Septic Inspector Recommendations
Looking for a good reasonably priced septic inspector. Must do underground camera evaluations.
This ^^^. He's more expensive then other places but worth it. Learn from my mistake and not get 2 septic tank inspections as the first guy I hired was an tool. I also highly recommend Bob Rutan.
May '15
I used this company after a recommendation for them. They were great.
Classic Septic Inspections, LLC
973-900-1330
MeisterNJ and sack, have you both used Rutan for an inspection and/or repair? Or did you hear he was good? Appreciate your responses :). Thanks.
I've used Bob Rutan for both a inspection and repair in several houses. He's a solid and honest guy. When I bought my current house I "hired" a company out of Newton to do the inspection. Big mistake. The guy who came out was a tool. Stated the house needed a new septic. I was pretty sure he was wrong but wanted a 2nd opinion. Called Bob he came out and did another inspection. Turns out it just need a minor fix. $1500. He did that repair for me. The seller of the house paid. Not $30K like the first guy said. My previous house had an inspection done by the new owner. It failed inspection. Bob did that repair for me as well. Here is his web site.
www.RKRutan.com
May '15
I used Rutan for an inspection when we bought our house. He told us he only does inspections. Maybe be small repairs as well. We were very satisfied. He brings 600 gallons of his own water to stress the system. Very thorough.
Hicks had a good deal in the Valpaks..I paid $189
https://www.valpak.com/coupons/printable/hicks-paving/111352
Can someone help us, we are thinking of purchasing this property however it has four covers on the ground, in a row before it drains out into turkey mound. We are told it is for the septic system but have never seen a set up like this since we are moving from a home with public sewer. Any alarming reasons why there are four covers for septic?
@Noclue Sewer.
Call a Septic Inspector. Its going to be the best money you ever spent.
Oct '16
In my experience they have three covers. One for the inlet, one for the septic tank itself (center), and one for the outlet/baffle.
You would normally do a septic inspection after you are our of attorney review.
I am in the same current state with purchasing a home, so I have learned a lot about septic systems.
@Noclue Sewer. Check with the county health department. I know in Sussex County you can go on the Health Departments website and search any property in the county. If it was a permitted septic system they have the "as built" plans showing the layout of the septic. It's all free and any home can be searched. Not sure if Warren County does the same.
I agree with @not sack about getting an inspector as well. My option is just a starting point to find out what is there.
I concur; call a good septic inspector. Spending a little cash now can save you tens of thousands later.
No Clue. Its tough to tell by the picture but I believe since there are all the covers I think you have 2 tanks (it looks like atleast 3 covers that I can see). The tank closest to the house would be the tank that everything goes into. The effluent from that tank goes out the outlet into the inlet of the next tank which is a pump tank. The pump tank then pumps the liquids up to the field for dispersal. They wouldn't be the inspection pipes that Darrin posted because those are generally only 4 inches across.
Not sure what the round cement thing is in the middle.
Not sure about obtaining info online for warren county properties, but we were able to get copies of the septic plans from the county board of health. Just need the lot and block number.
M & K They appear to only be covers, we don't know whats under them. The septic at the home i am working with has 3 covers. 2 6-8 inch(approx) and one 12 inch in the center of the tank.
Maybe the pic I used was bad, this one is better
I think Bob was a good inspector back when he had less ego and he certainly has been around for years but we have used other companies at this point that have been more professional about the septic topics and less opinionated about things that are not even close to part of the inspection.
Peach brothers claimed my septic needed complete replacement in 1999 @ 32,000......I had another inspector come in and evaluate .....added another ; leach field / pit for 6 k..
Do not trust them ( from my experience. )
We used Ever-Green out of Sparta. They were really good. We have used them twice. They don't make repairs, which is nice because then you know if they make a repair suggestion it is not about lining their pockets.
My inspector said the seepage tank was plugged based on high water staining marks, and showed them to me via the camera and puictures. But they never performed a load test
The seller put in a complete new field for over 30k.....the installer of said field said he could have just freshened the bottom of the seepage tank and it would have passed....
As a buyer, like me, which one would you prefer?
I'll take the new field.
Point being, what you are looking for is different if you are a buyer or a seller. Now I have a brand new system as opposed to just squeaking by, or having that burden one me.
I used insight septic by the recommendation of my realtor, they charged $425, but like I said, did not do a load test. They were very nice guys.
http://insightseptic.com/
Sometimes you can have high water marks if your field saturates from lots of rain/ flooding. Ours saturated during Lee & Irene. However, I agree, as a buyer you want the system to fail. As a seller, we put in a brand new system before we put the house on the market because it failed an inspection. The house we bought has a 22 year old system but it passed. Bummer, but it is what it is.
As a buyer I would want a system to pass with flying colors or fail. I definitely wouldn't want to be told the system "just" passed, because that means that financial burden will be on you in the future, because you know you won't win a battle with a seller on a technically passed septic test.
And the house i was looking at had a old school seepage tank, not a field.....now it has a field :-)
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