u/Menoftheway

I’m under contract to buy a home that failed The county required septic inspection. We know at a minimum the tank has to be replaced however there seems to be a possible issue with the drainfield which is substantially more expensive 10,000 for a tank replacement versus 35,000 for a system replacement.

This is a unique property because it is multiple acres inside of the city limits, but the house needs a lot cosmetically and some things mechanically. I have lived in the home as a renter for the past 12 months and have had no issues with the plumbing whatsoever. A septic company had us fill the tank and noticed that the water was not going out to the drainfield the way that it should and explained a drainfield replacement is very likely and at minimum the system is on borrowed time.

My stance is that this is something they will have to replace regardless if I buy the home or not because the county will fine the sellers $500 a day until the problems are corrected. They have 30 days from the date of the county inspection to get this fixed.

Numbers on this deal our sales price of the home $580k only one agent involved. For them to walk away with the same money at closing, they would need to sell the house for $625,000 but I think that’s a big risk for them because they will have to put at least $15,000 worth of Improvements into the property before they take it to market and it’s very likely that other buyers will not overlook some of the cosmetic defects or take the home as is or be unrepresented.

What are your thoughts?

Under contract to buy this house built in 87 and has a septic system that is original to the home so a 39-year-old septic system the tank failed the county inspection because the inspector was able to pierce through the roof of the tank with a ground probe at a minimum we know that the tank has to be replaced.

However, the inspector was concerned about some what appeared to be surfacing in the yard, but after further inspection realized it wasn’t surfacing because there was no black biomass but she suspected there’s still some type of issue with the drain field. A septic company came out and recommended that we get as much water back into the tank as possible since it was pumped as part of the inspection. Over the last 48 hours we let a shower run almost nonstop.

This is a 1500 gallon tank and we were able to get the water level above the drain pipe as you can see in the photos and both compartments filled up.

The septic company said because water was able to go above the outlet pipe that there is definitely an issue with the drain field, but it is not surfacing and Given the age of the system , recommends total replacement between $32k and $38,000. We have had a lot of rain in the last two weeks. If that makes a difference.

Any help would be appreciated as to what issues could could exist since there is no surfacing in the drain field, I am still willing to buy this house, but as you can imagine, the sellers are an absolute shock at the price of system replacement

Failed septic inspection

Confused about leach field