I’m doing a very happy dance as one of the giant projects I’ve been struggling with since we took possession is finally on track and should be completed soon. That’s right, we’re getting a new septic tank! The permit came through on Monday, and while it won’t be done prior to move-in, it will be soon.
The biggest task, though, was getting rid of the deck first. Second shot below is with the previous owner’s furniture on it. For some weird reason they built this deck over where the septic tank is buried. The septic was installed in 1998 but apparently never pumped, so it has failed (yay for collapsed baffle wall!), and in order to get a new tank installed, we have to get rid of the deck. I had quotes for $40K-50K which included demolishing the deck, so I tried to do some of it myself.
The third shot below is after I got most of its railings off. It proved too much for me though, so last week I hired three day workers from the Center for Training & Careers in San Jose and they spent the day breaking up the old deck. Tom, Gilbert and Jilona worked very hard and reduced it to a giant pile of rotten wood and rusty screws (last photos).
Having it done by day laborers and hitting on Able Construction for the actual septic install dropped our cost by a factor of five. Agent Smith and I did have to do a bit of work to ready the site; last night we moved the pavers in the fourth photo out of the way and shifted a couple hundred pounds of river rocks closer to the house so they wouldn’t get plowed under during the septic work.
Now for an install date.