Anyone know anyone in the excavation business?

loosenut

loosenut

Club Member
Looks like the city of Southfield is putting pressure on me to hook up to the sewer at the street then maintain the septic system. So, time to get some quotes.

Pretty sure I'll need some Vaseline with this job....
 
Anthony said:
HOLY WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?

Call a lawyer

If You have septic
You don’t need to hook to sewer.
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Its state law. If your 600' or closer you get 48 months to hook.
I went through this over a decade ago..... city got stupid aggressive about time line.... my permit ended up getting moderated by the court.... my contractor out smarted all of them..
 
They’re not forcing me. They’re just making it difficult if I keep the septic system. $300 inspections every 3 Years. Plus I know the field is pretty much on its last leg. I can’t imagine it’s cheap to have a new field prepared and have the tank moved.
 
loosenut said:
They’re not forcing me. They’re just making it difficult if I keep the septic system. $300 inspections every 3 Years. Plus I know the field is pretty much on its last leg. I can’t imagine it’s cheap to have a new field prepared and have the tank moved.
Click to expand...

It's a lot.

Detroit Gearbox said:
Its state law. If your 600' or closer you get 48 months to hook.
I went through this over a decade ago..... city got stupid aggressive about time line.... my permit ended up getting moderated by the court.... my contractor out smarted all of them..
Click to expand...

He's right... Had to hookup my old cottage... City put in sewer... Had to hook up...
 
loosenut said:
They’re not forcing me. They’re just making it difficult if I keep the septic system. $300 inspections every 3 Years. Plus I know the field is pretty much on its last leg. I can’t imagine it’s cheap to have a new field prepared and have the tank moved.
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100 per year is cheap compared to what your new water/sewer rate will be.
Do you have to really move the tank? New field or "maintaining" the field is a lot cheaper than hooking up....
If it were me I would do everything possible to stay on the septic.
 
Invest in the field if at all possible, chemicals, don’t drive on it, don’t build over it or put a pool on it lol. I looked at a house last year that some one poured a patio over the field, 30k mistake to get a new engineered field installed.
 
I am in same boat. 2 of 3 neighbors have already hooked up. Mine is going.
Septic guy mentioned 5k to redo the field, but then I found out city doesn't let you redo. Neighbor that just had his done was 8k. Eyeball test says we are about as close for hookup.
Figure lots of clay in ground, and 50 year old house.... lifespan of the field in these parts.
 
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The city is willing to "finance" the project if I hook up to the street and hold the bill until the house is sold. No payment will be due until the house sells.

Will the city sewage system help the value of the house?

When I bought the house 13 years ago the septic field was "ok" , not sure what its going to be 13 years later. I live alone.
 
loosenut said:
The city is willing to "finance" the project if I hook up to the street and hold the bill until the house is sold. No payment will be due until the house sells.

Will the city sewage system help the value of the house?

When I bought the house 13 years ago the septic field was "ok" , not sure what its going to be 13 years later. I live alone.
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I think having a sewer hookup won't necessarily make you money, but make it more appealing to buyers
 
Talked to a couple od diggers of mine and they are slammed with work.... told them to keep me in mind in case they got an opening coming up..... tell the city you called three different contractors to come out and nobody showed up or they said they're too busy, that'll buy you some time.
 
loosenut said:
The city is willing to "finance" the project if I hook up to the street and hold the bill until the house is sold. No payment will be due until the house sells.

Will the city sewage system help the value of the house?
Click to expand...

IMO it would increase value.
buyers might be afraid of a septic system..... not having experience with one.... they system would have to go through inspections for a FHA loan...
also living alone your not taxing the system very hard.....
I would push it it a few years ... get full use out of your system.... tell the city you need to save for the funds to pay a contractor..
Very generous offer from the city though....
 
Are you sure they need to dig it out completely? A buddy of mine just had the water line to his house replaced and they did it from the basement to the street without digging up his lawn - they just dug a hole to make the connection. He used a company called "Billy Bones". PM me if you want his number. Also, I would try "The Plumbing Professors" who do a lot of stuff like that.

-Geoff
 
WhiteHawk said:
Are you sure they need to dig it out completely?

-Geoff
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When I did mine we had to cut the pipe-(close to the house) to the tank and make a fast deep dive with the pipe (we used 6" I think) till we hit 48"... then make a couple 90% to the front the house.... we picked up a old laundry drain on the side of the house to the front yard where the city's lead was 16' + deep.... adding several clean out caps along the way...
Maybe 300' total in pipe..... the "tank" which was concrete had to have the top busted (not all city's make you do this) and filled in with dirt. My field is still in place.
Made a mess...we used two tractors with backhoe buckets...... sucked doing it.... water bill tripled.
 
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Stay on it if you can, if you have the space you can just put a new field in and abandon the old one. If your willing to dig the materials are not expensive.
 
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