Got any tips, trcks, secrets for finding the septic?

[300UGUY]

Before walking around like a Zombie looking for it you should narrow it down to a couple of factors,
1- Does your house have a Well? if so! the septic tank and field are usually located on the other side of the house, trying to keep as much distance between the two,

2- How old is the house? a modern septic system being built in the last 20 years or so will have put the clean-out outside the foundation of the house by 1 to 3 ft, it could have easily been cover by a few inches of landscape materials, As had been mentioned look for the 4" line going through the foundation, either look under the crawl space or basement, it will be obvious as to where the pipe goes through, perhaps take some approx measurements from near the closest corner,

3- if the house is built on a cement slab you might notice the bath, kitchen, laundry arrangements, usually planed to keep them in line with each other and to an exterior wall, If your house has one bathroom its usually located just outside that exterior wall,

4- an older house may not have an outdoor clean-out, It will be somewhere under the house crawl space,
in any case the septic tank could be between 15 - 25 ft of the house, depending of the size and slope of the lot,

5- the septic fields will have dark green and thicker grass and may have sunken a little more than the rest of the grade, If you can see them you can fallow one back toward the house and locate the take approximate location,

Good advice.

 

[mangus580]

My method was really simple!

When we bought our house, they inspected the system, declared it unfit, and the previous owners had to provide funds for its replacement.

I got to essentially work hand in hand with the installer when he put in the entire system. I know exactly where it all is!

Whats really nice, is he took one look at me & my toys, and used the inverted V type leach bed system, that can support somewhere around 20k PSI as long as its buried to a certain depth. I dont have to worry about damaging a line!

My tank is up close to the house, and without paying attention, when I built a storage shed off the back wall, the corner of the shed, is lined right up with the ingoing cleanout to the tank. Makes it really easy to locate.


Another trick I started..... Is I take a black marker, and write the pump out date right on the outgoing pipe in the basement. Makes it nice and easy to keep a running record of when it was last pumped.

 

[MossRoad]

Remember to store the Big Book in a place where it can be found!

A temperature sensor may work???

You know one of those infrared thermometers probably would. Good suggestion.

 

[dex3361]

You know one of those infrared thermometers probably would. Good suggestion.

If you try with an IR gun cut the grass as low as possible so ou are measuring the temp difference in temp of the ground and not the grass. I used a IR camera at one time and had good results after cutting the grass low.

 

[DFB]

When your tractor falls into a smelly hole...you found your septic tank.

I see that happen the first place I lived years ago the owners of the building constantly parked on top of the buried tank until one day the lid collapsed! :thumbsup:

 

[sdkubota]

As an engineer who often deals with municipalities who have a guy that can locate whatever underground with wires...it doesn't work. It is entertaining but that is about the extent of it. Usually they have some idea and the wires will show that belief. But when the crap hits the fan and a backhoe is digging its well I thought...

 

[Dr Dave]

Back when I bought my home, I went to the rental store to get a metal detector, he laughed and said, I have what you need. He came from the back room with a small square box in a leather case with a leather strap. Flipped open a cover and it looked like a compass with no markings, the instruction sheet said to hold over the ground and walk, when the needle moves, you found something. I found my water line, electric and gas went out front and found the septic line, traced it to the tank. It took about 15 min. The minerals in the water triggered it even when I went to the plastic drain feild. I dont remember what it was called, Magic box? Maybe someone on here knows about these?

Dave

 

[Dr Dave]

Northern Tools has something that funtions like the magic box, only $21.95

Dave

 

[MossflowerWoods]

WOW, thatsalotta advice!

#1 - I have a Basement. (I have a functioning toilet and stubs to make a bathroom in the basement).

Therefore, the cleanout is inside the basement (next to the TV...) Pic 1

So that means the pipe goes out UNDER the basement floor. I went outside, and it goes under a concrete pad with the Heat Pump compresor, etc and out into the yard.

#2 - I have A LOT OF SLOPE...
Pic 2 shows from the edge of the pad out to the back yard (Well is uphill and in the front yard). This is the North side, and nothing melts fast here, plus thare is no snow at the moment... also I have patchy color in my grass regardless. I do see a possible depression where a plant is growing (pic 3), plus in the center fo pic 3 you can see the 3 bricks supposedly marking the septic.

Sooooo... Whatcha Think? Can YOU see it?

Thanks to all thus far for all the great advice.
Be well,
David

 

[bcp]

Drive around a bit.



http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/241442-septic-tank-cover-repair.html