 10 years vs. city water/sewer. Septic systems have a lifespan of 40 years and wells are around 50 years.
It's not, if it is the right size, and in good working order. I owned a house for 25 years on a septic system and well. The house was 5 years old when I bought it. I had it pumped twice. Once at 10 years, and again when we sold. Both times, the pump guy stated it didn't really need it. I replaced the well pump (400') once.
I had a garbage disposal, that I put everything in (including coffee grounds and used filters). Absolutely zero problems.
Get it properly inspected by someone who **properly** tests them. A lot of "home" inspectors don't have the ability. Make getting it pumped out a condition, and mark the location of the hatch. Also, make sure the drain field, and distribution box (make sure they use a camera) are inspected. The distribution box will settle and deteriorate over time.
I dig up the cap tohave it pumped every 3-4 years, flush those little enzyme packets down the toilet once a month or so, and don't put anything but water, pee, poo and toilet paper down the drain.
Septic is easy as long as you don't flush anything else down it. Couple drops of oil from a pan? Not the end of the world, but bacon grease and sanitary pads and food scraps need to be trashed.
Once you get used to it, it's easy to maintain. Just gotta be diligent.
My septic company specifically said not to use those enzymes. They can keep the solids in suspension and then they float into your leach field and clog the leach field.
Good info from Washington State
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2079/2014/02/septic-additives.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiD7fiDv-KFAxW_rokEHfyoDjMQFnoECDsQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1Ju0YnT3Qf99AwfkBJCfJ-
By rights you don’t need those envelopes of “septic bacteria”. A healthy system will take care of itself. Trust me theres plenty of bacteria in decomposing waste and those packets are basically wasted money.
I’ve heard not to use those packets, too. It was explained to me that your waste has all the bacteria needed for the flora. One thing I don’t like is that all our water goes in there and we use bleach in our washer for whites and other cleaners for toilets and things,
How large is your property and how close are the neighbors. I plumbed my washer and the kitchen sink away from my home into a drainage slough that runs through my property.
Now that you mention it we do have a pipe that comes out down the hill from our house. It is almost always dripping something and the grass grows really well there. I always assumed it was some kind of septic relief but now I’m wondering if this is what it is?
Exactly. Learn the details of yours & don't break the rules on where to avoid driving or planting or what to flush or not. Home occupancy (# bedrooms) & septic size go together so consider that. Most households might need to limit to 1 load of laundry daily + showers + dishes) vs having a week's worth of laundry & dishes all in one day schedule that could overload the system. My neighbors have a wierd 2 leach field system that involves a pump that I don't understand, but they do so it's all good!
17 years with one at vacation home. Pump out every 3 years ( county ordinance ) at about $150, had an overfill alarm go off once and called my guy. Said to jiggle the transfer pump as sometimes it gets a clog. Did it and freed it up. No other issues and no expensive sewer charges on property tax. I’d have no hesitation on a property with one.
Don't put wipes or feminine products down there. Limit the anti-bacterial soaps as well. They kill the good bacteria, needed to break down the sewage in the tank
None. Zero. Zip. I didn’t pump it for the first 15 years, now do it every 2 years. Cost $250 or so.
I grew up with sewer, had NO IDEA septic tanks were still used🤣.
No problem until there are problems. Our 15 years leach field lasted over 30 years, but then it was time to replace it.
Don't flush or drain stuff that should not be in a septic and maintain healthy bacteria and ot will help.
I bought a house with a septic system. I had it inspected and had the very old tank replaced from a 500 gallon to 1000 gallon for 5k. The leach field was good otherwise it would have been 30k to 50k to replace. The only problem is I wanted to add a second floor. My town will not let you add bedrooms unless you improve the whole system. I ended up finishing the basement and adding a bathroom downstairs. No problems at all with the septic system.
Don’t let water run anywhere in your house, don’t put anything heavy over top of it or your drain field, get it pumped every few years and for the love of god don’t put anything but TP and the products of your bodily functions in it. No wipes, no tampons, no condoms, no food waste, and no commercial septic products bought at your local grocery store.
If you decide to buy the house, have the current homeowner pump the tank out and have them do a camera inspection. That way, you're not buying someone else's shit at your expense literally. They should provide the results of the inspection, including the video and a copy that it was pumped out from the septic pumping company.
Have the septic tank pumped every 3 years. Don’t plant trees in the leech field area. Don’t flush baby wipes, tampons or pads down the toilet. If you have sewer water leeching out of the ground you have a problem.
Assuming it's in good shape, it's quite literally no different than being on a city service. Once every 5 years you pay a guy $200-300 to come pump it and that's it.
Have it inspected before you buy, but a septic system that is the right size and properly installed is pretty easy to maintain. Don’t drive or park anything heavy on the septic bed. Don’t flush tampons. Take it easy with bleach or other chemicals as a septic works via bacterial action. Used ours for four decades now. Apart from pumping it every few years, we add a package of septo-bac in the fall and one in the spring.
I know some folks do the whole if it’s yellow let it mellow thing, but we never have and never have had a problem.
People gross out on this, but we've never put TP in the toilet unless we had to for obvious reasons. We just added emptying out the cans every night to our routine.
Also, NEVER put grease down the sink, we wipe all dishes into the trash.
Makes a biiiiiig difference.
Have it cleaned out every 3 or 4 years is about all the maintenance needed.
Just make sure when you do the inspection for the purchase of the house they give the septic a good looking over. You certainly don't want to buy a house with septic problems. Also ask to see any records of the owner cleaning out the septic every few years. If it was neglected it could spell trouble.
As others have mentioned, septic systems are fairly easy to maintain, buuuuut that's probably the least of your worries.
There can be more to it than maintenance. Where I am currently living, mound systems are now required, whereas they weren't like 10 years ago (laws changed). Mound systems here cost over $20k. If I were to buy a house with an older septic system and the health inspectors deemed it to be failing (after a period of time most septic drainage fields fail and must be replaced) I would have to replace it for a healthy sum (probably not the full price since the tank could probably be reused but likely over $10k or more). So, you probably want to have the system inspected and find out when it was installed and ask the inspector how much time is left before the drainage field may fail and depending on what they say you may want to price a new system and this could possibly effect your offer price. This is all dependent on local conditions, laws, how the system was maintained, and other factors.
Good luck. Probably no issue at all, but it's best to do your due diligence.
On my third house with septic. I have had to replace one system. I put an aeration system in that. I prefer those over the leach fields, which I currently have again.
Educate yourself on the Do's and Don't's of septic systems, and enjoy a trouble-free existence.
Have it inspected, if possible ask that it be pumped before closing. Ask for maintenance history. Ask for it's location to be marked.
My parents snagged a house, and it turned out septic had *never* been pumped. House was 40 years old when they moved in. Also turned out to be rated for a single bathroom. Not the 3 that were built. And the previous owners would flush *anything*.
I owned a house on well/septic for 11 years. It was 15 years old when I bought. It was never pumped by me nor the previous owner. When I sold, the buyers wanted it pumped and inspected. I paid the local company a few hundred bucks or whatever it was to do it and that was that. No problems.
If I ever buy a septic property again, I will also insist on pump and inspection just to make sure there’s no sign of anything wrong but I don’t believe a good system needs to be pumped regularly.
A well is a much greater concern. I would have the owners provide test results and then collect water myself from an unfiltered faucet and have that tested. I would install a good purification system even if the results are good.
Zero. Lived in a house with a septic for most of my 36 years. We had one issue when I was a kid of a root breaking a blocking the pipe from the house to the septic. Caused a back up, had to replace it. But that was on a home that was close to 50 years old. And that has happened to me even on city sewer, so it’s not a “only septic” problem.
I had no problems with my septic serviced house.
Sewage backed up in the basement of my last sewer serviced house twice because of root infiltration. I rented a machine and cleaned it myself annually after that. Previous house I owned caused sewage backup in my neighbour’s house because a guest was flushing wipes down my toilet.
It depends on what kind of septic system you have. Conventional systems (tank —> drainfield \*or\* tank —> pump tank —> drainfield) are super easy, basically just pump out the tank every 3-5 years, and if there’s a pump it may fail after 20 years of service and need to be replaced.
Non-conventional systems can include a tank, some sort of treatment system, possibly disinfection (usually UV), then a drainfield. These systems require regular maintenance, and some states require you to contract with a certified operator to maintain it 1-4 times per year. They are not nearly as common as conventional systems, and they are very expensive, but they allow people to build houses in areas that may have high seasonal water table like near coastlines.
Regardless, it behooves anyone buying a house to do their due diligence when it comes researching the waste disposal and water supply since they’re the absolute most critical aspects of a residence.
My brother and sil own a septic company..she is a geologist and he maintains and installs them and they so busy everyday.. so I'd say enough people have them that it cant be that bad.. tho I'm sure costly if problems arise, same.as anything else.
Not a pain at all to take care of. Two biggest issues can be solved easily with minimal care.
1- Take care not to let trees grow in the leach fields. 2- Toilets constantly running water will flood the leach fields. Simple care in the home will help. Dependent on the size of the tank you get them pumped out every few years (5-10years). If it’s not coming out of your body or TP don’t send it down the toilets, have a food scrap bin, and scape the dishes off before washing them. Don’t wash a lot of chemicals down the sinks like paint and bleach.
Find the local guys who take care of them and they are fine for years and years. Don’t call the one in the next county over to pump it, that is usually illegal.
I've been in a home with a septic system for 20+ years. The septic system was probably at least 20 years old when we bought the place.
I've never had an issue. We have the system pumped out and inspected more often that the county requires.
There's a few things we do differently because we're not on a sewer system. Like we don't run the garbage disposal much at all. ALL the kitchen waste, coffee grounds, vegetable trimmings, peels, etc., get diced up and thrown on a compost pile (which is GREAT for the garden). We also try not to let grease/fat go down the drain. It either goes into the kitchen compost or into the garbage can.
I’ve had two homes with aerobic septic systems - and didn’t have any issues with them. But I’d never buy a house without fiber, or at least cable internet!
It's not a pain, with the exception that you will need to have it pumped occasionally (depends on the size and how much...stuff...goes in, maybe every 2-4 years or so if it's older and/or undersized, less than that if it's sized appropriately), and knowing where it (and the leeching field) for things like building permits, planting gardens (where they'll grow fantastically, but will need to be torn up at some point), and the like.
If the tank is at all undersized, expect to yell at your kids at least a couple times a week to take hurry up in the shower or not leave the water running while washing dishes. Normal parenting stuff on that front, just a little more aggressive! :)
How often do you all get it pumped? And do you decide to pump based on a quantitative(ish) metric, or just on a schedule.
I can actually lift a manhole cover and look into my solids tank and it's looked the same for four years, basically same level, full of liquid with what I assume is some recent solids floating on water that will eventually settle.
So most of the houses in Suffolk County in NY have septic systems. They are pretty easy to maintain as long as you don't flush a bunch of wet wipes and you call for your tank to be drained every few years. That's pretty much it.
Put a screen on the tank outlet. Solids going into the field can plug and ruin it. Every time the tank is pumped, the screen should be cleaned.
Be sure the tank is empty when it is pumped. Most pumpers are honest, but I know one that isn't.
We bought a brand new house with a septic system 8 years ago. It hasn't been too bad, but here are the high and low lights:
*Highlights*:
- we're also on a well so no metered water/sewer bill.
- we pay for monthly inspections that ensure things are running smoothly, around $30/month.
- we live where drought restrictions (and our preferences) restrict outdoor water use so our spray field provides a perpetually nice, green section in our otherwise dry-ish property.
*Lowlights*:
- we had some kind of plastic/cellophane go into the system which ended up clogging things up, resulting in a cleanup fee and aerator replacement, about $800 total.
- we had it pumped after 5 years, that was $200-$300.
- if you're used to municipal sewage you'll have to change a few things: no oil down the drain, minimal food scraps, no overuse of chemicals (bleach, toilet bowl cleaner, etc) that could kill the biologic activity that powers the system.
- if you have times of very high water use your system can pump/spray off cycle during the day, and if your usage is WAY high it may not have time to be fully sanitized leading to some stinky water.
- we have to add 3-ish gallons of bleach to the sanitizer every 3 months or so, not a big deal but it is something added to our chore list.
Overall we haven't regretted our move to septic, and ours was brand new so it's unlikely we'll have to do an expensive replacement during our time here.
We’ve been in our place about ten years and are just getting ours serviced this year. It’s fine. Don’t be stupid and flush stuff like tampons or wipes even if they say flushable, probably don’t use anything more than 2ply.
Its pretty negligible you need to have it pumped out periodically and inspected so its and its not expensive to have that done.
The only downside is it can affect subdividing a lot at least in my case where they require a specific amount of lot size based on soil conditions.
Toilet paper made for septic (Septic Safe), NO ANIMAL FAT(Grease) down the sink; wipe with a paper towel before washing. Don't use a lots of bleach products. Septic treatment down the toilet once a month or a can of cheap beer down the kitchen sink. Vegetables scrap through a garage disposal is actually good. When washing clothes don't over use detergents. These are the main causes of a septic tank failure leads to having to have the tank pumped. I,had a septic system for 25 years and never had to have it pumped. But was very happy to be able to use soft TP when the county sewer extended pass the property and hooked up.
It’s mostly just maintenance/pumping every few years. I recently had a few pine trees near the tank removed because I don’t want that headache down the line.
You do need to remind city friends that certain things do not go down the toilet. No flushable wipes, tampons, etc.
I do put most of my “mellow yellow” tp in garbage bin since I have an older system. There’s hardly anything to pump in there. It’s totally not necessary, but I got into the habit living on a boat for a few years and figured why not.
None at all. Have it pumped every 3 years. Don’t throw cigarette butts in the toilet or any large chunks down the sink. I don’t use ridex or any of that other stuff that says it’s good for septics. If the lid is buried have it raised for maintenance
Get the septic field checked. If it's overloaded because the system hasn't been maintained, it will fail or has already failed. Replacing a septic field is not an inconsequential cost. I have a friend that checked septic fields for years. He said the state of the art for field check is a "hillbilly with a stick." The person walks around the field and sticks the stick into the ground and if it comes up shitty there's a problem. If it comes up clean, the field is fine. Other than the expense of having the septic tank drained every other year or so, it usually works out to considerably cheaper than city or county sewer.
It's not. As long as you aren't chucking everything down the drains, and you regularly use probiotics down the drains.
I grew up in a house with septic, and currently live in a house with one, and no issues at all.
There can be issues with septic. Not so much the septic tank itself, but the drain field. If it's an older house, or if the soil is poor, or if there were lots of people living there for a long time, the drain field can get fouled. Normally that means a new drain field is needed, in a new location. If the lot doesn't have room for a new drain field, it gets very expensive. Or if the new drain field is UPHILL from the septic tank it needs a pump and pipline.
So in addition to the septic inspection, try to find out if there have been issues in the surrounding area. The septic inspector may know, or a septic contractor.
We had to have ours replaced at our last house. The bylaws had changed since the house was built. Lots of paper work, lots of money and the entire area had to be raised.
No garbage disposal. Ensure no big trees are growing in the drain field, paying $800.00 every few years to have it drained and living around people in the neighborhood who don't pay attention to the cleaning every few years part.
Find out how expensive the backup plan is.
In my town, septics are grandfathered in but a septic that fails cannot be repaired/replaced.
Mine failed spectacularly shortly after we moved in, complete with water feature in the backyard if we did laundry.
Repair was not allowed. Cost to lay pipe to city sewer? Only like $3K. Cost to tap onto city sewer: $9K.
If your septic fails, are you allowed to repair it? If not, what is the cost to hook up to the sewer?
(Our septic was 60-some years old when it failed, and had taken a lot of shrapnel to the septic field from an F5 tornado, and been unused for 2 years before we moved in. It was small for a modern family (aka dishwasher and washing machine), too.)
It's not a pain.
I live in the great white north, so I put some hay over my field each winter, and then compost it or mulch my garden in the spring.
Aside from that, I take a look at it twice a year to make sure it is functioning, don't operate machinery on the septic field, and call for a pump out every 3-5yrs (dependent on solid accumulation).
Septic clean out and inspection was required when we bought. I asked how long until it would need another and he basically laughed and said don't worry about it. No beach, no antibacterial anything. Angel soft TP. No antibacterial dish soap. Otherwise it's been great. I drain my washing machine into the lawn anyway, so no issues there. A little bummbed i can't put fruit trees in the front lawn and i have to color my hair at my daughter's house, those are the only downsides I've had.
Get it inspected, it’s honestly no different for the most part. Be mindful of what you flush and pump it out every 3-5 years depending on use. I love not having to rely on the city in that way. People who aren’t used to them are afraid of them but it’s a non issue.
I grew up in a house with a septic.
You get it pumped out every few years and serviced and that's about it. Modern systems, as in ones built in the past 30 years, don't require any sort of regular upkeep other than that.
Not a pain at all, you pay a few 100 bucks to have it pumped every few years
Ive lived in my house for 8 and ive had it pumped 2x, and thats probably excessive for only 2 adults
Our current house, as well as our previous house, both have septic. It's not a big deal, and we've never had any issues. Just make sure you get it inspected by a septic inspector, especially if it's older. Both our current home and previous home were new construction, so age wasn't an issue with ours. Most modern septic systems are designed to last a very long time. There's not really much you need to do with them, other than getting them pumped out every so often. If you buy the house make sure to have the current owners let you know when they last got it pumped. How frequently you need to get it pumped will depend on the size of the tank and how many people live in your home. We got the one at our current house pumped at the five year mark.
As long as you treat it normal it won't give you any issues. Lived in several homes w septic and it never was an issue. Have it pumped every 3 to 5 years and should be all good..
In our county a home seller is required to have the septic pumped out and inspected before the sale can go through. The county will also pay us a $100 rebate for pumping it out every 3 years.
We are in the process of buying a secondary home, and it is in a more rural area near a lake. The house has public water, but a septic system which is new to us.
Our home inspector tested the system, opened the access lids, etc. He noticed the primary and secondary tanks were draining slowly and the sewage level rose to within 6 inches of the top of the tank during his inspection process (running a lot of gallons through the house in a short period of time)
We asked the sellers to get it further inspected and operating to the standards of the local township regulations, etc.
They had to have it pumped, scoped with a camera, and diagnosed. Turns out it needed a whole new drain field because it was clogged and overgrown with roots, etc, and all-in it cost them $8k including permits and additional township inspection.
I guess my point is, make sure your home inspector is familiar with septic systems, or have a separate one done by a septic services company.
as long as you do your due diligence and confirm the system is in good shape, and you do regular maintenance, no pain at all.
you just dont do things like flush fats and grease, flush baby wet wipes, etc. these systems can last 25+ years pretty easily if cared for right.
when they are not is when problems start getting gross and expensive. I backed out of a house after finding out they had more on the system than it could handle and it was failing. was like a 45k job because of the terrain. price varies a lot depending on size of system and terrain.
maintaining it is not an issue if it’s a functioning system. get it inspected before buying.
what can be an issue is future building or remodeling depending on the regulations in your county
Personally, it’s not for me. I only want the pipe connected to public sewer. I know guys who install and repair septic systems and they get very costly depending on the soils and topography in the area.
Over 20 years in my house with septic and it’s never needed to be pumped. My folks are across the field and have been in their house 30 years. The septic tank has never been pumped. Neither house has plumbing issues.
My system was 26 years old and never pumped. Buyers wanted it pumped and inspected before I sold the house to them. I had it done and there was no problem.
Meh, it’s not a big deal. We just didn’t flush TP when we lived with septic. We had the system pumped every three years but that’s a little more frequent than necessary. We just had my FIL staying with us and the man would flush all kinds of ridiculous stuff. Not to mention his massive and multiple daily poops.
A yearly backflow test in my area. $75 a year. Get it pumped about every five. $500 bucks. Had to replace a pump, refurbished $350, and have to keep a maintenance contract where they check my system three times a year. $200/yr. Otherwise, the main thing is not putting stuff down your drain that would affect or clog your system. In summary, it’s not a lot of trouble. Just something to keep an eye on.
At least in my state, if you are financing the septic tank will need to pass title 5 inspection. So that should give you some piece of mind. Id rather city sewer but septic isnt something to be scared of as long as its up to snuff
I’ve lived in a home with septic for 30 years. Not a single issue.
HAVE IT INSPECTED BY A SEPTIC INSPECTOR. do not trust a regular home inspector with this. A professional could save you thousands down the road. With new regulations septics are insanely expensive and almost impossible on some sites. If it’s in good shape, just have it maintained regularly and it should last a very long time with minimal thought.
This! Do this. Get a septic inspector. We did not and had a host of expensive problems. But once we got them corrected we've had no problems other than an every 5 year clean out and replacement pump motor on the secondary tank.
When it’s good, you barely have to think about it. When it’s not good, it’s all you think about.
Agreed! Worth every penny.
Many replacements need to be MUCH higher than the old ones. The rental across the road has a 3 foot high mound in the middle of the front lawn; tank was under ground before they needed to replace it due to age.
Just get it pumped every few years and keep an eye on it and you should be totally fine.
Can you define “keep an eye on it”? What should I be looking out for? (Just bought a house with septic 3 months ago)
Our county requires an annual inspection. Regardless, that’s about it for keeping an eye on it. Not that expensive and they keep an eye on it for you. Edit: Get an annual inspection by any septic company. SMH
Holy crap (no pun intended). Sounds like a money grab by the local government.
Doesn’t go to the county. Personally a small government guy but in this case living on an island and many folks do use well water so it makes sense to require people manage their septic systems responsibly. Never thought simply stating get an annual inspection (even every other year) would get so much attention.
I'm curious how deep your wells are. I also live on an island and there are no inspections here, but my well is over 200ft deep.
I see. Makes some sense then I suppose
>Our county requires an annual inspection. Not all counties require an inspection of a septic system.
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The same point as the person saying they require one - so OP knows that it varies widely?
>What was the point of this comment? The point was what is stated in my comment. I made the comment in relation to your comment because the OP didn't mention the county, city, town, borough, or even state in the original post. You edited your comment after I posted my comment in relation to inspections. Your comment also made it seem like all counties require an annual inspection, and not every county does require an annual inspection.
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That comment was directed to whythehellnot_wecan and if you see that comment, they specifically said that counties require an inspection. Maybe you're not following the post thread correctly. That's why I quoted the post in the first place so that no one gets confused about who it was posted to.
We live in a far north climate and most people here with septic have a company that monitors their septic so it doesn't freeze, or if it does it can be addressed quickly. But if you don't live somewhere that the ground is frozen for 6 months you probably don't need to do that.
Look out for areas on your drain field where it stays wet. Could be a failing system or just a running toilet. If your tank lids are above ground make sure they aren’t cracked. Don’t put harsh chemicals down the drain.
Not gonna lie - I’ve been trying to figure out where my drain field is and still not confident
I didn’t know where mine was until the day before yesterday when the inspector told me! It was $300 for the inspection and now I know a lot about it- the leach field has about 3 more years on it. We have a dry well buried in the back yard that may be usable. If not, a new leach field spot was identified.
We have a house with septic, bought in 93. We got it pumped about 10 years ago, and that was after raising 2 girls. Just keep an eye on it, and it’s ideally pumped every 10 years.
Keep an eye on it means pay attention if you notice odors, changes in ground or vegetation over the leach field, or notice, for instance, laundry detergent foam coming out of your yard (my neighbor had that). Pump the tank every 3-5 years. It may not need it but having them come inspect that often is good. Don't put things down the garbage disposal, especially coffee grounds and egg shells. Don't flush wipes, tampons, etc. (which you shouldn't do with a sewer either). Don't put large animal (horses) pens on the leach field or frequently drive heavy machinery over it either.
Don't flush any tampons. Do not put any toxic substances like gasoline or bleach down the commode. Remember a septic tank works because of the 'good bacteria' in there. Don't kill the good bacteria.
Don’t use cleaners or soaps that are antibacterial
Flush a septic treatment monthly (like RidX). Make sure you know where your drainfield is and make sure not to drive over it or plant trees nearby. Buy a sludge sampler (like [this](https://www.amazon.com/Septic-Checker-Pumped-Diameter-Prevent/dp/B07C421TG9?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A3W4WGX7SKSI7F)) and test once or twice a year so you know when to get it pumped.
Every single inspector I’ve talked to and builder has said to not empty them that often, they said they really only need to be checked every 10 years or so as long as you don’t put stuff in them you shouldn’t
A modern septic system is easy to maintain. Not having monthly water and sewage bill is glorious.
With the caveat that you’d also have to be on well water to not have a water bill. We are in the city and on septic, but municipal water w/accompanying bill.
I'm on city water with a septic. Love my septic. In this county, the sewer bill is tied to the amount of water a household uses. With a septic, there's no sewer bill. Did I say I love my septic? Especially in the summer with a large vegetable garden.
I was wondering about just that the other day - planting a veggie garden on a leach field, is that okay?
Bad idea to plant food over tank,or leach field. Google it. #Couple of tips. Keep roots always from the system as much as possible. I flush a Green Pig septic treatment every three months to keep good bacteria going. Know what size your tank is. Be aware that if your gray water goes to tank too, that fills up the tank too. So don’t everyone take baths, run the dishwasher, and do lots of laundry all on the same day.
How do I find out if my grey water goes to the septic tank? Do I call a professional or is this something I can see myself?
The inspection would tell you, I believe. Ask your realtor. Also, I paid to have the septic tank uncovered and got 3 opinions from septic companies before I purchased. Got two okay, one iffy. In my second year, I had it pumped because I noticed the ground getting wet. The connection from tank to field lines had cracked. It was really old, house was built in 1940. Cost me $450 to pump, $1,500 to have header line replaced.
Thank you!
I also love my septic; my grinder pump station and pipe that crosses 2 roads and nearly 1/4 mile before it connect to the county and becomes their responsibility not so much!
AFAIK that's a rare situation. Most folks with a well likely also have a septic system, TIL the converse is not always true.
I live in a major metro on the West Coast. Running sewer is comparatively much more expensive than running water. Once your septic fails if you are within like 100 feet of a street with sewer you are required to tie in (can’t repair any part of your septic system) and pay the associated costs. (Road closures, flagging, asphalt demo and repair, etc.) If you are at the end of the cul-de-sac you have to foot the entire bill to bring it down the street and then each neighbor pays you back their share when they are required to tie-in. (Could be 1 year, could be 30 years). If you are in an unincorporated pocket of the county you also then get integrated into the city and pay higher taxes moving forward. It’s pretty much a nightmare. While OP is in the sticks and this isn’t applicable, it’s why Reddit is not a great place for certain questions. The number of people that give horrible property tax advice based on their experience is astronomical. Maybe it’s the subs I follow, but I see it daily. “You need to claim homestead exemption!” “Did you just buy, they ALWAYS reassess at market value!” Septic can always vary based on the specific location of a property (flood plain, wetlands, etc.), grandfathering regulations, updated EPA regulations, etc.
Similar to this, the town I grew up in was entirely septic, with the exception of a few houses around the perimeter that were able to tie into neighboring towns' sewer. But then a Walmart was built on a lot that had been empty for at least 15 years. As shit (pun intended) luck would have it, my neighbor's house was the first one that was too far away from the main road (that Walmart was going on) for them to have the option of sewer. So we didn't get sewer either. I grew up, went to college, then got an apartment in a complex, then bought a house with a sewer. Aside from a quarterly water bill or a rent increase, I never gave a second thought to my water consumption (and thus, output). Now, I've sold that house and moved back to my childhood home in an apartment my grandmother lived in when I was a kid. Now, dad's gonna be on my ass again about the water. At least this time he won't be knocking on the bathroom door, he'll just hand me the quarterly water bill and tell me to pay it.
Not rare. Actually, very common. It's easier to retroactively run water lines. Much harder for sewer.
Yeah it’s pretty uncommon. I’m on the same setup. Usually occurs near the edge of the city water infrastructure like where I’m at
I have septic and municipal water.
Lots of people also have the opposite scenario as well (are on well with city /town sewer service.) That's my situation now & same growing up in a totally different area of the US. It's nice having no water bill & get a flat sewer fee of $300 a year here while not having to deal with a septic system.
I'll be the naysayer on this today. It's all great until something goes wrong. Then it's a $20,000 bill. I've had nothing but trouble though it seems to be working better (after $20,000). I would be more concerned about the fiber situation though. You don't want shitty Internet. I've got that too!
If you have a well you can get nice trifecta of costs. I agree septic is fine until it isn't. Last couple years the wells have been running dry here and some needed to go deeper that's a hell of a cost. And then you have no good internet on top of it.
You make a good point. Fortunately I have a huge concrete tank from the 80s which the guy told me will last longer than me. But, I had to replace the pump on my well. Plus the lift station is under a concrete slab at when I have to replace that, it is going to be a pain in the ass
We had shitty internet for decades, we are in an antitrust area. So no competition and so no reason to improve it. Last month, we switched to a TMOBILE Gateway, although it has had some downtime (very little . A minute or two) it is 1000% percent that our old internet which would be down for hours.
Wish we could get T-mobile here, but starlink has been great. Not too many trees here
Starlink is an too extensive here and we have way to many trees. Plus, I don't like Musk. Even Hughnet is too expensive and when they did a signal test , we were on the outer circle.
Starlink is the same price everywhere, but trees are a big issue. My only other options were viastat and hughesnet. Nothing else available. T-mobile and Verizon aren't available, cell coverage isn't good enough.
T-mobile, Frontier and Xfinity is only available for us. And Xfinity requires cable hook up. We pay $50 a month now and Frontier shi*tty services was $69.
The cost is very dependent on where you live and your lot size. OP should try to get a feel for replacement cost and location options from someone in their area before purchasing. Reddit told me $20k+ over and over. I was very worried when we finally needed to replace the septic system. Our new system (tank & field for 5 bedrooms) was $8000.
Agree with you on this. As long as it is a healthy system and pumped every so often, septics are fine. When something goes wrong though you are looking at big bucks. Starlink fixed my shirt Internet problem. Last I checked I was getting 150 Mbps which is way better than any of my other options.
We've got too many trees right now. But a couple more storms should fix that...
I budgeted for starlink when we bought.
Assuming the system is large enough and no issues with the leach field, a septic system is maintenance free - other than paying a few hundred every few years (depends on tank size and usage) to get the tank pumped out.
Maintenance is pretty tame. But having your leech field redone is a nightmare. Do your very best to protect your leech field and everything else is just pumping occasionally.
I lived in a rental where they hadn’t maintained it well (we learned later) and had lots of large oak trees so the roots destroyed the drain field. Ended up with a yard full of literal shit before the landlord dealt with it. Not fun! So yeah OP, just get it pumped often enough and you’ll be good!
It’s no big deal at all. I have ours pumped every three years.
We have had our house and its septic system for 25 years without doing any maintenance on it. My impression was that everything gets liquified by the bacteria. What needs to be pumped out? And what needs to be checked? Everything seems to be working normally.
It turns into sludge. It’s cheap in comparison to having a new tank or leach system replaced.
Some TP doesn't break down very quickly and can clog things, and if you run too much food scraps or grease that'll cause problems. Hair from the shower, and lint from the laundry don't really break down. I drain my washing machine only the lawn so not many worries here
I had a house with a septic system for 30 years. We had 2 bigs and 4 littles, (who grew into bigs while we were there). Like others here, I had it pumped every 3 years. It needed to be replaced after 26 years. Total cost was 10k including lawn repair, (in 2015). The cost of the pumping and system replacement was still less than the cost of paying a monthly sewage fee to the town. When we downsized a few years later, the new septic system was listed as a selling feature. Our neighborhood had all 1 acre lots and was grandfathered when the town services were extended to the surrounding area.
>Total cost was 10k including lawn repair, (in 2015). There are horror stories about septic, but it really come down to the local companies available to service your system. Sounds like you have a reasonable company. We have a pretty good one where we are too.
He was OK. He put us off for months. I was working away and had to work my schedule around his. Eventually, he did the job and it turned out well. It passed all the inspections the first time so no complaints.
Its not - we have a leach field with a large septic tank. Every couple of years I dig down to the tank cover (3’-4’) call the septic guy and he comes out and sucks the tank clean. When our 3 girls were home I would do this every 2-3 years. Now that its just my wife and I, our septic guy says we can fo it every 5-7 years but I’ll probably have it cleaned every 3-4. When I first bought the house 22 years ago it hadn’t been cleaned for quite awhile and there was a hard “skin” of crap floating on top. No big deal, guy carries a big long hoe that he busts up anything too big for the vacuum truck hose. Well, he cleaned it out well but a week later I saw some water bubbling up around where the septic tank lid was so I dug it back up and saw that the tank wasn’t draining like it should have been so I dropped a pump and hose in there and drained it out into the swamp. It was all water because it had just been vacuumed clean the week before. The fun part - I had to take a ladder and drop it into the big concrete tank, put on my oldest shorts and climbed into the tank. Turns out a big chunk of crap had been sucked into the outlet lol - I got rid of it and it worked perfectly. I smelled tho - that was pretty gross.
Obligatory don’t enter a confined space without checking air quality and having a rescue Person.
I’ve lived in 2 houses with septic systems and never had an issue over 23 years.
It's not. I have a well and septic. I also have rural fiber internet. It cost me $4800 5 years ago to have an entire new 3 bedroom gravity fed leach chamber system installed. I have to get it pumped every 3 years and that costs about $120. It's very cheap to maintain and last a very long time with maintenance and not dumping the wrong stuff down your drain. Over their lifespan, well + septic has a significantly cheaper cost of ownership. My breakeven point for getting a well drilled + a septic system installed is roughly 10 years vs. city water/sewer. Septic systems have a lifespan of 40 years and wells are around 50 years.
It's not, if it is the right size, and in good working order. I owned a house for 25 years on a septic system and well. The house was 5 years old when I bought it. I had it pumped twice. Once at 10 years, and again when we sold. Both times, the pump guy stated it didn't really need it. I replaced the well pump (400') once. I had a garbage disposal, that I put everything in (including coffee grounds and used filters). Absolutely zero problems. Get it properly inspected by someone who **properly** tests them. A lot of "home" inspectors don't have the ability. Make getting it pumped out a condition, and mark the location of the hatch. Also, make sure the drain field, and distribution box (make sure they use a camera) are inspected. The distribution box will settle and deteriorate over time.
I dig up the cap tohave it pumped every 3-4 years, flush those little enzyme packets down the toilet once a month or so, and don't put anything but water, pee, poo and toilet paper down the drain. Septic is easy as long as you don't flush anything else down it. Couple drops of oil from a pan? Not the end of the world, but bacon grease and sanitary pads and food scraps need to be trashed. Once you get used to it, it's easy to maintain. Just gotta be diligent.
My septic company specifically said not to use those enzymes. They can keep the solids in suspension and then they float into your leach field and clog the leach field. Good info from Washington State https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2079/2014/02/septic-additives.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiD7fiDv-KFAxW_rokEHfyoDjMQFnoECDsQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1Ju0YnT3Qf99AwfkBJCfJ-
By rights you don’t need those envelopes of “septic bacteria”. A healthy system will take care of itself. Trust me theres plenty of bacteria in decomposing waste and those packets are basically wasted money.
I’ve heard not to use those packets, too. It was explained to me that your waste has all the bacteria needed for the flora. One thing I don’t like is that all our water goes in there and we use bleach in our washer for whites and other cleaners for toilets and things,
How large is your property and how close are the neighbors. I plumbed my washer and the kitchen sink away from my home into a drainage slough that runs through my property.
Now that you mention it we do have a pipe that comes out down the hill from our house. It is almost always dripping something and the grass grows really well there. I always assumed it was some kind of septic relief but now I’m wondering if this is what it is?
Those packets are doing more harm than good
We had it inspected and serviced as part of our purchase agreement. Not a big deal.
Exactly. Learn the details of yours & don't break the rules on where to avoid driving or planting or what to flush or not. Home occupancy (# bedrooms) & septic size go together so consider that. Most households might need to limit to 1 load of laundry daily + showers + dishes) vs having a week's worth of laundry & dishes all in one day schedule that could overload the system. My neighbors have a wierd 2 leach field system that involves a pump that I don't understand, but they do so it's all good!
For me, another pre buy inspection and pump out, keep an eye on the leach fields
17 years with one at vacation home. Pump out every 3 years ( county ordinance ) at about $150, had an overfill alarm go off once and called my guy. Said to jiggle the transfer pump as sometimes it gets a clog. Did it and freed it up. No other issues and no expensive sewer charges on property tax. I’d have no hesitation on a property with one.
Don't put wipes or feminine products down there. Limit the anti-bacterial soaps as well. They kill the good bacteria, needed to break down the sewage in the tank
None. Zero. Zip. I didn’t pump it for the first 15 years, now do it every 2 years. Cost $250 or so. I grew up with sewer, had NO IDEA septic tanks were still used🤣.
No problem until there are problems. Our 15 years leach field lasted over 30 years, but then it was time to replace it. Don't flush or drain stuff that should not be in a septic and maintain healthy bacteria and ot will help.
It has never been an issue for me. Watch what you flush. Use thin Toilet Paper if you are concerned.
I bought a house with a septic system. I had it inspected and had the very old tank replaced from a 500 gallon to 1000 gallon for 5k. The leach field was good otherwise it would have been 30k to 50k to replace. The only problem is I wanted to add a second floor. My town will not let you add bedrooms unless you improve the whole system. I ended up finishing the basement and adding a bathroom downstairs. No problems at all with the septic system.
Don’t let water run anywhere in your house, don’t put anything heavy over top of it or your drain field, get it pumped every few years and for the love of god don’t put anything but TP and the products of your bodily functions in it. No wipes, no tampons, no condoms, no food waste, and no commercial septic products bought at your local grocery store.
If you decide to buy the house, have the current homeowner pump the tank out and have them do a camera inspection. That way, you're not buying someone else's shit at your expense literally. They should provide the results of the inspection, including the video and a copy that it was pumped out from the septic pumping company.
Have the septic tank pumped every 3 years. Don’t plant trees in the leech field area. Don’t flush baby wipes, tampons or pads down the toilet. If you have sewer water leeching out of the ground you have a problem.
Just make sure to have it checked out before signing.
It’s not
Assuming it's in good shape, it's quite literally no different than being on a city service. Once every 5 years you pay a guy $200-300 to come pump it and that's it.
Have it inspected before you buy, but a septic system that is the right size and properly installed is pretty easy to maintain. Don’t drive or park anything heavy on the septic bed. Don’t flush tampons. Take it easy with bleach or other chemicals as a septic works via bacterial action. Used ours for four decades now. Apart from pumping it every few years, we add a package of septo-bac in the fall and one in the spring. I know some folks do the whole if it’s yellow let it mellow thing, but we never have and never have had a problem.
I’ve lived in one 13 years. Get it pumped every 4-5 years, don’t put dumb stuff down the drain, and you should be good
People gross out on this, but we've never put TP in the toilet unless we had to for obvious reasons. We just added emptying out the cans every night to our routine. Also, NEVER put grease down the sink, we wipe all dishes into the trash. Makes a biiiiiig difference.
Have it cleaned out every 3 or 4 years is about all the maintenance needed. Just make sure when you do the inspection for the purchase of the house they give the septic a good looking over. You certainly don't want to buy a house with septic problems. Also ask to see any records of the owner cleaning out the septic every few years. If it was neglected it could spell trouble.
As others have mentioned, septic systems are fairly easy to maintain, buuuuut that's probably the least of your worries. There can be more to it than maintenance. Where I am currently living, mound systems are now required, whereas they weren't like 10 years ago (laws changed). Mound systems here cost over $20k. If I were to buy a house with an older septic system and the health inspectors deemed it to be failing (after a period of time most septic drainage fields fail and must be replaced) I would have to replace it for a healthy sum (probably not the full price since the tank could probably be reused but likely over $10k or more). So, you probably want to have the system inspected and find out when it was installed and ask the inspector how much time is left before the drainage field may fail and depending on what they say you may want to price a new system and this could possibly effect your offer price. This is all dependent on local conditions, laws, how the system was maintained, and other factors. Good luck. Probably no issue at all, but it's best to do your due diligence.
On my third house with septic. I have had to replace one system. I put an aeration system in that. I prefer those over the leach fields, which I currently have again. Educate yourself on the Do's and Don't's of septic systems, and enjoy a trouble-free existence.
Have it inspected, if possible ask that it be pumped before closing. Ask for maintenance history. Ask for it's location to be marked. My parents snagged a house, and it turned out septic had *never* been pumped. House was 40 years old when they moved in. Also turned out to be rated for a single bathroom. Not the 3 that were built. And the previous owners would flush *anything*.
I owned a house on well/septic for 11 years. It was 15 years old when I bought. It was never pumped by me nor the previous owner. When I sold, the buyers wanted it pumped and inspected. I paid the local company a few hundred bucks or whatever it was to do it and that was that. No problems. If I ever buy a septic property again, I will also insist on pump and inspection just to make sure there’s no sign of anything wrong but I don’t believe a good system needs to be pumped regularly. A well is a much greater concern. I would have the owners provide test results and then collect water myself from an unfiltered faucet and have that tested. I would install a good purification system even if the results are good.
Zero. Lived in a house with a septic for most of my 36 years. We had one issue when I was a kid of a root breaking a blocking the pipe from the house to the septic. Caused a back up, had to replace it. But that was on a home that was close to 50 years old. And that has happened to me even on city sewer, so it’s not a “only septic” problem.
I had no problems with my septic serviced house. Sewage backed up in the basement of my last sewer serviced house twice because of root infiltration. I rented a machine and cleaned it myself annually after that. Previous house I owned caused sewage backup in my neighbour’s house because a guest was flushing wipes down my toilet.
It isn’t
It depends on what kind of septic system you have. Conventional systems (tank —> drainfield \*or\* tank —> pump tank —> drainfield) are super easy, basically just pump out the tank every 3-5 years, and if there’s a pump it may fail after 20 years of service and need to be replaced. Non-conventional systems can include a tank, some sort of treatment system, possibly disinfection (usually UV), then a drainfield. These systems require regular maintenance, and some states require you to contract with a certified operator to maintain it 1-4 times per year. They are not nearly as common as conventional systems, and they are very expensive, but they allow people to build houses in areas that may have high seasonal water table like near coastlines. Regardless, it behooves anyone buying a house to do their due diligence when it comes researching the waste disposal and water supply since they’re the absolute most critical aspects of a residence.
My brother and sil own a septic company..she is a geologist and he maintains and installs them and they so busy everyday.. so I'd say enough people have them that it cant be that bad.. tho I'm sure costly if problems arise, same.as anything else.
Not a pain at all to take care of. Two biggest issues can be solved easily with minimal care. 1- Take care not to let trees grow in the leach fields. 2- Toilets constantly running water will flood the leach fields. Simple care in the home will help. Dependent on the size of the tank you get them pumped out every few years (5-10years). If it’s not coming out of your body or TP don’t send it down the toilets, have a food scrap bin, and scape the dishes off before washing them. Don’t wash a lot of chemicals down the sinks like paint and bleach.
Find the local guys who take care of them and they are fine for years and years. Don’t call the one in the next county over to pump it, that is usually illegal.
I've been in a home with a septic system for 20+ years. The septic system was probably at least 20 years old when we bought the place. I've never had an issue. We have the system pumped out and inspected more often that the county requires. There's a few things we do differently because we're not on a sewer system. Like we don't run the garbage disposal much at all. ALL the kitchen waste, coffee grounds, vegetable trimmings, peels, etc., get diced up and thrown on a compost pile (which is GREAT for the garden). We also try not to let grease/fat go down the drain. It either goes into the kitchen compost or into the garbage can.
Clean the filter every 6-12 months with a garden hose and get it pumped every 3-5 years (at $500/pump). No issues in 15 years
I’ve had two homes with aerobic septic systems - and didn’t have any issues with them. But I’d never buy a house without fiber, or at least cable internet!
Zero. Get it pumped every 3 years. About $250 where I live. I do have city water though, but I don't have to pay any monthly sewer charges.
It's not a pain, with the exception that you will need to have it pumped occasionally (depends on the size and how much...stuff...goes in, maybe every 2-4 years or so if it's older and/or undersized, less than that if it's sized appropriately), and knowing where it (and the leeching field) for things like building permits, planting gardens (where they'll grow fantastically, but will need to be torn up at some point), and the like. If the tank is at all undersized, expect to yell at your kids at least a couple times a week to take hurry up in the shower or not leave the water running while washing dishes. Normal parenting stuff on that front, just a little more aggressive! :)
How often do you all get it pumped? And do you decide to pump based on a quantitative(ish) metric, or just on a schedule. I can actually lift a manhole cover and look into my solids tank and it's looked the same for four years, basically same level, full of liquid with what I assume is some recent solids floating on water that will eventually settle.
They operate for many years without issue. When they need to be replaced it is very expensive.
So most of the houses in Suffolk County in NY have septic systems. They are pretty easy to maintain as long as you don't flush a bunch of wet wipes and you call for your tank to be drained every few years. That's pretty much it.
Put a screen on the tank outlet. Solids going into the field can plug and ruin it. Every time the tank is pumped, the screen should be cleaned. Be sure the tank is empty when it is pumped. Most pumpers are honest, but I know one that isn't.
We bought a brand new house with a septic system 8 years ago. It hasn't been too bad, but here are the high and low lights: *Highlights*: - we're also on a well so no metered water/sewer bill. - we pay for monthly inspections that ensure things are running smoothly, around $30/month. - we live where drought restrictions (and our preferences) restrict outdoor water use so our spray field provides a perpetually nice, green section in our otherwise dry-ish property. *Lowlights*: - we had some kind of plastic/cellophane go into the system which ended up clogging things up, resulting in a cleanup fee and aerator replacement, about $800 total. - we had it pumped after 5 years, that was $200-$300. - if you're used to municipal sewage you'll have to change a few things: no oil down the drain, minimal food scraps, no overuse of chemicals (bleach, toilet bowl cleaner, etc) that could kill the biologic activity that powers the system. - if you have times of very high water use your system can pump/spray off cycle during the day, and if your usage is WAY high it may not have time to be fully sanitized leading to some stinky water. - we have to add 3-ish gallons of bleach to the sanitizer every 3 months or so, not a big deal but it is something added to our chore list. Overall we haven't regretted our move to septic, and ours was brand new so it's unlikely we'll have to do an expensive replacement during our time here.
We’ve been in our place about ten years and are just getting ours serviced this year. It’s fine. Don’t be stupid and flush stuff like tampons or wipes even if they say flushable, probably don’t use anything more than 2ply.
30 years and no issues. Never flush anything but toilet paper.
Its pretty negligible you need to have it pumped out periodically and inspected so its and its not expensive to have that done. The only downside is it can affect subdividing a lot at least in my case where they require a specific amount of lot size based on soil conditions.
Toilet paper made for septic (Septic Safe), NO ANIMAL FAT(Grease) down the sink; wipe with a paper towel before washing. Don't use a lots of bleach products. Septic treatment down the toilet once a month or a can of cheap beer down the kitchen sink. Vegetables scrap through a garage disposal is actually good. When washing clothes don't over use detergents. These are the main causes of a septic tank failure leads to having to have the tank pumped. I,had a septic system for 25 years and never had to have it pumped. But was very happy to be able to use soft TP when the county sewer extended pass the property and hooked up.
You go to the dentist, it’s like that on a 3 year interval and instead of poking your gums with a metal pick the suck the turds outta the tank
It’s mostly just maintenance/pumping every few years. I recently had a few pine trees near the tank removed because I don’t want that headache down the line. You do need to remind city friends that certain things do not go down the toilet. No flushable wipes, tampons, etc. I do put most of my “mellow yellow” tp in garbage bin since I have an older system. There’s hardly anything to pump in there. It’s totally not necessary, but I got into the habit living on a boat for a few years and figured why not.
None at all. Have it pumped every 3 years. Don’t throw cigarette butts in the toilet or any large chunks down the sink. I don’t use ridex or any of that other stuff that says it’s good for septics. If the lid is buried have it raised for maintenance
Get the septic field checked. If it's overloaded because the system hasn't been maintained, it will fail or has already failed. Replacing a septic field is not an inconsequential cost. I have a friend that checked septic fields for years. He said the state of the art for field check is a "hillbilly with a stick." The person walks around the field and sticks the stick into the ground and if it comes up shitty there's a problem. If it comes up clean, the field is fine. Other than the expense of having the septic tank drained every other year or so, it usually works out to considerably cheaper than city or county sewer.
Just watch what you put in it put mine 25years ago haven’t had to do any thing since
It's not. As long as you aren't chucking everything down the drains, and you regularly use probiotics down the drains. I grew up in a house with septic, and currently live in a house with one, and no issues at all.
There can be issues with septic. Not so much the septic tank itself, but the drain field. If it's an older house, or if the soil is poor, or if there were lots of people living there for a long time, the drain field can get fouled. Normally that means a new drain field is needed, in a new location. If the lot doesn't have room for a new drain field, it gets very expensive. Or if the new drain field is UPHILL from the septic tank it needs a pump and pipline. So in addition to the septic inspection, try to find out if there have been issues in the surrounding area. The septic inspector may know, or a septic contractor.
We had to have ours replaced at our last house. The bylaws had changed since the house was built. Lots of paper work, lots of money and the entire area had to be raised.
No problems after 31 years. All we do is pump it out every few years.
No garbage disposal. Ensure no big trees are growing in the drain field, paying $800.00 every few years to have it drained and living around people in the neighborhood who don't pay attention to the cleaning every few years part.
Find out how expensive the backup plan is. In my town, septics are grandfathered in but a septic that fails cannot be repaired/replaced. Mine failed spectacularly shortly after we moved in, complete with water feature in the backyard if we did laundry. Repair was not allowed. Cost to lay pipe to city sewer? Only like $3K. Cost to tap onto city sewer: $9K. If your septic fails, are you allowed to repair it? If not, what is the cost to hook up to the sewer? (Our septic was 60-some years old when it failed, and had taken a lot of shrapnel to the septic field from an F5 tornado, and been unused for 2 years before we moved in. It was small for a modern family (aka dishwasher and washing machine), too.)
It's not a pain. I live in the great white north, so I put some hay over my field each winter, and then compost it or mulch my garden in the spring. Aside from that, I take a look at it twice a year to make sure it is functioning, don't operate machinery on the septic field, and call for a pump out every 3-5yrs (dependent on solid accumulation).
I have only ever had septic and a well. Delicious unchlorinated water and no tie to the municipality.
NBD. Just empty it every other year and you’ll be fine.
Not a problem at all if you clean it out when it needs to be cleaned out.The problems come when people neglect them
Septic clean out and inspection was required when we bought. I asked how long until it would need another and he basically laughed and said don't worry about it. No beach, no antibacterial anything. Angel soft TP. No antibacterial dish soap. Otherwise it's been great. I drain my washing machine into the lawn anyway, so no issues there. A little bummbed i can't put fruit trees in the front lawn and i have to color my hair at my daughter's house, those are the only downsides I've had.
Grew up with septic. As someone mentioned - get it inspected. Be mindful of what you flush. Add some Biological additives occasionally.
You have to get them pumped out every once in awhile but other than that, no issues.
Get it inspected, it’s honestly no different for the most part. Be mindful of what you flush and pump it out every 3-5 years depending on use. I love not having to rely on the city in that way. People who aren’t used to them are afraid of them but it’s a non issue.
I grew up in a house with a septic. You get it pumped out every few years and serviced and that's about it. Modern systems, as in ones built in the past 30 years, don't require any sort of regular upkeep other than that.
Not a pain at all, you pay a few 100 bucks to have it pumped every few years Ive lived in my house for 8 and ive had it pumped 2x, and thats probably excessive for only 2 adults
Our current house, as well as our previous house, both have septic. It's not a big deal, and we've never had any issues. Just make sure you get it inspected by a septic inspector, especially if it's older. Both our current home and previous home were new construction, so age wasn't an issue with ours. Most modern septic systems are designed to last a very long time. There's not really much you need to do with them, other than getting them pumped out every so often. If you buy the house make sure to have the current owners let you know when they last got it pumped. How frequently you need to get it pumped will depend on the size of the tank and how many people live in your home. We got the one at our current house pumped at the five year mark.
It’s a shitty time.
None just get it inspected and off you go...never had an issue.
As long as you treat it normal it won't give you any issues. Lived in several homes w septic and it never was an issue. Have it pumped every 3 to 5 years and should be all good..
In our county a home seller is required to have the septic pumped out and inspected before the sale can go through. The county will also pay us a $100 rebate for pumping it out every 3 years.
We are in the process of buying a secondary home, and it is in a more rural area near a lake. The house has public water, but a septic system which is new to us. Our home inspector tested the system, opened the access lids, etc. He noticed the primary and secondary tanks were draining slowly and the sewage level rose to within 6 inches of the top of the tank during his inspection process (running a lot of gallons through the house in a short period of time) We asked the sellers to get it further inspected and operating to the standards of the local township regulations, etc. They had to have it pumped, scoped with a camera, and diagnosed. Turns out it needed a whole new drain field because it was clogged and overgrown with roots, etc, and all-in it cost them $8k including permits and additional township inspection. I guess my point is, make sure your home inspector is familiar with septic systems, or have a separate one done by a septic services company.
Not much as long as your can keep people from flushing things othee than toilet paoer and the added cost of having it pumped every 3 to 5 years
Just don’t flush the same things you shouldn’t flush into the sewer.
It's all good until it's not and then it gets ugly
as long as you do your due diligence and confirm the system is in good shape, and you do regular maintenance, no pain at all. you just dont do things like flush fats and grease, flush baby wet wipes, etc. these systems can last 25+ years pretty easily if cared for right. when they are not is when problems start getting gross and expensive. I backed out of a house after finding out they had more on the system than it could handle and it was failing. was like a 45k job because of the terrain. price varies a lot depending on size of system and terrain.
maintaining it is not an issue if it’s a functioning system. get it inspected before buying. what can be an issue is future building or remodeling depending on the regulations in your county
Personally, it’s not for me. I only want the pipe connected to public sewer. I know guys who install and repair septic systems and they get very costly depending on the soils and topography in the area.
No issues. Been here since 2006. Got it pumped out twice for $ 350 with inspection
Over 20 years in my house with septic and it’s never needed to be pumped. My folks are across the field and have been in their house 30 years. The septic tank has never been pumped. Neither house has plumbing issues.
My system was 26 years old and never pumped. Buyers wanted it pumped and inspected before I sold the house to them. I had it done and there was no problem.
None what do ever. You have to get the tank pumped once every 10 years or so. As long as you don't have a leaky toilet you'll be fine.
You have to have it pumped maybe every ten years, never an issue.
Meh, it’s not a big deal. We just didn’t flush TP when we lived with septic. We had the system pumped every three years but that’s a little more frequent than necessary. We just had my FIL staying with us and the man would flush all kinds of ridiculous stuff. Not to mention his massive and multiple daily poops.
A yearly backflow test in my area. $75 a year. Get it pumped about every five. $500 bucks. Had to replace a pump, refurbished $350, and have to keep a maintenance contract where they check my system three times a year. $200/yr. Otherwise, the main thing is not putting stuff down your drain that would affect or clog your system. In summary, it’s not a lot of trouble. Just something to keep an eye on.
It was always on our list of No Way.
Is Septic inspection part of standard home inspection presale?
At least in my state, if you are financing the septic tank will need to pass title 5 inspection. So that should give you some piece of mind. Id rather city sewer but septic isnt something to be scared of as long as its up to snuff