Cesspool needs to be pumped.

And they don't know where it is. We looked through our inspection paperwork but I remember the previous homeowners telling us they didn't know where it was. What a coincidence that they never had problems in 13 years but we have in 2 months.

It could be under the wood deck that covers 50% of the backyard.

Rusty is looking for the survey in our closing paperwork. The truck may not come till tomorrow.

There are two cesspools and this is the newer one at least, not original to the house. Or so they say. I'm learning not to trust anything people say.

Any ideas how much this is going to cost me? Wish us luck?

Re: Cesspool needs to be pumped.

we didnt know where ours was either so the company had to come in a poke around and look for it. It took them a while but they found it.

If they cant find it by poking the ground, they can flush a sensor down the toilet and they follow it until it goes into the cesspool. From what I remember, if they had to do that, it would have cost some money.

Re: Cesspool needs to be pumped.

YIKES! Is this what the plumber found???

My MIL had to have hers pumped about 2 years ago during a holiday weekend. Not such a pretty bill!

All I can do is offer

Re: Cesspool needs to be pumped.

I'm trying to look on the bright side about the holes. At least I didn't start gardening. They'll be aerating my lawn for me. And the ground isn't frozen.

Posted by PotofLuck06

YIKES! Is this what the plumber found???

My MIL had to have hers pumped about 2 years ago during a holiday weekend. Not such a pretty bill!

All I can do is offer

Re: Cesspool needs to be pumped.

Posted by greenfreak

I'm trying to look on the bright side about the holes. At least I didn't start gardening. They'll be aerating my lawn for me. And the ground isn't frozen.

Posted by PotofLuck06

YIKES! Is this what the plumber found???

My MIL had to have hers pumped about 2 years ago during a holiday weekend. Not such a pretty bill!

All I can do is offer

Yeah, I posted about the washing machine draining onto the deck. Turns out, that was an overflow valve and the washing machine is the lowest point in the house.

He tried to snake it but went 10 feet in and wouldn't go any further, to avoid losing his snake in the cesspool.

He did get the sink pipes fixed though, so that's good.

I'm trying to keep my sense of humor and find my calm.

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Re: Cesspool needs to be pumped.

Well just to get an idea we had our cesspool replaced last january and we had 6600 gallons in our cesspool because the previous owners in 16 year never had it done and who knows prior to them moving in how long it was like that. We were having a problem with our cesspool and it happened 2 weeks after we moved in...they said another couple of months and we would have had the cesspool in our basement...FUN right. It cost us about $1000 to pump our cesspool just so we can have a new one installed. I hope everythign works out for you and you don't have any problems after it is pumped.

Re: Cesspool needs to be pumped.

in my first house this happened....two weeks after I closed. well it only cost me $500 because I just had to replace the very old pipes that went to the cesspool. But I didn't where the cesspool was either. They followed the main pipe from the house and that is how they found it in the corner of my backyard. GL!

Re: Cesspool needs to be pumped.

This EXACT thing happened to us this summer... our washer started leaking- turns out the cesspool was full... however, they couldnt find it anywhere- supposably it was only a few years old and the previous owner said we should have no problems with it- LIAR!!!! It took them DAYS to find our cesspool (they used that pole thing, a metal detector, shovels and a video camera snake)- turns out there were 3 buried in the back yard, two brand new, one old, and only the old one was connected for some reason- it cost about $1200 before it was all said and done- NOT a fun weekend!

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I hope things work out for you...and don't get too costly.

Re: Cesspool needs to be pumped.

just saw this, good luck this morning. i hope its not too $$$$$.
was your cesspool tested before you bought the house?

Re: Cesspool needs to be pumped.

Holy crap, we're looking at at least a thousand dollars huh.

Well, what can I do? It's obvious there's a problem that needs fixing.

I can only hope that they find it on an accessible patch of lawn. Because we don't want to be forced to rip the deck up right now. I don't even know anyone who has a chainsaw. And then what. Have a big square cut right out of the deck.

I have to stop thinking about this and assuming the worst.

Thank you for your responses ladies, I really do appreciate it.

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Re: Cesspool needs to be pumped.

Re: Cesspool needs to be pumped.

Well gee.

I'm wishing death on the previous homeowner right about now.

He neglected to mention that the cesspool for the entire house, not just the master bath, goes to a 1000 gallon capacity cinder block cesspool.

Apparently, the 30 foot oak tree is wrapped around it and is what's keeping it from collapsing.

Isn't that wonderful?

They're digging up my DRIVEWAY to get to the other cesspool to see if it's suitable to be an overflow.

This day just keeps getting better and better.

Re: Cesspool needs to be pumped.

ughhhhhhhhhh

Re: Cesspool needs to be pumped.

oh man i'm sorry

Re: Cesspool needs to be pumped.

Uggh, sorry to hear that We've been in our house 7 years and have had our cesspools pumped 2x because it was backing up in the downstairs shower (the lowest point in the house).

I cringe all the time because we know our cesspools are original to the house (built in 1962!! ) and are the older, cinder block construction type. We know they are seeing their last useful months now. It's only a matter of time. In the 7 years we've been here, 6 people on our block have replaced their pools. We know this because all the cesspools are under our front lawns because we are in a very hilly area and the area behind us is a steel hill.

I work for an Environmental Engineering firm and have done a ton of this work for a lot of clients, so if you have questions, FM me. I have some recommendations too if you need them, but it sounds like you are already working on it.

Re: Cesspool needs to be pumped.

Thanks for your comments everyone.

We need a new cesspool. Long story short, they are coming Saturday to rip up part of my driveway and put in a cesspool that will have triple the capacity the old one did.

The quote at least is inline with other things I've found on the internet. $4500. if we go with one pool, $5500. if we go with two.

The driveway was way too big anyway and I get some lawn back. The previous homeowner is a GD ******* and if I ever see him again, I'm going to tell him so. He flat out lied to us about a bunch of things. I didn't want to make assumptions till I knew. Now we know.

Ah well. Good thing we didn't blow all our money on closing and furniture!

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sorry you guys are dealing with this crap! The seller seems like a real piece of work.

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Re: Cesspool needs to be pumped.

Posted by greenfreak

Posted by KellyFG

crap!

You said it.