Sewer gasses in the home. It is crucial to maintain a residential septic system for more reasons than those readily apparent. Individuals usually only acknowledge the presence of a septic system during a time of malfunction and or during a real estate transaction. However there are related health issues that can come from the possible sewer gasses of a defective/ poorly maintained system entering the home that should cause concern for the inhabitants as well. One of the sewer gasses that can enter a home is Hydrogen sulfide. This highly explosive and lethal gas is one reason that septic systems should have regular maintenance schedules.
The inspector should examine all visible plumbing components. Identification of P Traps, drain lines, plumbing fixtures, and water supply lines is recommended. The inspector should activate all water components within the structure at the time of the inspection and identify all deficiencies found during the inspection.
The home inspector should identify the type of roof sheathing and framing techniques during the inspection. OSB, Plywood, and tongue and groove sheathing are some examples. Identifying an on site rafter system or truss system is require during the inspection.
Attached is a photo from an inspection where the septic system was non-functional. Note the tripped breaker in the control box. When breaker was reset it immediately tripped. Alarm was also non functional and leach field appeared to be overly wet.
Septic system inspections in Texas for licensed home inspectors, are only of the non-evasive, visual type. You must also be a licensed plumber and certified to inspect septic systems, in order to do a complete evaluation of the septic system.I limit my comments to the a listing of components and basic operation such as testing the alarm and sprinkler system if equipped.
Floor Drain (Basement Mechanical Room) is rusted and corroded with drain hole widened. This compromises the integrity of the floor drain as debris can enter into the drain which will gradually clog the drain and result in drain backup. This will cause wet basement issues.
Recommended to replace floor drain as soon as possible.
Floor Drain (Basement Mechanical Room) is rusted and corroded with drain hole widened. This compromises the integrity of the floor drain as debris can enter into the drain which will gradually clog the drain and result in drain backup. This will cause wet basement issues with water accumulation resulting in mould.
Recommended to replace floor drain as soon as possible.
I do not have a picture of a septic system as I do not yet inspect them. But this is a picture of a dishwasher draining into a p-trap under a sink. The hose is only taped into the trap, partially falling out and had been vacant for some time and had a smell of sewer gasses coming from the p-trap.
Vinyl siding inspection article. Good to learn how vinyl siding should be installed from being loosely attached to the substrate, to the different types of j-channel used. Also good to know the disadvantages of using vinyl compared to other exterior siding.
I live in a small community that shares a septic system. The property manager let me tag along and help clean the filters. There are (6) 4,000 gallon septic tanks that flow through (4) filters. A pump sends 500-1000 gallons at a time to the drainage field. The drainage field is a series of trenches that are divided into several zones. When the water is pumped to the field it rotates which zone the liquid is delivered too. The filters we cleaned were about 4’ tall and 18" in diameter. There were no solids or debris in the filters. We were able to spray them off and reinstall them.
I read the article “Introduction to Foreclosures”. The article articulated four reasons why homes go into foreclosure: failure to pay property taxes, HOA dues, contractor bills, and falling behind on mortgage payments. The article also touched on three ways a home is foreclosed. If I was on the receiving end of a foreclosure, I’d prefer to go through a judicial foreclose as it seems the most fair and protected format.
Two conditions in this picture contribute to septic system failure period the leaking faucet can add a much higher hydraulic load then the system is designed for, and the garbage disposal can introduce extra salads into the liquid mix of the treatment tank.
The image for Carmen residential sewer lateral is typical of that which is also used in private sewer systems such as septic systems. It shows the necessary slope and drainage required for the primary sewer line exiting the building and the required clean out within 5 to 10 feet of the building.
As a home inspector it is important to educate your client about issues that may affect their home. When dealing with septic systems I feel it is important to tell them how things they may not realize affect the septic system particularity the garbage disposal. By putting items such as food items that may not break down as easily or quickly as waste it will have detrimental effect on the entire system from plugging up the drain pipe to staying in the tank longer. This over time will put an undo strain on the system.
Making sure your client is aware that proper maintenance of their septic system is a very important part of home ownership. This includes: knowing the location the tank and leeching field, knowing the last time the systems was pumped, also knowing what and what not to introduce into the system will go along way in keeping the system flowing!
Here I was able to locate the two risers on this septic tank. The areas were the grass is not growing shows me the location. This is a great indicator when locating a septic tank and the risers. When looking for the leeching field you can look for grass/weeds that are growing faster than the surrounding areas. Or if the grass is dead or dieing its a good indicating of a issue.
Septic Tanks - When inspecting a septic tank system one part to take a close look at is the alarm panel. These can be located in several areas in the home so its always a good idea to locate these during the first steps of your inspection of the septic tank. Opening the risers to test the tank float should set off the high level alarm. If the alarm doesn’t sound when you raise the float this should be indicated on your report.
Attached is a photo of a failed leach field. In this course i learned many ways to detect a failed leach field or system not functioning properly. One of the more obvious systems is a flooded leach field that could be caused by a back up in the tank or indicate that the tank needs to be drained.
This is a picture of the inside of my septic tank near the outlet baffle. There was no inlet baffle. The house was built in 1973 and I don’t think they installed inlet baffle on this tank. It looks like from the picture that outlet baffle was in place though. The level of the tank effluent looks correct and scum layer did not look like it was there. This might be because the house sat vaccant for over 6 months. Nothing in tank was really visible for inspection because it looked like it was cover in the slime coating that has accumulated throughout the years. Tree roots were also visible in this tank. I have already put tree root killer in the tank. Glad that I caught it now.
Just read the article about aluminum wiring. I read that the years of aluminum wiring installation were between 1965 and 1973. I’m pretty sure I remember seeing aluminum wiring in other years of builds. I wish there would be more information written in training and article about how to positively identify aluminum versus tin coated copper.
