I am a single woman and am planning to buy a home in the Atlanta area. The house I have been looking at is about 20 years old and has a septic system. According to your website you say I should still get an inspection done. But a local contractor says it will cost me at least $300. The sellers are very nice and have assured me it works just fine and actually looked offended that I would even consider an inspection.  They have assured me it works just fine.  With the down payment and moving costs, money is tight and I can’t afford to waste it. Do you really think it is necessary? Barbara R.  

People sell homes for a variety of reasons...job transfer, job promotion, loosing a job, growing family, shrinking family, tired of the location, tired of the house...but another reason is when the septic system fails and they find out it is going to cost them big bucks to fix it, or because they found out that the codes have changed and their current system does not meet those code changes and will need extensive/expensive up-grading. Rather than invest the money into a new system they simply pump the tank and sell the house to someone else. A few days, weeks or even months after the new people move in they start having problems (or the health dept comes to them and says the system needs to be brought up to current code).

When they call the sellers all they get is, "It worked fine when we were there...you must have done something to break it." And unless you can prove they knew there was something wrong with the system when they sold you the house, you are stuck with it. This is why you want a proper inspection anytime you buy a home with a septic system...it’s easy to get money knocked off the selling price because they are usually making a good profit on the house anyway and they are looking to get the deal done...it’s tough to get money out of the sellers after they spent the cash on their new home.

Another common occurrence is, the people really don’t know that the system is defective or out of code. They built/bought the house 20-30 years ago, but the regulations were quite different than they are now. Back then, they may have approved 250 sq. feet of drainfield buried 6 feet deep, but that won't do today. Shallower drainfields and 450 sq. ft is more up to code. However it has worked fine for the last 30 years as the couple raised their family because it started as new so it took a pretty good beating and the amount of water families used back then was a lot less. Over the years the ability of the system to handle water has been diminishing, but the kids have been moving out one by one reducing the load on the system so no one noticed any problems.

Now the kids are all gone and the couple has retired and the septic system? It works fine for them because they are only using 75 gals per day. Eventually they decide to sell the house and head south. But when they sell the house to an active family that starts using 200-300 gals per day...the system fails and now the accusations start to fly.

The sticky part is, with the typical, courtesy inspection that the health depts., mortgage companies and home inspectors do, the system appears to work and they approve the system/sale today, but in a few months when the system fails, they say, "Opps...missed that one, but you will have to get the system fixed." And you are the one picking up the tab. Drag.

When you know it is the house you want, inform the sellers you would like to have the system inspected. Tell them you just want to make sure. If they refuse to let you inspect the system, walk away or go into it knowing you are going to be shelling out some cash for a new system (and it always seems the health department will wait until the house is sold...to you).

To get a proper inspection done call a septic contractor, not a home inspector. Home inspectors inspect homes, not septic systems (I know of only one home inspector that even comes close to doing a real septic inspection, most do nothing).

A proper property sale inspection is actually a fairly involved process:

1. The contractor will first do a visual inspection looking for signs of surfacing effluent around the drainfield.

2. They will then dig up the manhole cover to check the liquid level in the tank. If it is low then the tank either has a leak or was recently pumped...watch out. Note: Some tanks do not have a manhole cover. Instead they are 3 or 4 flat slabs and they lift one off. A real cover can be installed for easier future servicing.

3. They will look at the contents of the tank, if there are condoms, kotex, paper towels, etc. in the tank this will indicate the system has been abused. If the toilet paper products are not breaking down this will indicate an over-use of chemicals hindering the bacterial process in the tank.

4. Assuming the tank is full, they will then run 100-200 gallons of water into the system, then start pumping the tank. If this 100-200 gallons of water begins coming back into the tank from the drainfield it will mean the drainfield is slow or failing.

5.When the tank is empty, they will estimate the size of the tank in gallons and visually check to see if the in-let and out-let baffles are in place and of the proper size.

6. They will then dig-up the distribution box to check for a high content of sludge and the number of drainfield lines.

7. From there they will check the length of the drainfield runs by running a line into each pipe and using a probe to get the depth of the trenches. With this information they can estimate the square footage of the drainfield. In some cases they may have to dig into a trench to get this information.

8. They should then take a soil boring to ascertain the depth of the seasonal water tables.

At this point the contractor will have enough information to give you an opinion on the system. The obvious question is if the system is functioning, but a more important question is, does the system meets current code requirements. Many people have purchased a home with a toilet that flushes, but at some point they find out the septic system is too small, too deep, or nothing more than a straight pipe out to a field or ditch...now they, as the new owners will be forced to put in a proper system.

The contractor should then give you his report in writing with estimates for any suggested up-grades. If the system does need any work, you take this estimate to the sellers and factor it into the selling price of the home.

If the system gets the OK...them you know you are starting out with a good system. This inspection process will cost you $150-$500 but is well worth it...I can’t say it enough, many people have found out after buying the house that they will be forced to fix the septic system and it gets tough when you just spent every penny you have on a down payment and moving expenses.

A few tips:

Get a full service contractor, one that does designs, installations and pumping. A pumper can pump and inspect the system, but they generally don’t fix problems which means you will be calling a second contractor and a second billing. A full service contractor can not only do the pumping and inspection, but they can also do any repairs you need...often a missing baffle or broken pipe can be fixed right then.
As long as you have them out there, and the system checks out, have them jet the lines in the drainfield to remove any built up sludge and have them install an effluent filter in the tank. These filters stop the larger solids from reaching the drainfield and most system failures occur when the drainfield gets plugged with solids. You are going to want these things done sooner or later so you may as well have it done now.
To find a good contractor, call the health/zoning department and ask for a list of certified contractors...then ask them who they would use if they wanted a system inspected, they will usually steer you in the right direction.
Some contractors will not need to check the size of the drainfield because they installed the system or know who did.

Do you have to worry about contractors selling you work you don’t need? Not very often...these people are busy enough and don’t need to "manufacture" work to make a living.

Once you know you have a good system, then start using it right, don’t over-use water or chemicals, have the system pumped and inspected* every 1-3 years, put a filter on your washing machine (to stop the smaller solids from plugging the drainfield) and you may never have a problem with your system.

*A pumping inspection is a lot less involved than a purchase inspection...a pumping inspection is just opening the manhole to pump the tank, visually looking inside the tank for things that shouldn’t be there, and hosing off the effluent filter.

And in defense of those selling a house with a bad system...some don’t even know they have a bad system, "The toilet flushes so it must be working." I recently saw a situation where the sellers, when they learned 2 years after selling the house that the system was not up to code, voluntarily paid for the replacement, even though the buyers never even contacted them. They were shocked to learn the system they had lived with for years was not a good system.

Feel free to print this out and show it to your contractor...Jim