Poppa
Gold Member
Well, This site went and got me smelling real bad. The dog is hiding, my girl just crinkles her nose when I walk by and I have a good idea that my wife is going to be real upset with how I smell when she gets home. And yet. And yet, I am sitting here smiling from ear to ear and I do believe I have all of you to thank for it.
I am not afraid of DIY work. Have gutted and repaired just about every room in a house at least once and some two or three times. But there has always been two things I have left to the experts. My well and my septic. Not that I thought they were rocket science or anything but it's just that one delivers the most important thing on earth and the other takes it away. Both actions seemed to me to be something I did not want to mess with. Until today.
Last night the alarm goes off for the septic tank. This alarm I have learned means that the pump in the secondary, lower, tank has failed and the tank is nearly full of effluent. I learned this last year when it happened and shortly before I wrote a 500 dollar check. And I didn't even need a new pump then, the float was just wrapped around the stand pipe. Well, last night when it happened I quickly went outside and changed the field I was using (I have two) so that the effluent would bypass the lower tank. Then I came up stairs, crawled into bed and thought about what was in store for me.
I knew the lower tank was now full of effluent. This meant that before anyone would touch it they would want it pumped out which meant I was going to drop 200 dollars to get rid of something that normally just perks into my ground. On top of that, I figured this time the pump was probably dead and so there was another 100 plus and then add in some labor and BAMM 500 dollars.
So what could I do? Well, you might laugh but I swear to God the first person that came to mind was POLECAT. I just knew that if he heard about this and heard that I was too much of a weeney to get a little dirty to save me some serious cash he would never respect me again. Well, that was all it took.
First thing this morning, went out and dug out the access holes on the lower tank, pulled the lid, played around with a few things to make sure it was the pump and not just some ball up like before. Went to Lowes and purchased a nice 1/2 hp effluent pump along with odds and ends of PVC. Brought it all home and then proceded to remove and repair the whole system and I think it is better than what I started with. Total cost 112.00. That was 105 for the new pump, 5 dollars worth of fittings and some glue and a two dollar hot dog for the girls so I didn't have to come home and worry about their lunch.
So thanks all, I was out there working on it and I kept saying to myself if I have a problem I can go post it and I bet I have an answer in less than twenty minutes. Luckily, at least as far as I can tell, I had no problems.
The family might not like the way I smell but I think I came out smelling like a rose.
Thought about posting some pics and then thought probably not. Hope you don't mind.
Hey, with the subject of this post and the length of same, does this qualify as logarhea? If so I guess I am in good company /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Mike
I am not afraid of DIY work. Have gutted and repaired just about every room in a house at least once and some two or three times. But there has always been two things I have left to the experts. My well and my septic. Not that I thought they were rocket science or anything but it's just that one delivers the most important thing on earth and the other takes it away. Both actions seemed to me to be something I did not want to mess with. Until today.
Last night the alarm goes off for the septic tank. This alarm I have learned means that the pump in the secondary, lower, tank has failed and the tank is nearly full of effluent. I learned this last year when it happened and shortly before I wrote a 500 dollar check. And I didn't even need a new pump then, the float was just wrapped around the stand pipe. Well, last night when it happened I quickly went outside and changed the field I was using (I have two) so that the effluent would bypass the lower tank. Then I came up stairs, crawled into bed and thought about what was in store for me.
I knew the lower tank was now full of effluent. This meant that before anyone would touch it they would want it pumped out which meant I was going to drop 200 dollars to get rid of something that normally just perks into my ground. On top of that, I figured this time the pump was probably dead and so there was another 100 plus and then add in some labor and BAMM 500 dollars.
So what could I do? Well, you might laugh but I swear to God the first person that came to mind was POLECAT. I just knew that if he heard about this and heard that I was too much of a weeney to get a little dirty to save me some serious cash he would never respect me again. Well, that was all it took.
First thing this morning, went out and dug out the access holes on the lower tank, pulled the lid, played around with a few things to make sure it was the pump and not just some ball up like before. Went to Lowes and purchased a nice 1/2 hp effluent pump along with odds and ends of PVC. Brought it all home and then proceded to remove and repair the whole system and I think it is better than what I started with. Total cost 112.00. That was 105 for the new pump, 5 dollars worth of fittings and some glue and a two dollar hot dog for the girls so I didn't have to come home and worry about their lunch.
So thanks all, I was out there working on it and I kept saying to myself if I have a problem I can go post it and I bet I have an answer in less than twenty minutes. Luckily, at least as far as I can tell, I had no problems.
The family might not like the way I smell but I think I came out smelling like a rose.
Thought about posting some pics and then thought probably not. Hope you don't mind.
Hey, with the subject of this post and the length of same, does this qualify as logarhea? If so I guess I am in good company /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Mike
