HTHM Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 (edited) Short of digging from the foundation outlet and following the pipe does anyone have a fool-proof way of finding the location of a septic tank? I have a walkout basement and that is the side of the house that the septic bed is located. It is a bit of an emergency situation as I have water coming out of the floor drain in my (soon to be re-) finished basement. I just finished the project 14 months ago, *dude*. Thanks in advance. Edited January 28, 2008 by hometownhandyman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 Short of digging from the foundation outlet and following the pipe does anyone have a fool-proof way of finding the location of a septic tank? I have a walkout basement and that is the side of the house that the septic bed is located. It is a bit of an emergency situation as I have water coming out of the floor drain in my (soon to be re-) finished basement. I just finished the project 14 months ago, *dude*. Thanks in advance. have you ever noticed a dead rectangle of grass in the yard...on a hot/dry summers week? That's it..or that Metal detector Photoz was on about...it will find the rebar handles for the clean outs..or a crow bars pointed end...ground shouldn't be frozen above the tank so start poking hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTHM Posted January 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 or that Metal detector Photoz was on about...it will find the rebar handles for the clean outs..or a crow bars pointed end...ground shouldn't be frozen above the tank so start poking hard. GOOD IDEA!!!!!!!! thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lostchild Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 Fish a rodder thru the pipe till it stops. If you have a general idea where the tank is located, mark the rodder where it stopped, then walk out the distance. To be more exact if you can get someone with a utility locator, fish a metal rodder thru, clip the transmiter to the rodder and tone out the line to the tank. I have a locator but live in Scarb. not sure were Mount Hope is so I know it is probably nowhere close to me or else i would drop by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Cliff Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 (edited) Well, you could always flush a 1/4 stick of stumping powder (TNT) with a long fuse down the toilet, It'll either clear the blockage or pop the lids right off the tank for you (might even do both). LOL (just kidding, do not try this at home!) Sorry, dumb I know. Had a similar problem with our tank shortly after we purchased this place and spent hours digging holes trying to find it, by the time we did our yard loked like we had been invaded by gophers and I was ready to blow something up! Hope you have better luck than we did! I have since built extenders over the covers on our tank so we'll never have to dig out the lids again. Sounds like lostchild has the answer. It would be worth paying someone to come and locate it for you. On a raised bunglow the top of the tank is probably about 2' below your floor which, depending on where the tank is could mean a lot of digging. Edited January 28, 2008 by Big Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daplumma Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 Call the local septic company and ask if they have pumped your tank before.If they have they prolly know the location.If the ground is not frozen take a piece of rebar and hammer it into the ground untill you find the tank.Start about 10 ft from the house and work your way out.The cleanout should be nearest the house.The tank should be pumped yearlt.Be careful about pushing a snake into the septic tank as you may break off the T. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerritt Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 Looking for the dead patch of grass is a sure fire way to locate your septic tank. If you have water coming into the basement from the floor drain you need to look into having a one way valve installed before you finish your basement. if your located on the north side of airport rd, in most of the homes the septic was located off of the North-East corner of your house. G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhioFisherman Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 Can`t really help with location other than the ideas mentioned. The access to mine is exposed(lids). Just makes poor sense to me to bury them, how can it be cleaned out if you can`t get at it (buried) makes an expensive deal out of simple repairs like replacing a 25 dollar float switch on a pump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinker Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 I'd use the re-bar and hammer it in........ground shouldn't have that much frost, and it will be soft around the tank. Sinker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rizzo Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 Glad I read this. We just bought a place with a septic and I was wondering the exact same thing about finding the lid. I'll see what the current owners can tell me about its location. Hope you are able to find yours! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brickNblock Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 I agree with Joe.......... Start about 10feet out from your house on the suspected side and workout... Joe...my septic's cleanout is on the road side not the house side...This makes sense tho for when they come to pump out.. I also have installed extended lids for finder location......it was a pain to first to locate. Unfortunately Ive learned that the 80' Ash tree about 25' out from the house roots have ruptured the draining field and have a new task at hand..........????????????MMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm ????????????????????????????????????? Was thinking of capping off the old field line and install a new one(s) parrellel or in the vincinity...... Huge problem tho....... As our home is on the water we come under a conservation authority which means them and only them can excavate and remove/install...........Can you say x10 big bucks.... Neighbours are pretty cool so's Im thinking I'll just trench and re/re myself in the dark hours....... Best of luck with your undertaking tho my friend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garyv Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 You might have lucked out with the weather. Now that it's warmer out look for where the snow has melted 1st on the grass and hammer in a piece of steel or bar stock to see if you hit it. You also can usually follow the out line from the tank to the distributor box or header since that will usually have melted as well. Keep in mind that not only can a full tank cause the problem but something has to clog the run/distributor/or dispersement lines for the unit to back up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rizzo Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 People are talking about hammering some re-bar down etc - what are these covers usually made of? I know at our cottage the cover (which we leave exposed) is plastic. I'd think a piece of re-bar would go right through it..keep hammering till you hear a splash! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 Why I suggested a crow bar point and pushing. Remember your pipes are plastic in most cases!! Most tanks have clean outs on BOTH ends guys.....so you can clean out on both sides of the chamber baffle. Older and most easy access location tanks are cement...and so are the covers..with rebar poured into them for handles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinker Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 Jeeze......don't hit it that hard He's prolly found it now, and he's up to his elbows in....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 (edited) Hopefully it's just a clogged pipe from house to tank... thanks to "things" that aren't supposed to be flushed down septic systems. Should be a theaded plug clean out port just inside the wall on the main pipe to the tank...if it was plumbed to code. That's the next step if you find that the tank is not backed up, once you find the thing that is. Edited January 29, 2008 by irishfield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now