Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am considering a move to New Hampshire for many reasons which I won't get into, but one thing that has me concerned is the propensity of septic systems. When I was a kid I lived in a house in Illinois that had a septic sytem. In winter a pipe broke and the yard turned into a cesspool with sewage floating around, stinking the neighborhood up. My parents had to hire a team to tear it all up and fix the system. It wasn't pretty.
So my questions are: Do you have to live in the city to enjoy municipal sewer services? If you're looking for a house on a home-buying website, what phrase tells you that the house is on a municipal sewer grid? Underground utilities?
private septics & wells are by far the most common in NH, although there are some places on city septic & well. Usually you have to be in dense population areas - notably cities, but also some places like Greenville (which, for a small town, is pretty much ONLY city center!) have public water & sewage, and sometimes you can find other towns that have a town center might also.
when you look on a website, for example nneren.com, on the listing sheet it will say: Water- public or private (might also say if it's drilled or dug) and will also list Sewer - public or septic/private.
It's definitely worth having a septic system inspected before buying a property, but having a septic should not be a dealbreaker. I live in an unusual neighborhood, town water, but private septic, no sewer. I have lived here for 10 years, the septic is 30 years old. We are a family of 4 with dishwasher, disposal, and laundry and have had no problems. We have our tank pumped out every 2-3 years. That maintenance is super important.
Septic systems dominate in NH outside more crowded developed areas and town villages. This is because NH is rural, and with property taxes so high, it's hard for town governments to ask the residents to pony up for an extension of sewer lines.
If you don't need to have a good sized lot, you may be able to restrict your search to properties served by sewer. But if you want some land in NH, septic systems are the rule.
Here in Colebrook I live close to town and have town sewerage but by choice a well. I pay $75 every six months for the sewerage. I'll probably get town water sometime in the future but for now the well water is very good. The problem is, when we lose power my generator is connected to the heating system. The well pump would draw more than my generator can produce , hence no power, no water.
When I was a kid I lived in a house in Illinois that had a septic sytem. In winter a pipe broke and the yard turned into a cesspool with sewage floating around, stinking the neighborhood up. My parents had to hire a team to tear it all up and fix the system. It wasn't pretty.
If you're looking for a house on a home-buying website, what phrase tells you that the house is on a municipal sewer grid? Underground utilities?
Unless your parents had an unusual septic system, my guess is the system had more problems then just a broken pipe. That said, Mark and Wanna have given great advice and answered your questions. A properly installed and maintained septic system system should give years of service with no problems as long as it is treated as designed.
$225 here...included digging out the cover (our tank is buried very deep). It was done before we moved in...but we did it again on our own for peace of mind...he said with our usage we could go 3 years. We'll do it every 2 for peace of mind...
BF,
You may want to consider installing a riser for easier access. Risers are available in materials such as concrete, steel or plastic composites. This may also reduce the cost of labor when the time comes for maintenance.
BF,
You may want to consider installing a riser for easier access. Risers are available in materials such as concrete, steel or plastic composites. This may also reduce the cost of labor when the time comes for maintenance.
Hrmm, not a bad idea. Any idea what they run? Thanks to very loose soil digging it out is only costing me $20, so they would have to be pretty cheap to get a positive ROI during any reasonable time frame. Thanks for the tip/suggestion!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I figger I'm good for 2 years now also.
