Septic vs Sewer

[Farm Gal]

Terry:

Glad you are taking our hi-jacking in good spirits! DO let us know resolution! I am going to keep watching this thread til I hear!

8O Got news for you bud... once posted the results of the thread can wander far astray... and it's "OURS" :twisted: :twisted: not yours as soon as you hit 'send'... :wink:

Acutally the 'subthread' organization is the main loss from the old forum format: several subthreads could be initiated and followed (or not-depending on your interest level) rather than the current lineal posting. It requires a nible mind to jump back and forth from subtopics... in this format... whine whine whine... :lol:

 

[xmrdfghap]

Terry you are absolutely right.....stay on topic!

Lee Ann, what is your favorite Starbucks flavor?

 

[Dee Dee]

Although less common in my area, mound systems are sometimes put in our area because there is such a shallow amount of topsoil before reaching solid rock. It's far less expensive to build up a mound than it is to blast through rock in order to put the system in. 99% of the systems are located downhill of the home as it is common knowledge which way excrement rolls. :wink:

 

[Farm Gal]

Dee Dee:
:lol: :lol: which way it rolls
Do you find this type of mound sytem 'common' up on your granite peaks? What would you guess as percent of your 'real hillside' homes use this? and now on another sub-thread: do they do drill and fill (pier and grade beam) foundations on those same granite peaks?

Wow I love this forum!

Greg you are naughty!!! I don't usually DO starbucks cause a) I drink mostly tea and I don't like theirs, and B) Star bucks empties my pocket faster than I am comfortable with! c) probably any of the frozen latte type drinks: I got turned on to cold sweet coffe with cream overseas.

 

[Pamela Crowley (Florida)]

Gee, thanks Lee Ann. I just finished lunch and now I have a HUGE craving for ice cream.

Oops.... off topic again.

 

[Dee Dee]

Dee Dee:
:lol: :lol: which way it rolls
Do you find this type of mound sytem 'common' up on your granite peaks? What would you guess as percent of your 'real hillside' homes use this? and now on another sub-thread: do they do drill and fill (pier and grade beam) foundations on those same granite peaks?

Wow I love this forum!

Greg you are naughty!!! I don't usually DO starbucks cause a) I drink mostly tea and I don't like theirs, and B) Star bucks empties my pocket faster than I am comfortable with! c) probably any of the frozen latte type drinks: I got turned on to cold sweet coffe with cream overseas.

 

[Dee Dee]

OOps!
LeeAnn,
I think that mound septics in other areas are probably far easier to identify than what we have here. More often than not the terrain is rolling and/or sloping so another little hill doesn't visably stand out as much as it might in an area that is relatively level.
I've been getting quite an education lately on local codes for foundations and footings. A good percentage of the homes here are built into the hillside with decks that extend out with pier footings. Code here is 3ft. deep footings for residentail structures or deep enough to hit bedrock with rebar drilled in. I had to eat $5000 in blasting fees to allow for a walk-out basement in my house. No shortage of work for the boys who are licensed to blow things up in this area :lol: . Unlike many areas of the country, good topsoil is hard to come by. Most of the dirt is finely decomposed granite, and good topsoil can only be found on the valley floors. That's why erosion is a big deal around here. Nothing wants to grow in lousy top soil, and when it's removed it takes forever to get new growth to come in. Tiered concrete retaining walls are often installed after new construction on steep slopes to keep things in place.
I was once hired to do an appraisal on a newer home that was built into a hillside. When I got there I discovered that because another house had recently been built about 200 yards further up the mountainside and no good retaining walls had been put it, the house I was appraising was literally getting all of the topsoil around it washed away. Needless to say, there was a major feud brewing between the two homeowners, the county and the engineers over this homeowners lost driveway.

 

[msking]

I live and work in an agricultural county in northern California in the process of swiftly converting to subdivisions. On the subject of septic vs. sewer:

My home is 50 years old, on a 1/4 acre lot in a rural subdivision of mostly 1 acre lots. Because I don't have room to expand my septic system, I am not able to remodel my house to add another bedroom and bath. Sewer lines are not far away, but the city does not intend to bring them into my subdivison because of the cost to homeowners, most elderly and not at all interested in switching to sewers.

Would sewer hookup increase the value of my property? Yes! Would it increase the value of the larger lots? Unlikely.

Regarding mounds... many new homes are being built on large lots (1 to 5 acres or larger) without sewer hookups, so are using septics. In most cases, aboveground septic systems are required by the city due to our very high water table (no one has basements here!).

In some cases, however, the city "waives" the requirement. A one acre building site near me, in a small private subdivision, improved with water, electric, cable, phone line, natural gas and compacted pad is currently listed for $160,000. Similarly sized unimproved sites are selling for around $85,000. This site has no sewer or septic - but a waiver so that septics can be underground.

The property has been on the market for a couple months, FSBO who is one of the principals and will be building a home for himself next door. I will be interested to see the final selling price.