septics
Trinity, The house we live in was built in 1989. The previous owners who used to live here unfortunately weren't 'home owners' if that makes sense? They would just do much better living in a high rise in Manhattan and if anything needs to be done, to just call the maintenance guy... well... we wanted to buy this house because of its incredible potential and living in Atlanta, you see more cluster homes that would look like townhouses/condos to the north (from where we are originally from). After house-hunting 6 months and trying to stay within the perimeter, it wasn't terribly easy... but I wanted *land* without having to move so far away. So, when we saw this house (traditional) and how much land came with it... we decided a couple of problems we saw was worth it... however, never having experience with septic tanks, we asked our agent to inform the sellers to have it cleaned out and they refused. Unfortunately the seller can refuse... now, the tank has never been cleaned since the house was built. So, when you say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!... Trinity, if I can safely say without getting into trouble, that alone isn't wise. When my youngest daughter had to run to the bathroom, she tiptoed out barely even unzipping her pants, she had this unbelievable 'wrinkled look' on her face and I said what on earth is wrong? She said it's a swimming pool in the bathroom. My heart just then and there, totally sank. It was especially right in the midst of Chanukah and Christmas when all of this happened. Quite fortunately we took care of the problem *immediately* but it took a good LONG 3 to 4 hours just to vacum up all of the water from the half bathroom. We have berber carpeting in the bathroom as well and we thought that was basically doomed, but to our complete surprise, it turned out OK. Most people aren't as lucky, because once the tank backs up, you really don't know it until you walk right into it and the damage has already been done. I did a load of wash (darks)... I remember it like it happened yesterday... never will forget it... and there was no more room in the septic tank (1500 gallons is what we have)... so, it 'pumped' into the bathroom I guess.... I'm not entirely specific how it works but it just made one major mess. It's been 12.4 years since the septic tank has been cleaned out. I will personally spend the money on having the tank cleaned out so we don't have to spend so much and go through what we went through. Kindest regards, Heidi Never ask for someone's opinion if you're not going to like it if it disagrees with what you want to hear. in the 13 years we had the tank, didn't ever have to have it pumped out... rule of thumb is every 3-4 years, but my philosophy is "if it ain't broke,don't fix it!"
Hi Dave, septic inspection of a house I purchased, and the previous residents had flushed a number of latex items that were still floating on top. So if won't rot, don't flush it. We used to use Scott's toilet paper and at the time we weren't living in a house. We had plumbing problems and maintenance service came over and said we need to start using only biodegradable products. So, we started purchasing Seventh Generation unbleached toilet paper because it's a highly biodegradable product and that, (for us) is very important. Yes, it's slightly more expensive than what we used to buy. We get this at .89 per roll. (1000 2-ply sheets). But anyhow, when we had the misfortune of our septic tank backing up into our downstairs half-bath, we had to hire the pros to clean out the tank and he told us to come out... rainy, very cold... came outside... he showed us plastic bags (produce) and there were a LOT of them. I called our previous owner and informed them what we found and they said they were told if it's recycable (spelling?), and flushable, they could flush it. I nearly had a coronary. Now that we have a septic tank, we have learned before we moved by the pros that only biodegradable toilet paper should be used, and believe it or not, not even cotton balls that people use to remove nail polish can be thrown into the toilet... that surprised me... but also he was very adamant when he said *only* biodegradable toilet paper and nothing else at all. But, can you believe plastic bags and whatnot that the previous owner flushed because it was recycalble and flushable? Argh! That stuff clogs the drain pipes *badly* which is what happened in our case. Fortunately, we weren't charged for that. I'm glad you posted to use only biodegradable products. Just because something is recycable doesn't mean its biodegradable! Kindest regards, Heidi
Hi Rich, I seem to be replying quite a bit on this topic! I'm no expert at all but just simply passing on my experiences. I have something to mention... in our apartment we used to live in before moving here... (There was no way I was going to buy a house here in the south until we got a 'feel' for several areas)... but, in our apartment we had a garbadge disposal, the darn thing terrified the jeepers out of us... I could live very well without it. Well, to my absolute surprise, my husband wanted one when we moved here. We went to HD and we were asked if we had Septic or Sewer and we said Septic... he said anyone with a septic tank should never have a disposal because of the problems it creates. I couldn't understand him when he stated the problems. But, do you or anyone know what this might be about? I don't know why on earth my husband would want a disposal. There were times he didn't even know the disposal was on and I just don't like the darn things. They scare me way too much. I am *BIG* on composting. For everyone else in the house, it's just easier to throw things out, 1,2,3. I guess I like things done the hard way. oh well! I'm going to start trying a qt. of plain yoghurt and see how that goes. I *never* thought of that, nor had I thought about yeast. Makes a lot of sense. It's 'live enzyme'. I just wonder if the 'contact' with water, etc if it would kill the enzymes? Just wondering how it would still be 'live' after it's poured/flushed? Any thoughts? Kindest regards, Heidi (who will do everything to make sure there's *no* disposal here! "I think it is the garbage disposal we have too.. it adds a lot of vegetable matter which keeps the fermentation going??? Not sure..jsut that we enver had a prob in sooo long!