Beltzington
Platinum Member
Been having allot of plumbing problems lately and yesterday I am afraid I found a major one. I'm going to have the septic tank pumped tomorrow but I am wondering if it could be something more serious and what you would check.
The 25 year old house is new to me so I do not know when the tank was last serviced, what I do know was a new leaching field was installed about 8-years ago and the house sat empty for the last 6 months. When I bought the house I filled all the sinks and tub and they drained quickly I have also been flushing the toilet several times during the day on the assumption the tank may have dried because of being unused for so long and I wanted it ready to be pumped. I am renovating the master bath and bedroom and was doing one last leak test before the new sheetrock is installed which basically consisted of running the bathtub hot and cold faucets wide open for about 5-minutes ~15 gallons/minute.
The tub was draining really well but began filling up because the input was exceeding the output, my wife was in the master bath looking for leaks and begin yelling to turn off the water which I did. Going to see what she was yelling about I found the 4" main sewage line had backed up and water was flooding over the floor from the toilet flange, going back to the hallway bathroom I found water also coming from under the toilet. The kicker and what I can't understand is the tub was still draining very quickly, I assume it is possible to overwhelm a septic system but I have never seen it before. If the tank was full or there is blockage in the sewer line or leaching field it would have not continued to drain would it? I am afraid simply pumping the tank will only be a temporary solution to a more systemic problem and I certainly don't want to sheetrock and tile a bathroom only to have it ruined in a few weeks or months.
Appreciate any ideas you have.
The 25 year old house is new to me so I do not know when the tank was last serviced, what I do know was a new leaching field was installed about 8-years ago and the house sat empty for the last 6 months. When I bought the house I filled all the sinks and tub and they drained quickly I have also been flushing the toilet several times during the day on the assumption the tank may have dried because of being unused for so long and I wanted it ready to be pumped. I am renovating the master bath and bedroom and was doing one last leak test before the new sheetrock is installed which basically consisted of running the bathtub hot and cold faucets wide open for about 5-minutes ~15 gallons/minute.
The tub was draining really well but began filling up because the input was exceeding the output, my wife was in the master bath looking for leaks and begin yelling to turn off the water which I did. Going to see what she was yelling about I found the 4" main sewage line had backed up and water was flooding over the floor from the toilet flange, going back to the hallway bathroom I found water also coming from under the toilet. The kicker and what I can't understand is the tub was still draining very quickly, I assume it is possible to overwhelm a septic system but I have never seen it before. If the tank was full or there is blockage in the sewer line or leaching field it would have not continued to drain would it? I am afraid simply pumping the tank will only be a temporary solution to a more systemic problem and I certainly don't want to sheetrock and tile a bathroom only to have it ruined in a few weeks or months.
Appreciate any ideas you have.
