Looking at a nice duplex in Monroe county , great building, nice semi country setting but has a septic system . It was built in 1962. I read the life of a septic is 30 to 40 years ?

Can anyone give me a good average price of worst case scenario to replace ? Thanks

You can have someone test out the system. If there is easy access to the tanks, an expert can send down a sampler and see if it's been maintained. Also depending on the number of owners and number of occupants you can tell if they treated the septic system well.

If there in little sludge on the bottom of the tanks, they either treat the system with respect and/or had it pumped recently.

By the number of bedrooms and bathrooms you can tell the size of the system, thus get a price to fix/replace it.

Bob,

Depends. We had systems that have been trouble free for 40 years and others that had to be replaced, usually because folks drove over the fingers.

Pricing is very local and dependent on your soil, hills, etc.

I tried the vibration treatment and that lasted a few months before we were back to square one.

User care can help. No bleach, pump out regularly to avoid sludge clogging the fingers...locally new installs must have a pull up filter to be rinsed with a hose 2x a year.

Tip: my lease now includes a septic fee of $30 per month from the res. Cheaper than city sewer bills but gives me money to pay for pump outs every 3-4 years. No one has complained.

BIG tip: locally the health dept will not grant a permit to replace after Halloween. The soil gets damp and the backhoe "polishes" the soil making it smooth so it will not absorb water. So timing is important. In Spet all the certified installers are booked up so we had to wait until April - had to pump the failed system every 30 days over the winter.

BRAD

The only thing I would really be concerned about is if it has that old orangeberg pipe in the drain field. I've seen that stuff fail many times. Replacing is easy here. Do it when no one is looking. Not sure on NY laws.

Water softeners have been known to weaken the (concrete)

Call the local septic company that does real estate inspections. It is a specific inspection that can give you an idea of how the system is. Here the septic companies do the inspections not a home inspector. Have your offer contingent on it if you are that concerned. They can also give you an estimate of repair.

There is no real life of a septic system, it depends on how it was built and how it is used and cared for and the soils it is in. In my area of NY it is regulated by the county health dept. so you can check with them. Here, you don't need any permits or inspections to fix an old system, only for new installs. So you can fix it a lot cheaper than a new one can be built.

If it was installed with a metal barrel for a tank and orangeburg pipe, don't expect it to be working well. If it is a concrete tank, they should last a long time, the field is more of a concern. If the tank is not pumped often enough, then those solids will clog the lines and replacement is needed. Infiltrators are a great new system for replacement. Needs less area. However they are not approved for new systems here because, well, they are new technology and government is slow.

NE: LOL

If we get the gov involved, the repair/replacement must be done by someone certified by the state. And it requires 2 separate inspections. Typical field line replacement for me would be $3700. And the inspections mean two days.

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