Saturday, February 9

"Septic Tanks for Dummies" (of which I are one :-/ )

UPDATE BELOW!




Or How to Avoid Paying Beaucoup Amounts of Money for Septic Tank Locator Services. My advice:

1. Get the darned thing cleaned out every five to seven years!!!

2. Get the darned thing cleaned out every five to seven years!!!
3. Ditto!!!

Don't do what we did: live here for over 25 years not knowing exactly where the tank was situated or how deep it was, and decide to trust to blind luck until there was a problem.

We called a Septic Tank Cleaning Service today and the man came out and probed around the ground in the general area we thought the tank was located. He decided that the tank was sitting under our deck, about 2-3 feet in. So he recommended that we call a man who had a way to locate the tank using a long probe with a camera on the end. I called it a colonoscopy for the septic line, which made him laugh. He found that the tank was not under the deck (thank Heaven for that!) but about 2 feet out from it. He and his helper commenced to dig, and dig, and dig and 1 hour+ later, they had found the tank and the trap door lid.

Did I mention that this all started after dinner? It got dark just before they started digging, so after hours rates apply, of course......and it's Saturday, so those rates apply and geeze Louise, it sure costs a gosh-awful fist full of moolah!

The next step was to call the Septic Tank Pumper man again - which I did - but since it is Saturday night he is (wisely) not answering his phone or his pager. Perhaps he had a big night on the town planned and pumping yet another septic tank doesn't figure into it. I can't imagine why - can you?

I will call him again tomorrow morning; I sure hope he works on Sunday. If not, we might have to go to a hotel. As it is now, we have to be very careful flushing toilets, I can't wash dishes or clothes or take a shower. I sure hope that doesn't last too long......LOL
UPDATE: as of 10:30, the septic pumper guy is almost finished pumping a minimum of 26 years accumulation (ICK) and now we can shower, run the dishwasher, etc. Oh and I spent almost 2 hours cleaning the guest bathroom (double ICK) and it looks as though nothing icky ever happened there. YAY!!






27 comments:

Susan Helene Gottfried said...

Hotels are sounding good about now... Yep...

The Tour Manager refused to buy a house with a septic system in it. And now, it's all but impossible to get a permit to put one in, unless one already on the property has failed.

There is something to be said for public sewage... beyond the smell of the nearby, oft-cited plant...

Michele sent me. Enjoy the hotel!

brendalove@gmail.com said...

Well Judy - look at the bright side...at least its not the middle of July and 103 degrees. Mmmmmm....

I'm feeling your pain though.

Anonymous said...

Ahhhh geeeeeze....sometimes life can be a hassle!

Hope you just embrace an evening at a hotel and make a great night of it!

Anna said...

We have septic Judy. I totally understand....is there a RITZ CARLTON in Raleigh?

:) You can go to my parents.

Shelly said...

Take a deep breath, up-wind of the tank. Under the deck, hmm. That sounds so familar. Oh, that's where ours was - under the 10 x 10 back porch deck. Now it's on the other side of the driveway, I won't tell you how much that cost. Hang in there!

Kristi said...

I have zero experience with septic tanks, but I think the hotel sounds like a great idea. I couldn't last long without a shower.

Beverly said...

OH, you poor thing.

Jamie Dawn said...

If this goes on much longer, you and Mr. Kenju will start looking grungy. You'll fit it will the grunge crowd if you just carry around an acoustic guitar and get a tattoo.

It's hard to believe you were able to go that long without having septic troubles. I remember us having ours pumped a couple of times when we lived in CA. What a job those fellas have!!
"What do you do for a living?"
"I pump sh!t, and you?"
:-)

Anonymous said...

UFF, UFF, UGGGGGGGGGG & BLEK! No way to spend a weekend (or any other time for that matter). Hope it gets resolved soon!

Fran aka Redondowriter said...

When I was growing up in Sunland, CA, our septic tank literally caved in and it was right outside my bedroom window. I was probably about 10. What a huge, huge mess and I've had trauma all my life about falling into a hole of shit!

Hope things start going better tomorrow when the pumping guy comes with Sunday rates.

gautami tripathy said...

It sounds so familiar. Here in India, a pretty common sight. Stinky but essential to clean.



Michele sent me here your way to thank you doing the meme on my blog. I liked what you wrote!

tommie said...

Eeekks, I do hope it gets resolved soon. My mom's home had a septic tank...I wonder when the last time she had hers cleaned!

Glad Michelle sent you, I'll have to ask her.

BreadBox said...

Oh my! Good luck with all this, Judy....

Thumper said...

Hey, it's an excuse to eat out. And if you have a YMCA nearby, they'll let you in to shower for about $5. Or for free, if you say you're thinking about joining and want a guest pass. I'd pay the $5, though, just for karma's sake...

Omykiss said...

Believe me ... I know .... I've lived with too many scepic tanks not to know where you are coming from on this .... there's a lot to be said for civilisation ... even if it is only the plumbing that is taken out of our hands!!!!!

Bobkat said...

Yep, go for the hotel option and eat out! That sounds awful nor being able to wash, flush or anything! I hope it gets resolved soon!

Eddie said...

Judy,
If you live in Georgia you could call my neighbor who drives a purple paneled truck that has the big letters: I AM NUMBER ONE IN THE NUMBER TWO BUSINESS.

Dianne said...

I think a hotel is a great idea! Did you decide to go?

Hope today brings better news!

LZ Blogger said...

I can't relate to this very much... but we used to have a cabin up in the mountains that had one in it, but when we had to hook in up to the NEW sewer system, they came out and filled it all in. ~ jb///

bobbie said...

Everyone who has a septic tank had a septic tank story. We used to have one in NY. It backed up on Thanksgiving Day just before dinner. My neighbor had one - under her driveway.

Hope your prolem is solved quickly. God bless.

Jean Campbell said...

It's easy to find the septic tank here. It's the square where the grass is always greener over, to paraphrase Irma Bombeck, except when there's a drought. In dry weather, it's the square where the grass is dead in the shallow dirt over the concrete. with a ribbon of emerald green grass leading away. Actually we have two, one on each side of the house, a sort of back up plan in case there's a back-up.

AND, on a more fragrant note, the photo you asked about on , I place at about 1925-1926, given the ages of the younger children.

Joy Des Jardins said...

This is one of my nightmares....to have something major go wrong with the sewer system. Our village put in huge piping under the streets a few years ago to make sure this kind of thing wouldn't happen...or at least have less chance of happening. We've been pretty lucky, but have had a little problem once or twice. Good luck with all the clean up Judy...pace yourself.

Carolyn said...

Yep, I remember septic tanks and all their problems very well. All I can say about it is: "Poop happens!" ;D

david mcmahon said...

Sounds like a tankless task to me!

Pat said...

Just what you need with a big day coming up.

Anonymous said...

Judy, I'm going to sit my hub down at this computer and have him read this post out loud! I've been saying we need to have the septic tank at our house in N.Fl cleaned, for YEARS.

Hang in there!!!

sage said...

I'm glad the internet don't transmit smells :)