Cost of septic system

[adv.wastewater]

yeah i dont expect to be too busy for a while... just started doing some advertising so we'll see how it goes... any good ideas on how to talk to some home builders? just call them and introduce yourself or how have you guys gone about doing so?

 

[BIGDAN315]

It will be difficult to get established with a builder or GC who has been working with some one that they know and trust. It is possible though because contractors like you and I come and go. Some just go out of business for what ever reason. Some relationships go sour. You have to promote your business in every way you can. A good way, like you say, is to introduce your self and be professional when you do. Get some business cards printed up and pass them out. It is important to be reliable and reasonably price as well.

 

[adv.wastewater]

Not only are people around here in the excavating and septic business going out of business, but w lot of home builders have gone out to. When the economy starts turning around and buildingpicks back up fortunetly through my racing career I know a few people who build homes, do flooring, roofing, etc. All who will talk to the main builder to give me a shot. Mainly all of the people I know are the fathers of other young racers. I have noticed there are new home builders opening up, which is who I am going to try to get in with. I am willing to work for a reasonable price and i know I will do the best job possible. As soon as I start doing a few jobs for some general contractors I'm sure they will like my hard work and will appreciate it as well. Like I said, I don't expect to have a lot of work, being new and in the worst economy in my life are 2 things working against me but I am very determined and will wait it out.

 

[BIGDAN315]

Not only are people around here in the excavating and septic business going out of business, but w lot of home builders have gone out to. When the economy starts turning around and buildingpicks back up fortunetly through my racing career I know a few people who build homes, do flooring, roofing, etc. All who will talk to the main builder to give me a shot. Mainly all of the people I know are the fathers of other young racers. I have noticed there are new home builders opening up, which is who I am going to try to get in with. I am willing to work for a reasonable price and i know I will do the best job possible. As soon as I start doing a few jobs for some general contractors I'm sure they will like my hard work and will appreciate it as well. Like I said, I don't expect to have a lot of work, being new and in the worst economy in my life are 2 things working against me but I am very determined and will wait it out.

Work hard, start early and stay late, give a little extra even if it hurts. You get out of this business what you put into it. You are a wet behind the ears rookie and you know how they are treated... Nothing personal Waste it's just the facts of life. Allot of the time it's not what you know but who you know. So mingle with the crowd, introduce your self and hand them a card.
Good Luck to you....:usa

 

[Duke]

My home building & new construction business is shot for now. New construction is all but dead and I live in an area of wealth. I am taking smaller remodeling jobs I would have balked at just last year when I was busy. I'll never make that mistake again.

My equipment is mostly sitting. I got rid of my snow removal business 9 years ago.

Luckily, I saved my money and lived rather frugally in the early years. No boats, harley's, corvettes, just decent equipment to get the job done and low overhead is what is keeping me alive. Hate seeing the equipment sit. Mostly paid off so i hate to sell.

I really don't know when building will come back. And I think once it does, we'll be living in a changed world. I'm thinking smaller more energy efficient better built stuff and the Toll Bros crap will go by the wayside. I think the "development" lifestyle is fading away and better built custom stuff is going to make a comeback.

 

[ScottAR]

Who/what is Toll Bros? Giant Developer?

 

[TimG]

We just had a new code come into effect here (Alberta) last December, and it jacked prices way up. Now we're anywhere from $15,000 for a simple field with perfect soil (probably once in a lifetime situation) up to around $50,000 or even higher for a mound with advanced treatment. Most jobs are coming in around $25-$35,000. The trouble is, it costs from $2500-$3500 to do all the soil testing and design work just to be able to give a price quote. Customers don't like to hear that they have to spend $3500 just to get a price quote. And it makes it very expensive to get more than one quote. The upside is, we don't need to do as many jobs to make the same money, but the jobs take way longer.

 

[upnover]

Sounds like the same scam that happened in BC a few years ago when they brought in their new rules. The "certified" guys had a field day with charging what ever the market would bear!

I just did my system in BC this past May with the help of a certified installer and the cost came it at about 7000.00 for an infiltrator system. I supplied the hoe but still it would have been around 10 k to have him do it. The perc tests cant be that much $ for the assessment. I dont know what kind of systems Alberta wants but it cant be any more stringent than BC unless your building next to a rocky lake shore.

 

[CRAFT]

WELL ! ... here we go again !

I AM a certified ROWP in BC ...from the beginning in '05 when our regs changed ....
And am sick and tired of being accused of making a cash cow out of every job we do !!! ...... we did an engineered system this past spring that was in a remote area, and the owner supplied All of the material and he also supplied the equipment to do the job..... (I ran the Machine) .... and once the smoke cleared the customer was SHOCKED at what came out in the end ....
Long story short, he found that my labor and the excavating costs removed WERE the cheapest part of the hole job (including the engineer) approx. a quarter of the job

It has been my arguement for 5 years now that the materials used are so far over priced that it makes us look really bad, because the end price is what the customers look at ! ....the supplers blame it on the oil prices, so much mat is plastic now, and not to forget the cost of fuel for transportation and since 911 the cost of EO and liability insurance has over doubled.

As far as the perc tests and onsite evaluation is concerned ?? ....WHAT is your time worth ??? ...trips to the site, labor, planning, and don't forget cover your ass, and cover it again ... you make a mistake and your butt is grass ..... again WHAT is your time worth, we're not out here to do favors, it is after all business ..... hmmmmm ..... if I have to park an excavator at $120/hr or go to a site and work for peanuts, kiss the customers *** to get into a pissing match over a price war with other contractors prices being held against you ...... WHAT WOULD YOU DO ????

I have been an installer for over 26 yrs and in the last 5 we have not had fun having to fight for every cheque or not even get paid at all.


JMHO ! .... and we're sticking to it :Banghead :beatsme :drinkup

 

[buckfever]

10-4 craft. your not alone . seams like thats the case in any earth moveing. pay 150,000 for a excavator 50,000 for a truck and 20,000 for a trailer and the customer still wants you to work for $40/hr. our stuff will sit before we work for that price.

 

[upnover]

Whoa...didnt mean to strike a soft spot there Craft.

I'm just telling you what the customers have told me. There are 2 sides to the story. There are the guys who milked it because they had uneducated customers who didnt do their homework. They gave the song and dance about the new regs and it showed up in their invoices. I have no problem with a guy making a good $ on providing a service. I'm self employed to! My motto has been give the customer what he wants at a fair price and you'll both be happy. So far it has worked for me.

 

[Keenan993]

average system around here, south eastern PA, 10-15k.
We do a lot of at-grades with peat filters, they usually push over 20k.
there is some serious low balling going on however.

 

[nkfuller09]

Tim- we are looking into a open discharge system simply because of the price. Are they sanitary? Also do they have a nasty smell? We are looking at putting it on a 20 acre parcel. TIA

 

[nkfuller09]

Open discharge system

In alberta I do an open discharge with a 1000gal tank, 150ft of disharge line for $6,500
A 2000 gallon holding $6,800
3300holding $10,000
3300 water cistern with pressure system $12-14000
last field I did 1200gal tank 300ft field with EQ-36 infaltrater(900sq.ft) $9,500 4 yr ago,
I do hear know around $12,000 for the same system. Up to $20,000 for a treatment plant

Tim- we are looking into a open discharge system simply because of the price. Are they sanitary? Also do they have a nasty smell? We are looking at putting it on a 20 acre parcel. TIA

 

[Shimmy1]

I wouldn't believe open drains are legal anywhere here in the US.

 

[JBGASH]

In Missouri, open discharge is not legal for residential or commercial applications. But most small municipalities discharge out of the lagoons, I believe the DNR is the monitoring entity that watches over their discharges.

I wouldn't believe open drains are legal anywhere here in the US.

 

[bobcat1]

upnover- I agree with Craft and buckfever. There is a difference between running a business just to collect a pay cheque at the end of the week and operating a BUSINESS that makes a PROFIT. Before you sling mud, you should understand the cost to operate a true business, everything included, not just the material for one job. To adv. wastewater, take a business course or go to a trade show and attend a business related seminar and learn how to calculate your cost and how to mark up material properly to attain a true profit at the end of the year. This includes the costumer who you chase 120 days to a year or more or not get paid at all(yes, this is also an expense to doing business). Learn what your numbers should be and not what everybody else charges. It is a long road to operating a successful business and one you have to go down properly.

 

[JBGASH]

A normal conventional septic system that consists of a 1000 gal tank, 3- 100 runs of 22" chambers or 3- runs of traditional leachfield that is constructed with 4" perforated pipe and 6" of clean rock under and 4" over the top starts at $6500.00 min. The site is very simple with good soil that percs/drains well and has no other issues to deal with. The job can be done in most cases in 1 day with 2 men, compact trackloader and mid size excavator. LPP, drip or sandfilter systems start at $15,000 and up. I feel these prices are on the low side of what they should be.

 

[Shimmy1]

Here in ND, you need min. 1000 gal. working septic tank, and 110 ft. of trench per bedroom of the house. Any more than three bathrooms, add 50' per. More than one laundry, add another 50'. Garbage disposal? Must have 1500 gal. septic and extra 100'. Any trench system (gravelless, rock bed, infiltrator) must be no more than 30" deep to bottom of trench. If using rock bed, must be 18" of rock. Bottom of any trench must be minimum 2' above oxidation layer in the soil. If oxidation layer is less than 4½' down, rock bed may not be used; must be gravelless with clean, sandy topsoil brought in to get minimum 12" cover over top of pipe. If oxidation layer is less than 2', a sand bed mound must be used. Average size for a mound is around 60' by 120' at base, minimum 1' washed sand, 6" rock under leach pipe, foot of soil over top of entire mound.

I don't get into the septic work since I went on my own 3 yrs ago, but did it for 20 yrs. with my Dad. The gravelless systems were the cheapest, about $2500 for tank/pump chamber install, then around $10/foot for the gravelless pipe installed. Washed sewer rock around here goes about $30/yd³ or more delivered, so rock beds are about $12/foot. I personally have never liked the look of the domes or chamber pipe so I don't have any opinion on those. Mounds have cost close to $20,000 here. They take on average 350 to 500 yds³ of washed sand at $15/yd³. Plus, about 100-200 yds³ of good topsoil.