Skip to content
×
Try PRO Free Today!
BiggerPockets Pro offers you a comprehensive suite of tools and resources
Market and Deal Finder Tools
Deal Analysis Calculators
Property Management Software
Exclusive discounts to Home Depot, RentRedi, and more
$0
7 days free
$828/yr or $69/mo when billed monthly.
$390/yr or $32.5/mo when billed annually.
7 days free. Cancel anytime.
Already a Pro Member? Sign in here

Join Over 3 Million Real Estate Investors

Create a free BiggerPockets account to comment, participate, and connect with over 3 million real estate investors.
Use your real name
By signing up, you indicate that you agree to the BiggerPockets Terms & Conditions.
The community here is like my own little personal real estate army that I can depend upon to help me through ANY problems I come across.
General Landlording & Rental Properties
All Forum Categories
Followed Discussions
Followed Categories
Followed People
Followed Locations
Market News & Data
General Info
Real Estate Strategies
Landlording & Rental Properties
Real Estate Professionals
Financial, Tax, & Legal
Real Estate Classifieds
Reviews & Feedback

Updated almost 4 years ago on . Most recent reply

User Stats

257
Posts
18
Votes
Gp G.
  • Investor
  • Atlanta
18
Votes |
257
Posts

House on septic tank Pros and Cons

Gp G.
  • Investor
  • Atlanta
Posted

What are pros and cons of house on septic tank rather than city sewer. Any investors has bad and good experiences with septic tanks and tenants rough usage? Please advise

Most Popular Reply

User Stats

869
Posts
920
Votes
George W.
  • Investor
  • New Jersey
920
Votes |
869
Posts
George W.
  • Investor
  • New Jersey
Replied

Sewers arent everywhere and that's the pro to septic systems it allows you to still have a house where sewer simply isnt available/an option. I would take sewer over septic but I wouldnt run away from a property just because of a septic. Cost of installing a system is going to correlate to how good your soil percolates water. The worse the ground absorbs water the more expensive the system will be as a rule of thumb. 

my area is pretty much exclusively all septics and as a plumber I'm in and out of a ton of houses. Seldom does anyone have a major issue with their septic system.  

Also btw it's the drain/leachfield that usually fails and not the septic tank itself generally. If the tank is in good shape you can get away with replacing just the drain field most times. Good way to tell if the drain field is bad is if the ground is super green, mushy and swamp like in that area. Drainfields dont fail overnight. 

Just had a customer with a bad drain field recently, it was 0 degrees out and they still had a wet swampy, green patch of grass growing. The drain field simply wouldnt let any more liquids perculate into the ground. That gives the liquids in the septic tank no where to go to and backup into the house. 

Yes that was a decent sized job to change the drain field but when you consider that the original one was from the early 70s it had a pretty good run. 

90% of the problems I see with septics are clogs on the inlet baffle. Which is a relatively small job when you have the proper cleanouts. 

Loading replies...