1950's septic system clogged: looking for advice


  #41  
Old 06-06-16, 10:57 PM
S
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My concern for you and your system, is that the drain gravel around the pip will also be closed. So even if the pips is clear the liquor will not be able to percolate away into the earth.
 
  #42  
Old 06-07-16, 03:42 PM
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Well, I have an end for the story... at least for now!

Started with a large backhoe this morning. They started digging down over the tile just South of the tank outlet and found a D-box about 3ft deep. Concrete, 16in x 16in. Pulled the lid off, removed the massive tangle of roots from the D-box, and woosh, there came the flood of poo water from the tank. Turns out I have 2, possibly 3 fingers. The one finger goes out towards property line so guy thinks it's either a stub or maybe it truly does a curve and goes parallel to my 80ft finger I had found. Either way, that one was clogged up and done for. It heads towards the huge tree AND it's about 3" higher than the other two fingers. The 80ft finger is clear, and the 3rd that I previously found out in the yard he was able to clear and he said he could see it pushing air back out, he thinks it's about half-functional and probably clogged near the apple tree in the middle of my yard. Roots had entered into D-box around the tile holes as they weren't sealed in any way.

So... $1500 and they would have replaced the tile exiting the D-box about 5ft on each finger. They weren't going to replace the short tile from tank to the D-box. They wanted $3000 to replace the 5ft on each finger with PVC, replace the D-box, replace the tile from tank to D-box, and add a baffle to tank outlet pipe (90* elbow). I figured they were there, backhoe was there, may as well repair as much as possible, and told them to replace it all.

While they were out getting a D-box I called the foreman who I had scheduled with originally and I told/reminded him that at the end of yesterday he had quoted $1500 for tile replacement AND adding the baffle in the tank. I explained that the game had changed since we found the D-box and that would be more work but that $3000 was double the initial amount. Told him I didn't want to nickel and dime him but just to be fair. He told me $2500 and I told him he had a deal.

All said and done, got a new "baffle" in the tank on the outlet pipe, new tank-to-Dbox pipe, new D-box, and PVC from D-box about 5ft out to each of the 3 tiles. They also put in 2 vertical cleanouts, one before the D-box and one after it on the longest 80ft tile that I had found the end of. Total bill was $2,304 and the ground is all buttoned back up. I think I got a pretty good deal for all that work and all that replaced. Hopefully I'm good again for a while, just need to keep up on pumping the tank a little more frequently! I sure learned a lot helping/watching them do the work and now I know where my finger system is!

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  #43  
Old 06-08-16, 04:39 AM
S
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Looks like a good fix. Gotta love those tree roots! Steve
 
  #44  
Old 06-17-16, 09:51 AM
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Today Was The Day We Replaced The Leach Field

So, today we replaced the leach field. My total costs for the project, as follows:

30m drilled pipe and other drain components : £307
20mm Gravel : £436
John the digger for the day : £300

Total : £1043

Enjoy the pictures, I'm off to take a nice long hot shower.
 
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  #45  
Old 06-17-16, 11:26 AM
Z
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I guess that's about 1,500 U.S. smackers. Seems like a pretty good price.
 
 

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