My husband & I are planning to buy our 1st home (3 bedrooms) in Mebane, NC. We're lining up the inspections and plan to get the septic tested. The home was built in 1961, and the septic was installed in 1964. All we know about it is that it is a 1,000 gallon tank. The last owners moved in in 2003 and moved out nearly one year ago. They said they never had it pumped and did not have any problems. Supposedly, that's all they know.
2007-04-27 19:03:56 · 4 answers · asked by mtnmama 1 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
here in CT, they sellers have to have it pumped out before the sale. even between family members. i would check the local regulations in NC and if they don't require it, see if the sellers will either pay for it to be done or split the cost. it shouldn't be a deal breaker if there isn't anything wrong with it, and it could be inspected at that time. also, depending on how many live in the house, both before you and your family, it should be pumped every 3-5 years to avoid expensive problems. if you clog up the leach field, you would have to dig up the whole yard and install a new one that meets today's building codes. and that won't be cheap. learn how to maintain it from your septic guy, and follow his recommendations about up keep. my house has a smaller tank than yours and is a 3 bedroom also, i need it done every 3 years for just the two of us, because my 1949 leech field is really out of code. good luck on the house, hope this helps.
2007-04-27 20:12:39 · answer #1 · answered by car dude 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A rule of thumb "if it isn't broken, don't fix it" But, if you insist. Contact your local County code office and find out what they have on the local laws or rules for septic tanks now. Other than this, you can contact a local company and have the tank pumped and cleaned. It's not an expensive operation for sure, some places less then $100.00.
This is about all you can do since everything is under ground. Unless there's a problem, you can't fix it.
2007-04-27 23:13:07 · answer #2 · answered by cowboydoc 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would not worry about that too much at all.
Seems to be a good working system
Just don"t put harse chemicals down the drain line into it
this kills the "action" in the tank,or slows it down.
For peace of mind --you could pay to have the solids pumped out by a "honey wagon" for around a couple hundred dollars I would guess.
I would just keep using it til the drain slows down--
2007-04-27 19:50:27 · answer #3 · answered by Spock 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If there is no problems with the current tank let it be for now. Cleaning out a tank is no a major expense.
2007-04-27 19:09:12 · answer #4 · answered by RICHARD W 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋