All,
(Long winded sorry)
Been living in our rural home for about 4+ years now with the wife and our 5 children.
Upon purchase of the home I had the septic system emptied. The main reason to get the system emptied was it gave me some piece of mind. The previous owner was not sure when they emptied the system last as they had not really been living in the home continually for some time as they had a home down south. They said they never had any issue with the system and they had a family of 6. Not to mention the county inspection did not really want to be involved in the home sale/inspection...so this was the best it was going to get type of thing. The age and condition of system was unknown but there is mention of extensive remodeling of the home in the mid to late 1990's. The home was built in 1900 and is 3100 sqft farm home. The house has always had 4 kids or more in it. We ended up meeting the original family who built it (great grandfather of the guy actually).
Anyways we have been working on a remodel of the downstairs bathroom. Its been going on for longer than I care to admit which is unusual for me. The bathroom is getting a new sub-floor and a complete gutting of all fixtures etc. One day we began to smell a sewage smell in the bathroom. This is after we started the remodel...in fact months after. I originally assumed open pipes (toilet/sink/tub) but upon stuffing the pipes with rags, etc the smell did not leave and in fact began to get worse. I began to wonder if we somehow affected the sewer pipe (riping up floor) but we were not really messing with the exhaust pipes as the exhaust (sewer) pipes are in the corner of the room. Everything goes through this bathroom in the corner of the room behind whats normally a closet space.
A couple days go by and I notice the crawl space appearing to become wet (not open standing water) but the ground is dark instead of normal sand looking. Smell continued at times. Specifically when we ran high water items. For example our new 6.0 cubic foot washer machine or when the kids took a bath in upstairs bathroom.
I climbed under the home (thru the bathroom open floor) to find 24 ft away a open clay pipe coming out of the ground about 12 inches under what is now the laundry room. This section of our home is a newer section but I believe its not part of the late 1990's remodel. Anyways this pipe was over flowing with water. (not capped and pipe was not a clean cut) This pipe is in direct line up (underground) of the pipe in the bathroom closet it appears. Keep in mind the septic tank is closer to the bathroom (front of house) not the laundry room (back of house). In fact they are on both outside edges (about) of the home. So my guess this was probably a original drainage line for the house on that side for some reason in the past.
So I decided to have the tank emptied. It seemed about the right time 4 years as the septic fellow mentioned to us have it cleaned every 3 to 5 years based on number of kids/people/use etc. Also I figure it would dry things up so I could boot/cap/seal the clay pipe discovered open under the home. I have since done this capping of the pipe. There was standing water under the house once I reached the pipe. This over flowing water ended once capped and septic was emptied but I still believe the ground looks damp.
So when the fellow came out and emptied the tank he told me he believe it was a 1500 gallon tank and it was modern setup and it either emptied in to the ditch or hooking into a drainage tile. The tank is plastic (black) and has ribs it appears. The piping coming into the septic tank is PVC. There is a cleanout before the entry side.
The exhaust side is also PVC. I do not see a cleanout on that exhaust side of the tank. After that I do not know where it goes.
So I figured that was the end of all this problem. I complete the bathroom changes (couple days later) to the point I am about to seal the subfloor down when I noticed the smell is outside and I begin to see bubbling water out the top of the tank. Standing water forms outside around the tank when I run the dishwasher or any major water in the house. It is clearly coming out the top of the tank. (Cleanout cap) This of course has stopped the remodel.
So I dug the plastic lid up. Confirmed its placement. Put a flat patio block on top. Reburried it in soil and tamped it down smooth. Later that day it bubbled up again.
So I begin to wonder I must have a blockage outside the tank but where exactly is anyones guess as I have no idea where the pipe goes that is coming out of the septic tank.
My yard is somewhat hard to describe but I believe the layout may give me an idea where the pipe goes so here goes.
There are two large Black Elms in the front center of the house that I believe have been there since the house was built. The closest tree to the tank I think is a good 30 feet away or more from the exhaust side of the tank. There is a road approximately 65 feet straight out from the tank (front of house/tank). Further out from road there is a deep ditch. Minimum 6ft deep could be more. To the right of the tank is a drive way going straight out to road. The closest tree branches about reach the drive. On the right side of driveway my yard drops/slopes 3 ft or more quickly. On the opposite side of tank (left side) is the house (kitchen(side of tank)/downstairs bath (intake of septic tank)) and rest of the house. Further over which is about 50 feet from the house is the pond.
So I cannot figure for the life of me where there could be a leach bed. My thinking is this tank has a pipe that goes straight out the tank and under the road to the ditch ( as mentioned by the cleaning guys). So there really is no leach field just a drain line to the ditch. So I went into the ditch and weed whacked an area from the bottom of ditch to the road about the width of a car directly across from the tank but I do not see any piping. The ditch tehn was not overly wet at all and the bottom is currently soft but not muddy (lots of grass). In the spring this ditch will fill and has reached the road and overflowed in the fields surrounding house.
I will mention as I write this that I remember noticing a oddly white area in the wall of the ditch. Maybe crushed stone? It was not more than a foot wide tops and I am now wondering if the pipe may be somehow buried and I am seeing the crushed stone that could be normally surrounding the pipe. It may be hard to get to it again as it was raining all day today but I will check it out tomorrow.
I have not or ever have had any wet spots in our lawn or exceptionally green areas. The only exception is the water coming out of the top of the tank since the recent emptying. My previous home had a septic system that was failing which you could clearly see the "Y" in the yard. Luckily the county was already dropping in sewers in the area in that situation.
There is a cistern near the pond/road that handles the exhaust of our sump pump (2 inch pipe). I opened the cistern and looked down. The cistern has the 2 inch pipe on one side and a large pipe going under road. The cistern is directly next to the road. I doubt the septic tank lines would cross the yard (between large trees) to reach this cistern either as its a considerable distance.
As I mentioned the right side of the tank is a drive way and then a drastic slope. I also doubt they would run under the drive and deal with the slope or the driveway. Not to mention there is no wet spot on that side of the yard either.
Another thing worth mentioning, I noticed when they emptied the tank that the exhaust pipe on the inside of the tank was not a "T" setup. It was a Elbow and the open elbow was facing up to the top of the tank. My previous home it was concrete outlet that I believe was straight out the side. A lot of the stuff I see online says its a "T" to help prevent SCRUM from getting into the exhaust pipe which I guess affects leach bed.
So I am thinking I may have to get a Drain Cleaner/Auger and start on the Exhaust side of the tank. My guess the clog is probably close to the tank as I would probably have a wet spot in the yard previous to the clog. The only exception is if the exhaust line is solid drain line and I am clogged at the end in the ditch.
Any ideas, suggestions, does this make sense, or things people have done to trace there septic system are greatly appreciated,
Chris
(Long winded sorry)
Been living in our rural home for about 4+ years now with the wife and our 5 children.
Upon purchase of the home I had the septic system emptied. The main reason to get the system emptied was it gave me some piece of mind. The previous owner was not sure when they emptied the system last as they had not really been living in the home continually for some time as they had a home down south. They said they never had any issue with the system and they had a family of 6. Not to mention the county inspection did not really want to be involved in the home sale/inspection...so this was the best it was going to get type of thing. The age and condition of system was unknown but there is mention of extensive remodeling of the home in the mid to late 1990's. The home was built in 1900 and is 3100 sqft farm home. The house has always had 4 kids or more in it. We ended up meeting the original family who built it (great grandfather of the guy actually).
Anyways we have been working on a remodel of the downstairs bathroom. Its been going on for longer than I care to admit which is unusual for me. The bathroom is getting a new sub-floor and a complete gutting of all fixtures etc. One day we began to smell a sewage smell in the bathroom. This is after we started the remodel...in fact months after. I originally assumed open pipes (toilet/sink/tub) but upon stuffing the pipes with rags, etc the smell did not leave and in fact began to get worse. I began to wonder if we somehow affected the sewer pipe (riping up floor) but we were not really messing with the exhaust pipes as the exhaust (sewer) pipes are in the corner of the room. Everything goes through this bathroom in the corner of the room behind whats normally a closet space.
A couple days go by and I notice the crawl space appearing to become wet (not open standing water) but the ground is dark instead of normal sand looking. Smell continued at times. Specifically when we ran high water items. For example our new 6.0 cubic foot washer machine or when the kids took a bath in upstairs bathroom.
I climbed under the home (thru the bathroom open floor) to find 24 ft away a open clay pipe coming out of the ground about 12 inches under what is now the laundry room. This section of our home is a newer section but I believe its not part of the late 1990's remodel. Anyways this pipe was over flowing with water. (not capped and pipe was not a clean cut) This pipe is in direct line up (underground) of the pipe in the bathroom closet it appears. Keep in mind the septic tank is closer to the bathroom (front of house) not the laundry room (back of house). In fact they are on both outside edges (about) of the home. So my guess this was probably a original drainage line for the house on that side for some reason in the past.
So I decided to have the tank emptied. It seemed about the right time 4 years as the septic fellow mentioned to us have it cleaned every 3 to 5 years based on number of kids/people/use etc. Also I figure it would dry things up so I could boot/cap/seal the clay pipe discovered open under the home. I have since done this capping of the pipe. There was standing water under the house once I reached the pipe. This over flowing water ended once capped and septic was emptied but I still believe the ground looks damp.
So when the fellow came out and emptied the tank he told me he believe it was a 1500 gallon tank and it was modern setup and it either emptied in to the ditch or hooking into a drainage tile. The tank is plastic (black) and has ribs it appears. The piping coming into the septic tank is PVC. There is a cleanout before the entry side.
The exhaust side is also PVC. I do not see a cleanout on that exhaust side of the tank. After that I do not know where it goes.
So I figured that was the end of all this problem. I complete the bathroom changes (couple days later) to the point I am about to seal the subfloor down when I noticed the smell is outside and I begin to see bubbling water out the top of the tank. Standing water forms outside around the tank when I run the dishwasher or any major water in the house. It is clearly coming out the top of the tank. (Cleanout cap) This of course has stopped the remodel.
So I dug the plastic lid up. Confirmed its placement. Put a flat patio block on top. Reburried it in soil and tamped it down smooth. Later that day it bubbled up again.
So I begin to wonder I must have a blockage outside the tank but where exactly is anyones guess as I have no idea where the pipe goes that is coming out of the septic tank.
My yard is somewhat hard to describe but I believe the layout may give me an idea where the pipe goes so here goes.
There are two large Black Elms in the front center of the house that I believe have been there since the house was built. The closest tree to the tank I think is a good 30 feet away or more from the exhaust side of the tank. There is a road approximately 65 feet straight out from the tank (front of house/tank). Further out from road there is a deep ditch. Minimum 6ft deep could be more. To the right of the tank is a drive way going straight out to road. The closest tree branches about reach the drive. On the right side of driveway my yard drops/slopes 3 ft or more quickly. On the opposite side of tank (left side) is the house (kitchen(side of tank)/downstairs bath (intake of septic tank)) and rest of the house. Further over which is about 50 feet from the house is the pond.
So I cannot figure for the life of me where there could be a leach bed. My thinking is this tank has a pipe that goes straight out the tank and under the road to the ditch ( as mentioned by the cleaning guys). So there really is no leach field just a drain line to the ditch. So I went into the ditch and weed whacked an area from the bottom of ditch to the road about the width of a car directly across from the tank but I do not see any piping. The ditch tehn was not overly wet at all and the bottom is currently soft but not muddy (lots of grass). In the spring this ditch will fill and has reached the road and overflowed in the fields surrounding house.
I will mention as I write this that I remember noticing a oddly white area in the wall of the ditch. Maybe crushed stone? It was not more than a foot wide tops and I am now wondering if the pipe may be somehow buried and I am seeing the crushed stone that could be normally surrounding the pipe. It may be hard to get to it again as it was raining all day today but I will check it out tomorrow.
I have not or ever have had any wet spots in our lawn or exceptionally green areas. The only exception is the water coming out of the top of the tank since the recent emptying. My previous home had a septic system that was failing which you could clearly see the "Y" in the yard. Luckily the county was already dropping in sewers in the area in that situation.
There is a cistern near the pond/road that handles the exhaust of our sump pump (2 inch pipe). I opened the cistern and looked down. The cistern has the 2 inch pipe on one side and a large pipe going under road. The cistern is directly next to the road. I doubt the septic tank lines would cross the yard (between large trees) to reach this cistern either as its a considerable distance.
As I mentioned the right side of the tank is a drive way and then a drastic slope. I also doubt they would run under the drive and deal with the slope or the driveway. Not to mention there is no wet spot on that side of the yard either.
Another thing worth mentioning, I noticed when they emptied the tank that the exhaust pipe on the inside of the tank was not a "T" setup. It was a Elbow and the open elbow was facing up to the top of the tank. My previous home it was concrete outlet that I believe was straight out the side. A lot of the stuff I see online says its a "T" to help prevent SCRUM from getting into the exhaust pipe which I guess affects leach bed.
So I am thinking I may have to get a Drain Cleaner/Auger and start on the Exhaust side of the tank. My guess the clog is probably close to the tank as I would probably have a wet spot in the yard previous to the clog. The only exception is if the exhaust line is solid drain line and I am clogged at the end in the ditch.
Any ideas, suggestions, does this make sense, or things people have done to trace there septic system are greatly appreciated,
Chris