talk me down re: septic permits

[lemondrop]

So, we're under contract on our house. One contingency was that we get the required permit for our septic. It's a new law that we have to have it inspected and pumped every three years. Well, come to find out, our drain field is 16 square feet too small for the number of bedrooms. 16! That's hardly anything, but it doesn't matter. The woman who handles the permits just looked at DH with a stupid face and said, "Well you can extend your drain field" like it's the easiest effing thing to do.

I'm so pissed right now. DH is moving on Friday. I'll be here for three more weeks. I can't handle the work needed to get this done. The county *might* grant us an exemption, but it's doubtful.

Also, the requirement about the size of the drain field and the number of bedrooms was written five years after my house was built. The basement was finished six months before it was written, but it doesn't matter.

[tarheels]

There's no grandfather clause? That bites. Any chance some other gov't peon would have a different answer? There's no contractor you can just hire to do it so you won't have too much annoyance?

[sjh722]

I'd start making calls and see if you're grandfathered in. Here, as long as the septic is functioning properly, old drain fields are not held to the new code size-wise. If it has to be replaced, then you need to bring it to current code.

Also call a few septic contractors and explain the situation. They may know exactly what small fix is needed or who to speak to at the permitting office to clear the issue up. (I'm not sure if it's really simple to "extend a drain field" - I've only ever heard of putting in a whole new drain field if the old system fails.)

[sjh722]

Also, do you have an agent, or are you FSBO?

Your agent should be on this.

[lemondrop]

Thanks for the advice. DH has called and spoken to a lot of county and state officials. He has to speak to another guy at the county office tomorrow.

He's tried to call our realtor, but hasn't been able to get a hold of him. He just went to rent a mini excavator to determine if the drain field is as short as the original permit work says.

I'm hoping my dad has some free time next week to come do the work if we need to.

[Deleted]

Jun 6, 2012 18:16:33 GMT -5 sjh722 said:

I'd start making calls and see if you're grandfathered in. Here, as long as the septic is functioning properly, old drain fields are not held to the new code size-wise. If it has to be replaced, then you need to bring it to current code.

Also call a few septic contractors and explain the situation. They may know exactly what small fix is needed or who to speak to at the permitting office to clear the issue up. (I'm not sure if it's really simple to "extend a drain field" - I've only ever heard of putting in a whole new drain field if the old system fails.)

This. We had this issue to for some godforsaken reason when we built. We finally had our contractor talk to the right people at the county and it was a matter of reworking paperwork so our one bedroom was listed as "office." We were good to go then.

Our county is pretty strict with codes otherwise, but they are pretty good about grandfathering in depending on the mistake and how big of an impact it will have.

[lemondrop]

Jun 6, 2012 18:25:18 GMT -5 @justdairy said:

Jun 6, 2012 18:16:33 GMT -5 sjh722 said:

I'd start making calls and see if you're grandfathered in. Here, as long as the septic is functioning properly, old drain fields are not held to the new code size-wise. If it has to be replaced, then you need to bring it to current code.

Also call a few septic contractors and explain the situation. They may know exactly what small fix is needed or who to speak to at the permitting office to clear the issue up. (I'm not sure if it's really simple to "extend a drain field" - I've only ever heard of putting in a whole new drain field if the old system fails.)

This. We had this issue to for some godforsaken reason when we built. We finally had our contractor talk to the right people at the county and it was a matter of reworking paperwork so our one bedroom was listed as "office." We were good to go then.

Our county is pretty strict with codes otherwise, but they are pretty good about grandfathering in depending on the mistake and how big of an impact it will have.

Our local code states that a bedroom has a closet. If we took out a closet in the basement, we'd only have a four bedroom, but we can't do that because it would nullify the sales contract on our house and drop the value.

I don't think we have an option to be grandfathered in, but we're doing our research.

[magdala9]

Jun 6, 2012 16:41:01 GMT -5 lemondrop said:

So, we're under contract on our house. One contingency was that we get the required permit for our septic. It's a new law that we have to have it inspected and pumped every three years. Well, come to find out, our drain field is 16 square feet too small for the number of bedrooms. 16! That's hardly anything, but it doesn't matter. The woman who handles the permits just looked at DH with a stupid face and said, "Well you can extend your drain field" like it's the easiest effing thing to do.

I'm so pissed right now. DH is moving on Friday. I'll be here for three more weeks. I can't handle the work needed to get this done. The county *might* grant us an exemption, but it's doubtful.

Also, the requirement about the size of the drain field and the number of bedrooms was written five years after my house was built. The basement was finished six months before it was written, but it doesn't matter.

Check out your state laws. In Massachusetts, the seller must bring the septic system up to code (called Title V) before they are allowed to sell.

[lemondrop]

Jun 6, 2012 21:59:02 GMT -5 magdala9 said:

Jun 6, 2012 16:41:01 GMT -5 lemondrop said:

So, we're under contract on our house. One contingency was that we get the required permit for our septic. It's a new law that we have to have it inspected and pumped every three years. Well, come to find out, our drain field is 16 square feet too small for the number of bedrooms. 16! That's hardly anything, but it doesn't matter. The woman who handles the permits just looked at DH with a stupid face and said, "Well you can extend your drain field" like it's the easiest effing thing to do.

I'm so pissed right now. DH is moving on Friday. I'll be here for three more weeks. I can't handle the work needed to get this done. The county *might* grant us an exemption, but it's doubtful.

Also, the requirement about the size of the drain field and the number of bedrooms was written five years after my house was built. The basement was finished six months before it was written, but it doesn't matter.

Check out your state laws. In Massachusetts, the seller must bring the septic system up to code (called Title V) before they are allowed to sell.

Unfort we're working with a county law and I'm the seller.

[FoxInFiji]

Well double check/get another opinion it couldn't hurt. Our septic system is too small for our house in today's standards. It met code in when it was built in the 70's and is grandfathered in. Most septic systems today are very oversized with the low flow rate fixtures required for all new fixtures by federal law.

Being required to pump and inspect the tank every 2-3 years is a very good thing! There are too many variables to predict how often it actually needs to be pumped and if the tank/field has been damaged. Places that don't have requirements like that have a much higher fail rate on their septic systems which pollutes the ground water.

[lemondrop]

Fox, DH is talking to the guy at the state as well to work this out. Apparently we only have one county and one state person, but he's talking to everyone who could possibly have anything to do with anything.

I agree that requirements for pumping and inspections are good. I'm just really irked about this. The law apparently went into effect in 2011, but they're just now starting to enforce it. If they'd just waited a few months our house would be sold. I kid; obviously I wouldn't want to push a problem like this onto another person.