when i use a high water consumption appliance ie dishwasher, clothes washer, etc. i have a " sewer " smell outside my house. its not enough to knock you out but it is strong enough to make you go " wtf stinks around here ". i went to downtown smithfield and the only thing they have on file is an " improvement permit " i got a copy of this. i all but sure my tank has never been pumped, house was built in 98 and i am not the original owner. we have been in the house for ~ 2.5 years. the drawing from downtown ( literally thats what it is is a drawing ) shows where the tank is. i started digging and found the tank and also found something with a plastic handle. from my brief internet search this looks like either an inspection port or the access port, i dont know which one. the pics i have seen online show i should have 2 inspection ports and an access port. i am thinking the tank should be pumped but am not sure and dont wanna spend a few bills if i dont have to. if someone here knows anything about these post here. i would like to talk to you about this, and if you have a business dealing with septic tanks i might need a pump, but not sure right now. thanks in advance!!
septic tank pump your tank as soon as you can! im from the city and nobody told us when we bought this house about a septic tank. needless to say i kept hearing water spilling in the air vent in our master bath like a drip sound. i being the woman opened the crawl space to find sh[[[t and poo all over the crawl space under the house . come to find out the septic tank built seven years ago has never been pumped. pushed the sh t up to elbow pvc pipe and broke it under house. people wanted 5000 dollars to clean polluted soil under house . man you pumped tank next day charges 250 dollars cant remember his name . he says family of 4 pump every 3 years. now i know. bee careful.
smell something poopie after they cleaned out our septic it stunk for three months outside. please have yours checked out. ours they said was fulled to 150 percent capacity . how gross. things your realtor forgets to tell you huh
thanks all for the replies. can anyone recommend a septic company? i dont want to spend the money on a jack leg with a shop vac bolted on the back of a pickup truck with a big tank. i want someone who knows wtf they are doing and can educate me on septic tank repair/maintenance/etc.
I feel your pain, we just went through this last weekend. Being from the city, we knew nothing about septic tanks, who knew they had to be pumped??? :roll: Ours backed up into the shower and the toilets were inoperable, all this on a Sunday afternoon. We called around, and one company called us back on Sunday, told my husband what to do under the house so we could at least flush, and they were there bright and early Monday morning. The gentleman that came out was so professional and very nice, gave me a bunch of literature as well as a website to get information from. I would reccomend Hardee's Septic, 772-6482. HTH
Hardee's Septic Tank Service - Bill Hardee very nice man. In fact, I just looked up the number this morning for my mom! Here's the # 639-2060. He's on White Memorial Church Rd.
Hardee's is great! We had them out here a year and a half ago. Very informative. I was very pregnant at the time and told him "Don't tell me or show me anything" he told me there are somethings you just need to know So I pinched my nose and held my breathe. Very nice guy knew a lot of stuff and was here for maybe and hour.
Told ya he was a nice guy! He pumped my parent's septic tank this week too. Only bad thing was they had to buy a new pump and it cost them $700. Ouch!
Since the OP's problem was solved, I hope nobody minds if I hijack a little bit on a related subject. I got my tank pumped a while back. I don't think there was a problem, I think we just realized it was time. Immediately after getting it pumped, there was a sewer smell coming from the kitchen sink. Nowhere else, just the kitchen sink. I figured, when you stir up feces, you would expect a little smell to come back. No problem. It took several days for the smell to go away, but it comes back every now and again. It doesn't seem to come back for any particular reason. It doesn't necessarily match dishwasher or washing machine usage. I know I should have probably called the people that pumped the tank for advice, but I'm a bad procrastinator, one thing leads to another, and the next thing you know, it's a year later. Are there any simple reasons for smell to come back through the kitchen sink? Hopefully there's something I can just pour down the sink to cure it.
From what I understand the U shaped pipe under the sink (the trap) acts as a water door (or a seal) to prevent SMELLS from coming BACK into the house. On drains that are not used much, like a Bar sink in the basement, the trap can dry out and the smells will come back up. But you are correct this is NOT normal - there could be many other issues, like a leak in the wall or under the house...
