I would wait for the next person to look at it. If the next one says there is a problem, request a visit from the officials who issue permits and do inspections of septic systems. In my area, it is the environmental health dept. The first person is not knowledgeable, but to his credit, he knows and admits it.

I think it actually costs less to replace the septic tank than the leach field so I guess it could be worse. They also have polyethylene tanks which may or may not be cheaper than concrete tanks.

Hi again,

The owner of the septic pumping company called yesterday (didn't come out) and said it sounded to him as if we might have an old three tank septic sysem (common in our town according to him) or a cesspool (because his employee reported seeing rocks in the tank). He suggested we have someone come dig up the ground to find out what we have. He said if we do have the 3 tank system, we need to find the cleanouts or caps so that we can pump those as well. He didn't say what to do if it turned out to be a cesspool. The excavation will run us about $400. We still do not have any problem with our plumbing and no wet spots or smell outside. My husband is inclined to let sleeping dogs lie and do nothing. I think maybe we should have a septic inspector come out and look at it. What do you think?

Hi, Katrina. I live in a house with septic too and I have been given the runaround by so many companies it would make your head spin. Finally I found two companies that didn't act like the sky was falling. Because our first tank filled up fast (I had it pumped last August), we had to locate our second tank in case it needed pumping too. I found out that instead of digging things up, this is most easily done with a camera put through the first tank. We found a specialized septic plumber who brought the camera out, followed the trail, inspected everything and found everything was in great working order except for one area where the pipe took a turn and it was clogged there, causing the main tank to fill way faster than it should have. It was easily snaked and all is working perfectly again, for $200. And now I know where the second tank is if that ever needs pumping too.I hope your solution is like that because septics can be very expensive. I would definitely try the camera route before having your yard attacked by shovels. And if you find them saying it is an expensive fix, get more than one opinion. I am so glad I did.

Thanks for the info trubee. The camera makes alot of sense. I'll look in the phone book to see if I can locate a septic plumber and see what they say.

I have a different potential septic nightmare. We bought a beautiful but run down place in the country. Very little maintenance had been done on the house since it was built in 1972, so we bought it "as is." The roof leaked, the boiler failed, etc., etc., but we've never had a plumbing problem. But we've been here 5 years, so we thought we should have the septic tank drained and cleaned. We got the diagram from the county "code enforcement" office, and it was completely bogus. Not even the house was located where their drawing said it was, much less the septic tank. So we called a septic company to locate the tank and drain it. They found it alright, but the man couldn't open it with his crow bar. He said both tops were frozen in place and had probably never been opened in the 36 years it's been there and would probably require a blow torch. He left and sent us his bill. Nothing more he can do.

Help! Help! What the heck do I do now?