Finding old septic tank

[centex]

I just found an old well on my property thanks to information I got from a local who knew a previous owner. It seems there was an old homestead on the property but the house burned in 1939. This explained the many large stones that I found under a huge pecan tree. I used a metal detector to find the well today. I checked and it has water so I will hook up a pump an see what the yield is. The problem I have now is that I know there has to be a septic tank too and I believe they used metal tanks back in the early part of the century. My fear is that it will collapse from the weight of my tractor or worse when my grandkids are playing on it. I tried to use the metal detector to find it but I got too many false signals. At least for the well I had some good clues that were left when it was capped. If anyone has any suggestions of how to find this thing I would surely be grateful. I have a general idea where the house was from the stones that are scattered around but 80% of them are burried under vegitation that has grown up in the 63 years since it burned. Since the land slopes I know the septic tank has to be below the well but there is still a log of places to look.

 

[Inspector507]

Don,
The 'honey dipper' people use a "T" handle probe to find ones that are buried

 

[TonyC]

I wouldn't assume there is a septice tank. There's a good possibility they used an out house back then.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

That is the easiest way. Just keep probing the ground till you find something, if you hit something solid move around a few inches at a time to make sure it isn't a stone. You can also trench around the house foundation to see if there are any lines coming from it. It might not have a septic if it is in the country as a lot of places still had outhouses back then and hand pumps on their wells. Our old septic was a 150 gallon steel tank with clay tiles leading to and from it. It was located quite close to the house within 18 feet from the corner. Hope you find it if it is there. Just pretend it is your own easter egg hunt, just the egg is buried.

 

[MossRoad]

You could try looking for a cast iron vent stack in the wreckage of the house and follow the pipes. You might be able to locate some original floor plans or descriptions at the county records department.

Our house originally had a sistern when it was built in the late 20's. It was a behive shape built of bricks about 8 feet around and 12 feet deep. There are two other septic/drywell systems on this house. None of them are metal. All are brick, tile or concrete block. All of them are either slight depressions or slightly raised hills. Maybe mow the area very short and get down close to the ground and eyeball it from that vantage point. It might stick out like a sore thumb.

Be careful, as old ones can collapse as you get to the lid.

Good luck.

 

[centex]

The only traces of the house is a lot of stones around a very large pecan tree and they are largely grown over by brush. I spent the last few days chopping the brush with a machette so I could start digging out the stones and run my mower over the remaining brush. I would like to use the backhoe to turn over the stones so I don't have to get my hands close to them (this is rattlesnake country and they like to nest under rocks) but I afraid to get it near the site until I am sure there is no septic tank to fall in. I have a suspicious site to check with a t-probe. One of my friends sugested stomping on the ground and making note of any changes in sound. He also suggested trying to use a depth finder. I don't think they had an outhouse as there is no signs of a pit but maybe they filled it in. Maybe when I get some of the stones picked up I will be able to locate the actual site of the house. I doubt that they had a slab foundation as it would have been very hard to get a concrete truck into this site but of course it may have been more accessible back then. I am not sure how I am going to get a foundation poured. I may just build on concrete piers that I pour myself using the concrete mixer that I bought for the tractor but then I planned to reuse the stones from the old house and a old stone wall so that may not work.

 

[JoeR]

Are you sure they didn't have an outhouse?

 

[centex]

I am not sure whether or not they had an outhouse but I want to make sure that if they did have a metal septic tank that I don't find out the hard way! I assume that they used a hand pump for the well but the depth to the water is 50'. I did not think hand pumps would lift over 25' so I wonder how this could work. My grandparents lived in East Texas and they used buckets in hand dug shallow wells. The well here is a 6" diameter hole cased with what looks like galvanized stove pipe. It looks to me like the well digger used an 8" auger, put in the casing and packed around the pipe with clay.

 

[Jag]

Don, the likelyhood of a septic tank is very small. From the stones the house was a typical small frame house set on field stone foundation. Finding where the outhouse was at this time can be very hard. The house where I was born in '51 is on our property about a half mile from present house. The house was a small frame house and as most places here still used an outhouse at this time. As best I recall you would have to go about 3 miles toward the small comminity and past a half dozen house to find indoor pluming, the other way your are peeing in the pasture for miles and miles... This house burned in '55 the stones are still there and lets you know the layout, but the outhouse pit is now very shollow and most would not know what it was or find it looking for it. I can find it only because I know where it is.. I can remember my kid brother falling in it when he was about 8 while we where down snooping around the site. It is one of the funniest memories of my brother.

 

[Egon]

Way back when those little buildings used to get tipped over ever Halloween night. Some with a base sense of humor moved them a little just before evening so the tricksters would be able to sample the contents of the hole.

Egon