Let's talk septic systems. Nobody thinks about theirs until the yard gets soggy — and by then a small problem has turned into a big, expensive one. After almost 30 years of septic and excavation work around Fort Mill, Rock Hill, and all over York, Lancaster, and Chester counties, here's my honest advice.
Smell Sewage in the Yard? See Green Stripes? Don't Wait On It
If you're smelling sewage outside, or you've got soggy green stripes running across the yard right over your field lines in dry weather, your system is already telling you something. Those stripes are the grass drinking up water that's supposed to be soaking down into the ground — and it isn't.
Don't sit on it. Sometimes it's nothing more than a crushed or separated line that I can dig up and fix in a day. Let it go a season or two and that same problem turns into a saturated drain field, and now we're talking about a whole lot more digging and a whole lot more money. Our red clay doesn't give water anywhere to go in a hurry, so trouble shows up on top of the ground quicker here than most folks expect.
Building Outside the Sewer Lines? Perc Test and Tank Size Matter Most
If you're building out where county sewer doesn't reach, two things matter more than anything else: the perc test and the size of the system. The perc test tells us how fast your soil takes water, and around here that answer can change from one end of the lot to the other. It decides where the field lines go and how long they need to be.
Then there's tank size. Undersizing a system to save a few dollars up front is exactly how you end up with a backed-up yard two years after you move in. Size it for the house and the people who'll actually be living in it. That's one place I won't cut a corner, and I won't let you cut one either — because I'm the one you'd be calling back to fix it.
A Repair Beats a Replacement Any Day It'll Do the Job
Here's where a lot of folks get taken for a ride. Not every septic problem means a new system. A broken line, a crushed pipe where a truck drove over it, a bad connection at the tank — those are repairs, not replacements.
If it does need replacing, I'll tell you that too, and I'll tell you why. Either way you'll know exactly what you're paying for before the first bucket of dirt comes out of the ground.
When You Call Evans Excavating, You Talk to Me
When you call, you talk to me — Donnie. I look at the job, I quote the job, and I'm the one on the machine when we do it. No salesman, no crew you've never met. That's how I've done business around here for almost 30 years, and it's why I still have the same customers I started with.
Soggy yard, funny smell, or a new build that needs a system put in right the first time — call or text (803) 242-5461, email evansexcavatingsc@gmail.com, or request a free estimate. I'll come walk it with you and shoot you straight.