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Maybe someone can help me... I am looking to purchase a piece of land that has public water but no sewer. There are many homes close to the area that have septic sewer systems (and by close, I mean right across the street).
I read that to put a septic sewer system in, I would need a perc test. Looking up the tax records for the property it says "unbuildable-no perc-no sewer". So I "assume" that it is unbuildable because no perc test was done for homes to be built there. Is there someone in the county government I should ask about the "unbuildable" status?
As for the perc test, do I buy the land and make it contingent on passing a perc? It seems that it can take 6 months for a completed perc test? One during summer and one during winter as well as a soil test? It seems the costs can reach $1k to do all these tests. Is this right? What happens if it doesn't pass the perc? Do I tell them to refund my money (what about the interest part when I get a land mortgage?).
Also, I hear there are different types of septic systems. Is there one that stands out as being better than others? I heard peat moss is an expensive one. Oh, I don't plan to build immediately, is there a reason Perc tests are only good for 1-2 years? Thanks.
Last edited by evilnewbie; 12-07-2008 at 01:25 PM..
Call the county health inspection office where you are looking at buying your land. Ask them what the requirements are. Perks tests are very easy. Usually you hire someone to dig 3 holes on your property and the inspector checks it.
The amounts and information you got for a perk test seem to be very wrong. Then again I've only had perk test done in TN and NC.
Do not purchase the property without a perk test. I would do like you suggested and make the sale contingent on the land perking for a standard septic system. Again check with the county.
Remember, play nice with the county and you will get much farther.
Call the county health inspection office where you are looking at buying your land. Ask them what the requirements are. Perks tests are very easy. Usually you hire someone to dig 3 holes on your property and the inspector checks it.
The amounts and information you got for a perk test seem to be very wrong. Then again I've only had perk test done in TN and NC.
Do not purchase the property without a perk test. I would do like you suggested and make the sale contingent on the land perking for a standard septic system. Again check with the county.
Remember, play nice with the county and you will get much farther.
Is the perc test done only once? If it passes and I don't build until 3-4 years later, do I need to do a perc test again? Or does the perc test last "forever"?
Is the perc test done only once? If it passes and I don't build until 3-4 years later, do I need to do a perc test again? Or does the perc test last "forever"?
I think it will be fine but, state and county codes will vary. I see no reason the soil would charge however, in time the codes could. Talk to your local health department.
First off....ALWAYS buy land contingent upon several factors, for the sake of this post lets just say the sale is contingent upon satisfactory results of a percolation test. A perc test is nothing more then observing how quickly a known volume of water can leach/disapate/perculate into the earth. Every part of this country have different laws pertaining to the calculations of this test such as length of time and depth of the hole dug.
If it dont pass then the sale is void and you get all your deposit back. The world is not over if it does not pass and you still like the land. You can choose to do a closed septic. A closed system is just that. A sealed tank or several tanks in series. They normally come in 500 gallon tanks. This is because most laws require 500 gallons per bedroom. The number of bathrooms in a home are never ever calculated into the requirements. Requirements are by number of bedrooms only.
A closed system is quite inexpensive to install. Maybe $3-4,000 as opposed to $10-15,000 for a standard septic. The bad news is with a closed system you will have to call the honey wagon maybe every month to empty it out at a cost of about $400 at a time depending on how many people live in the home and how well you conserve. Most people dont know how to conserve. Many people with this system just hold the black water (toilets only) and the grey water (sinks and bath tubs) to pipe out and just lay it over their garden. This may not be legal but in remote areas no one cares. A closed system will never ever be denied a permit if no waste ever leaves the holding tank.
If it is near a lake you can also do an arobic septic but I wont go into that.
If the earth does not take water and it fails the perculation test then you can do a raised leach field. Usually if the earth cant leach water then it is probably heavy clay or rock ledge. So what you can do is do a standard septic tank with a raised leach field meaning building walls above grade and filling it in with a sand dirt mix and then just doing a normal leach field inside these walls. These leach beds can sometimes be 5' high. Yes they look weird. A good septic engineer can design anything to fit any type dirt these days.
Also keep in mind it will be rare to find a buyer for a home with a closed system that needs pumping out every month or 2.
Finally one other law that is pretty much uniform everywhere is the septic leach field MUST be no less then 100' from the water well. If you have city water then it dont matter at all. I say this because if it is a small lot then sometimes it is hard to get the well and septic within a small area and still meet the 100' rule.
In Michigan it is 50 foot for the isolation from the well for a private system. 75 foot for type ll public. Some lots we just can not do it, they are too small. The health department will write a variance on those jobs. If it is REAL close to the septic we will double case. That is the last choice. It is expensive.
What is the price of a perk test in NC, in Raeford, Aberdeen area. Also do you have any idea the clearing costs of land and any other fees you have to pay before placing a trailer on the land.
What is the price of a perk test in NC, in Raeford, Aberdeen area. Also do you have any idea the clearing costs of land and any other fees you have to pay before placing a trailer on the land.
You will have to check with your local health department. From there, they will be able to tell you the next place to check for permits. As far as clearing land, local contractors will give you prices. I would ask the health department for names.
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