Is this acceptable?? Septic tank...deck post directly above tank.

16 years ago

We are nearing the end stages of our renovation/addition. There have been numerous problems along the way. My husband has been telling our contractor he believes the septic tank was under the deck. (deck was put in much later in the renovation) They kept saying it was not. They gave us the system layout with a permit number and assured us it was nowhere near the deck. my husband asked them to locate the lids because he felt it was under the deck. Plus, we wanted to know where the lids were. The tank is NOT where the drawing places it. Sure enough, it's under the deck with several load bearing posts in cement right above the tank. It would make replacing the tank imopssible without tearing out the deck. The deck is on the second story.

We are discussing it with them now and they seem to think it's fine. They say it won't need to be replaced for 40 or more years. We disagree with it being "fine". This is a cement tank. What are our options at this point? Move tank? Extend the deck so posts are not sitting directly above?? Or is this acceptable. I did call the health department and he stated this was not to be done.

Thanks,

Sandy

Featured Answer

jamesbodell

16 years ago

Did the contractor pull a permit? Sounds like he did not. Your building inspector would have a field day with this one. Let him know, he'll put a stop to it real quick.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (13)

davidandkasie
16 years ago
you cannot have ANYTHING on a septic tank but dirt and grass. those loadbearing posts will creat pressure points and may go right thru the tank. how would you like to be on the deck with a couple friends when that happens? cement tanks are usually only 4 inches thick or so. but you have a LARGE open area below that. teh weight of the dirt is spread evenly across the top and presents no problems, but anything heavy on it in a small area will eventually go thru. ever seen what happens when a tank collapses, it ain't pretty. i personally have put a truck thru a cement tank before, if the bumper had not caught teh truck would have stood on end.

either move the deck or move the tank and fill the hole back in. i find it hard to believe the contractor did not hit the tank when digging the holes for the posts.
0
thundersweet
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks! That's what we thought. Do you happen to have any places (internet sites) where I can go for information that state this is not to be done?

Sandy
0
Related Discussions
What can I put in my septic tank?
Q
Comments (37)
I wrote to Damn asking them if their product dissolves grease when I add it to hot water and flush it down my drain to the septic tank (basically) and here was their response: I wish we could help, but Dawn has not been tested for the purpose of rinsing grease down the drain. Because it hasn't been tested for this use, we have no data to claim whether using Dawn and hot water to flush grease down the drain will be safe for a septic system or not. Thanks for writing. Karen Dawn Team I thought that was interesting given the fact that they say: Dawn gets grease out of the way, breaks up and dissolves grease fast. from their website: Since Dawn was invented in 1973, Dawn dish liquid has been known for superior grease-fighting power. It's so effective on dishes, pots and pans, that over the years, consumers have found many uses for Dawn around their homes. Animal rescuers have even discovered that it's a great way to remove grease from animals in oil spill cleanups. As a result, Dawn has helped conservation organizations save thousands of animals for over 35 years. Today, Dawn has grown into an international family of dishwashing liquids dedicated to innovation and answering consumers' ever-changing needs. SO I guess they back it up in all ways except the septic tank. LOL
...See More
Septic Tank in your new build?
Q
Comments (32)
We have a pressurized system, uphill drain field. Had it for almost 20 years. When we built our new house the system had to be inspected. We had the septic guys run some enzymes down the lines which is supposed to help keep them clean and further break-up any small solids that could clog the drain holes, it also help keep the drain field from clogging up. It was in perfect condition after 18 years of use, had it pumped once about 10 years ago. Drain fields have a life span, in almost every case (at least in Oregon) you have to have a plan with a secondary drain field in case the original field fails to leach over time. In talking w/the septic guys these are almost never needed with a properly set-up drain field. There is a required amount of feet needed for the drain field and leach lines depending on the size of your tank and amount of bathrooms in the house. Ours is 300 ft, however it can be done in multiple runs, ours T's 3 times on it's way up the hill. And yes, the grass does stay nice and green over the drain field, mostly following the lines. In nearly 20 years we had the alarm go off once, when the input exceeds the outflow and overwhelms the pump. Had some water back up into the laundry room, it was a very minor event. Glad for the alarm! Ours is 1500/500 gallons. The 500 gallon side has the pump. One thing I will mention don't pay attention to ads by Ridex and the like. Our county has asked all residents on septic systems to NOT add any additives to the septic system. A properly used system will have plenty of bacteria and enzymes to break down the solids. Haven't used the stuff in over 10 years (only used it sporadically prior to that). I'm not exactly sure of their reasoning other than it shouldn't need it, maybe it's not good for the soil.
...See More
Septic company says tank is 'frozen shut.'
Q
Comments (6)
If that septic field was installed 36 years ago, I would be surprised if the tanks were made of steel. Rarely do steel tanks survive that long unless the soil conditions are extremely friendly. My guess is that the tank is pre-cast concrete. If a septic tank is working properly, they generate enough heat to not only prevent the lids from freezing in place but also the dirt directly above the tank itself. This has been a mild winter for many parts of the country so I have to wonder why your lids are "frozen" in place. Concrete lids can be unfrozen by using a propane fired Tiger Torch, usually in a few minutes. Now, if this IS a steel tank, then a Tiger Torch can often get the lids to release unless they are rusted so solid that you need an oxy-acetylene set that will heat the steel to higher temps and break the rust. I suppose that all you can do is to call around to companies that install septic tanks and fields, tell them what happened and ask them if they have a service department that can get these tank covers to open freely. Don't get too upset with the first guy you hired. Experience has likely taught him to only go so far before calling it quits. Without proper tools to apply the needed heat, he risked doing damage to your tank and if he did so, then he might have had a liability issue. If your lids opened as they should have, he would have pumped your tank and you wouldn't be posting.
...See More
Septic drainage field (slow draining)
Q
Comments (15)
Castoff, Sounds like you have systems that are similar to Vermont's. We also have open and closed systems, distribution boxes, etc. The 2 systems with pumps that I described both had leaching areas remote from and higher than the tank and so had to be pumped. In this area if it is all clay soil, I can almost gurantee that a raised leaching area would be required..here they are called "mound systems." In my dealings (until new State laws were passed 3 or 4 yrs ago) each town or city had its own regulations. The smaller towns did nothing. They left it up to home owners and local contractors to design and build their own systems. In most of these cases they were rural communities and the landowners had many acres...the practice was to just build something big enough and to heck with any fancy design. The State of VT now has to issue permits for all designs. The trade off for this regulation is that they will now accept "modern" systems that allow systems in soils that would never work before. When a system is being designed a "perk test:" has to be done on the soil. A hole is dug with a back hoe and the engineer/designer establishes soil conditions at different levels. Then water is poured into the hole and a timing is done to determine how long it takes for the water to leach out. I can tell you that in the civilized areas here, the clay soild conditions that you describe, especially with seasonal high water, would never pass and would require a built up mound system I must confess that I haven't fooled with systems for about 8 years and don't know the specs on the new systems that are allowed or if the new tanks are 2 chambered. I know that many of the designers are requiring filters on the outgoing side of the tank. Possibly this serves the same purpose as the 2 chamber tank. Once a year, you pull the filter out of the inspection hole on the outgoing side and hose it off. I hope that the PO finds some solution. It would be too bad to find out that money had been spent on a design that doesn't work. If it only floods on a seasonal basis, then it does sound like a design problem. If that was the case and it wasn't too terrible, I would investigate anything that might lessen the water flow to the system.....low flow fixtures....toilets, shower heads, etc. I guess I'm trying to think of ways to save someone money, but this system could be beyond that. I don't know what part of Canada the PO is in. I owned property in rural Quebec in a small towwn. I can tell you that there was no regulation (20 yrs ago) over septic systems...at least no regulation that was enforced unless it was a newly constructed building. This town was small enough that the town clerk's office was in the living room of his house and was only open 2 nights per week:-)
...See More
Related Professionals
Springdale Handyman · Hillcrest Heights Handyman · Livingston Handyman · North New Hyde Park Handyman · University City Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Plainview Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Alpine Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Hunters Creek Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · League City Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Oklahoma City Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Pearl City Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Richland Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Saint Helens Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · South Barrington Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Hawthorne Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers
thundersweet
Original Author
16 years ago
yes he did. the paper i have has the permit number on it. but, the drawing is not where it actually is. it shows it in back of the house to the side. it's actually right under the deck. i think the building inspector came before the deck was put on though. we had some trouble with the guys building the deck and it took a really long time to complete. the inspector would not know where the tank was though if he was going by this paperwork of the septic layout correct?

sandy
0
davidandkasie
16 years ago
no, the inspector would not know. i would suggest you call and arrange a a meeting between you, the inspector, and your contractor. tell the inspector the contractor and you disagree on whether this matters or not.

regardless of how this goes, it is going to cost YOU money. either you have to tear down the deck and be out what you owed the contractor for it, or you have ot pull up and move the tank and be out this cost. like i said earlier, if the contractor hit the tank when digging the posts he knew it was there, and that is your ONLY hope of laying blame off on him. if you tank is deeper than the posts go and he did not hit it, then he had a reasonable expectation of the tank not being there just like you and the inspector.

in my area the tank HAS to go where the drawing shows. the health dept tells you where on your land you can put it and then you build your house around that. i have seen people who had a choice of build the house sideways or build a different house because the health dept told them there was only 1 place they could put the tank.
thundersweet
Original Author
16 years ago
The same contractor put the tank in as well as the deck. We added an inlaw suit with it's own septic tank. He had a very good idea of where it was because he installed the system and got the permit as well as hired the crew to put on the deck. This whole time my husband has been saying he thought the tank was below the deck. They say, oh no it's not, it's over here...see the layout etc. Well the layout was wrong just as my husband told them. Now they think that just because we can get to the access lids, it's fine where it is.

How do I find out who the inspector was? We are in Ga by the way.

Thanks so much,
Sandy
0
davidandkasie
16 years ago
call the number onyour building permit.
0
thundersweet
Original Author
16 years ago
They have taken the building permit down. They have been mostly done for a LONG time. I can find out from them the information though I'm sure.

Sandy
0
jca1
16 years ago
you may possibly have more than one problem here.

1) deck post on tank = bad
2) septic tank not located according to plan. This in itself may be a problem. A separate jurisdiction usually has the say in where and how the system is installed and any changes to their design may pose a problem with them. This is not always so, so it may not be a problem. Just know you may be opening a bigger can of worms than you think, but a can of worms that needs to be opened none the less.
0
jamesbodell
16 years ago
More potential bad news. If the tank is not where you thought it was and you added an addition as well as the deck, then you may be encroaching on your tank setback. Around here, I think its like 10 or 15 feet from the tank and leach field to the structure.
0
davidandkasie
16 years ago
call your local permit office and ask them.

you say the permit was remvoed, but the work is not finished? around here you cannot get the final inspection and sign off unless the permit is on display. when my grandmother enclosed her carport they took teh permit down to paint the exterior. the inspector showed up, saw no permit, wrote out a stop work, and left. he refused to schedule another inspection until the permit was legally displayed!
0
thundersweet
Original Author
16 years ago
Yes, the work is finished and did pass final inspection. We have been working on punch list items forever. While they were doing those things we uncovered some other issues.

wianno, the same contractor put in the tank as well as built the addition on our home. It was all done in one job. My county said as long as it wasn't a basement, it could be 5ft from the the structure. If we had a basement, 10 feet. We built a garage with an inlaw suite on top.

They came out today and basically want to extend the platform, where it goes down the stairs, out a few feet. Not the stairs mind you, just the platform. This would look funny and we told them no. They want to look at other options. I told them to rip the whole thing down and start over. He didn't say anything to that. We also told them we wanted the county to come back out and look at it and tell us what would be acceptable to do. He didn't have much to say about that either.

Thanks for all your help everyone!

Sandy
0
jamesbodell
16 years ago
Maybe you do not need to start over. Build a heavier beam that will cover the span across the tank and put footings on either side if it.
0

Is this acceptable?? Septic tank...deck post directly above tank.

jamesbodell

Comments (13)

davidandkasie

thundersweet
Original Author

Related Discussions

Related Professionals

thundersweet
Original Author

davidandkasie

thundersweet
Original Author

davidandkasie

thundersweet
Original Author

jca1

jamesbodell

davidandkasie

thundersweet
Original Author

jamesbodell

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Is this acceptable?? Septic tank...deck post directly above tank.

Comments (13)

thundersweetOriginal Author

Related Discussions

Related Professionals

thundersweetOriginal Author

thundersweetOriginal Author

thundersweetOriginal Author

thundersweetOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

thundersweet
Original Author

thundersweet
Original Author

thundersweet
Original Author

thundersweet
Original Author

thundersweet
Original Author