All to often we see a septic tank in the back yard. And the homeowner would like to add a deck. A large deck that extends over the septic tank. That does create a huge problem for the septic contractor. We need access. Not just a few boards removed. If we can only remove a few boards, we are limited in our cleaning ability. We need room to remove all the waste from the tank. Liquid and solids. Here we…
This is a working model of a basic septic systems pump and alarm for a pressure drainfield, sand filter, or sand mound. Geogrpahically, these two yellow float switches are located in the tanks with the wastewater. The light signifies the pump. When I raise the lower float switch, you must imagine my hand as wastewater. This is what will trigger the pump to turn on. The light comes on. When the lower float is lowered, the light goes off. Now…
This goes under the heading of: “I can’t make this stuff up” This story is unbelievable. Client purchases a home. There is a deficiency marked on their septic system from competitor. “Outlet Baffle is broken” Client calls my competitor who wrote up the deficiency and asks them to repair it. Competitor tells homeowner that they need to dig up the tank first. (This is outrageous to me, for one, I know exactly where to dig. It takes me all of…
Customer uses First Call Septic because our rates are clearly posted. Visit the Rates Page for more details. Yesterday I received, what I call, “Tire Kicker Call”. You may wonder what that is. Person calls in checking prices, but has a million other questions about price. This usually happens when a customer has been burned by another in my field. Example: What if the tank has lids that need opened? What do you charge now? Or What if the lid…
Best customer call ever. He called me this morning wanting a price quote. I told him that we charge 38 cents per gallon and sales tax and that’s a flat rate. He asked what that was. A flat rate? I said that there is no other fees. I’m not going to be upselling you magic chemicals or anything else. As long as your correct on the gallons you can write the check out now and put it on the counter….
This is a great video. Now I did start recording a bit late. But here’s how the story goes. This is a home with two people living inside. This tank is only 3 years old. They use a commonly known septic tank additive every month. They have been using it religiously. So they started backing up in the home. They were confused and called us to find out what was wrong. The septic tank was completely full of solids and…
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrWuOTkEaus Here is a video of a clogged inlet baffle. There are two reasons why this house backed up into the house. The inlet pipe, abs plastic, was installed too far into the tank, and too close the concrete baffle. And the second is excessive toilet paper use. Really exciting stuff. Thanks for reading, Ronnie
We found another leaking septic tank. This septic tank was homemade with cinder blocks. This homeowner had never had it back up into the house, so assumed everything was okay. During a routine inspection we had to tell them the tank has never worked like a tank and needed replaced. The sewage was leaking out the septic tank and going straight to ground water. Now I understand that there are those that would say, “well, if the sewage leaks out…
This is a quick reminder about Laundry Day. It’s a nice sunday out today, and I want to be sure to put a bug in everyone’s ear about septic and laundry day’s. It’s pretty easy. There shouldn’t be a laundry day. All that water, all at once is truly hard on septic systems. Try to space, one load, every other day. That is much easier and most important to aging septic systems. Also, remember try to upgrade your washer from…
Today I was planning on posting the pictures I have gathered from a system that was completely clogged up full of roots. But I received an emergency call in Camas, WA last night at about midnight. Customer’s backing up takes pri0rity to pictures. I am going to get this out of the way and post the pics another day. So today, I get to get an alarm in Camas. Then drive up to Yacolt and check on a customer attempting…