I know there are companies listed in the directory, but I want to know first hand which company is the most affordable for emptying the septic tank? Also, do they charge extra if you don't know where the tank is? We're looking for the plans that show its location, but haven't found them yet. Our last house they charged us $75 for "finding" it. (They dropped a little thing into the toilet, flushed, and then were able to find the opening in less then 2 minutes.)
Call Bill Hardee at Hardee's Septic Tank Service 639-2060. Nicest guy you'll ever meet and his prices are very reasonable.
To save time when they came to our house, I made a trip to the land use department in Smithfield to obtain a copy of the "map" of system. Though it was a little off, we were still able to find it and have the dirt cleared off by the time they came out.
Look for the greener grass rectangle near your house, also if it's an older house, you can look for a slight depression in the yard, it may be where they have dug for the cover before.
For kimmie and kaci: (Assuming that you have the two-tank system) If someone pumped your system for $100.00, then it is likely that they ONLY pumped the front tank. I would strongly suggest that you find out if the back tank was pumped. If the back tank was not pumped, you could be setting yourself up for costly repairs in the future. If it was pumped, then you got yourself the best deal that I have ever heard of around here. Just trying to help.
Two Tank system? you mean one pump chamber and one tank for solids? you don't pump the out the pump chamber, it's only grey water, If you had a bad baffle and got solids in the pump chamber then you would have to pump out the pump chamber. I was in the family septic business for many years, it was a crappy job.:cheers:
When we were in the process of buying our house back in Dec of 2008 we had a Septic Tank Inspection which cost $225 from Stallings...when they did the inspection they saw it needed to be pumped and they charged an additional $225 fee. Luckily the sellers had paid for that but still I thought it seemed quite pricey. As for where the Septic Tank is, don't you have a riser lid for it? That's the only reason why I know where mine is. Plus then my fiance can't run over it with the lawn mower.
We don't have the above ground lid. Ours is buried. Unfortunately, it's in the backyard and the entire backyard is really green.
Try looking for a depression in the back of the house near a bathroom maybe 10-15ft from the house, did you look in the mortgage papers for a plot plan? it should show the tank and fields for your system.:grouphug: