The pipes here at the homestead have been running a little slowly. We thought something was stuck in the drain of the garage sink, but not so. We opened the cleanout plug outside and water gushed upwards which meant septic tank issues. So, we started digging a hole in the front yard. After some poking around we found the access door to the tank.
This is not something you expect to see when the shovel is flying.
What everyone should throw into the septic tank hole:
As we rigged up a chain to open the septic tank access door, I said, “I know it’s going to be gross, but I can’t wait to see it”.
After getting the entire tank pumped (and having to dig out the other access door), we learned that the clog is actually at the distribution box. Guess who gets to pay to have a backhoe dig out the front yard?
Uh, I hate septic tanks. We have one, too. When we first moved in our house 4 years ago we kept smelling a foul stench. We finally went outside around where the septic tank was and saw poop oozzing and bubbling up out of the ground. It was RANCID. Apparently, when the old homeowners moved out, they had a large truck in the backyard moving out their toolshed. The truck must have put too much pressure on the septic tank door and cracked it. I remember watching them pump out our tank….FUNK NASTY SMELLING!!!
Hope your septic problem is fixed pronto.
That picture of the truck looks like it could have been taken in our driveway.
We had our septic tank cleaned out a few months after we moved in. The guy who was cleaning it asked if we had always lived here (kinda strange question, I thought). I told him no, we bought the house from a couple who were getting divorced. He said something like he wasn’t surprised they were getting divorced. I asked him why he said that and he motioned me over to the edge of the tank. I couldn’t figure out what he was pointing at at first and then realized the bottom of the tank was full of condoms.
He told me that he could tell a lot about a family based on the contents of the septic tank.
Thanks for the reminder…we are due again for a cleaning in the spring. Good luck, and I hope everything works out without too much destruction.
Liz…haa haa! I love where you say “he could tell a lot about a family by looking in the bottom of their septic tank.” That’s gross….but I guess if that’s what someone does for a living, I suppose they are curious about checking it out. Ha!!