Ever had to replace a septic system??

[Angielynne]

Has anyone ever had to replace a septic system? Looks like we're going to have to bite the bullet and replace ours...ugh...70 days before our Disney trip

If you replaced yours....how much did it cost? I have a company coming over this afternoon to look at ours and give an estimate and I'm freaking out. He did the neighbors across the street too....

Thanks...

 

[Karenj2]

I don't personally have a septic system, but my parents do, and one thing they were able to do was get a grant from their state (MD), because they got some newer, environmentally friendly septic system put in. You might want to see if there's anything like that for your area...

Also, instead of being pressured by time, could you get it emptied out to give you more time to find & budget for an entirely new system?

 

[auralia]

where my parents had a friend was selling a house and had an old system that had to be completely replaced including digging a new hole and everything it was around 15000$ i believe

 

[Angielynne]

UNfortunately, we don't have time to wait it out. our country prohibits new fields going in between dec-march because the ground is frozen.

We are in an area near one of the great Lakes in Michigan and with all the rain that we had this summer, the water table is VERY high. Several of our neighbors homes were even flooded this year. If we just pump the tank, the water in the field will just backfill into the tank and then we're in the same position only out the 200.00 for tank pumping....

 

[dawson5]

Had our leech field replaced last summer. The septic tank itself was fine.
Initial testing to see if it had failed was $110, applied toward the total cost of replacement if needed.
To add a leech field was $5750, minus the $110, so $5640. This included one pumping so they could attach new lines. Our ground was so saturated that it had to be pumped twice more. I think that was an additional $400.
They installed a diverter valve and we essentially have two leech fields now. I can wait about six years and we can switch to the old, just have to make sure the biomass has decomposed and the old system working before doing that.
They also said if we needed a new septic tank, it's an additional $1800.

This price included a rough grade of the soil afterwards. My husband fixed our sprinkler system for around $200 and it cost an additional $1400 to have the backyard finish graded, additional topsoil and seed.

I would take lots of pictures, before, during and after. Especially of the sprinkler head placement and of the utilities flags. This would have made the placement of the sprinklers easier. Our utility company came out and placed flags for all of our lines--but neglected to place flags for the electric line of my neighbor's that cut through our yard. They tried to place blame on the septic people, they would have had to pay for the new line. Luckily I had pictures that proved otherwise.

 

[melancholywings]

Ours was around 5k I think for just the septic, not the field. We ended up getting a larger one and there was a back ho rental in the cost.

 

[pigget74]

Is it a septic issue or a field line issue. Our field line was not large enough so we had to extend. We paid 2000 to double our line...they did not pump ours, but added the line with a small retaining wall left between. When new area was complete they tore away the wall and it flowed into the new area.

 

[gator75]

We had our replaced about 8 years ago. We had a mound system put in. If i remember correctly the whole thing cost about 10,000.

 

[jjjmranch]

Gah! That is one thing I truly dread about our septic system. Is it just the tank or the leach field? We had our septic pipe shear off from the house to the septic tank and that cost $2000 to replace. They had to dig out the old rusty iron one and replace with PVC and rebed the whole thing. It was the labor cost that was atrocious.

 

[Finnishwife]

We just replaced a full septic system. Total cost 13K. The site was easy with no trees, wetlands or conservation.

 

[2Poodles]

Two years ago replaced septic tank and leech fields total cost $17,000.

 

[nelson84]

What kind of septic system do you have right now? Do you have lines going out from a distribution box? Or do you have a septic tank with a large pit? I have a septic tank wirth a line going from the septic tank into a pit made of railroad ties. All I did wasget an excavator and dug a big hole right next to the tie pit and filled the hole with clean drain rock. Never had a problem since. even if you have a system with drain lines you could do the same at the end of each drain line you could dig a hole and fill it with clean drain rock.

Cost break down:

2 loads of drain rock delivered $400.

excavator 2 hours $230

excavator delivered on a low bed truck $200.

Will cost you less than a $1000.


The whole point of the drain rock is because the dirty water builds up a barrier and the water will not escape so you dig a hole to remove the barrier of thick waterproof dirt and fill it with drain rock. Don't listen to these septic guys they just want your $10000 to $15000 for an easy fix.

 

[cbg1027]

We just had to completely replace the septic system at my grandmother's house. Had to remove the old one and dig a new hole in a a different location for the new one and it came out to $6,000.

I live in North FL - so area will make a difference in price. I'm sure someone who lives in the Tampa area, for example, would have paid more.