Septic Tank Installation in the Triangle
Celebrating 30 Years of Service; Est. 1996
Septic system installation by an NC Level IV installer
Level IV is the highest installer grade North Carolina gives. Ours is certificate 3402, and it means we can install any type of system the county approves for your lot, not only a gravity system in good soil. We are also a certified septic inspector, certificate 3402I, and we are fully insured and licensed.
We have been installing in Triangle soils since 1996, and Bobby Davis Jr. has 50 years in the trade. We are based in Durham and work in the ten counties around it. For an office, a church or a shop outside town sewer, see our commercial installations.
Call (919) 481-6929 and we will set up a site visit.
How a new septic system gets installed in NC
A new system starts with the county, not a backhoe. This is the real sequence, and the permit steps come before anyone digs.
- Soil evaluation and improvement permit: the county environmental health office evaluates the soil and the site, and the improvement permit says what the lot can take.
- System design and construction authorization: the system is designed for the house and the soil, and the county authorizes construction.
- The install: we set the tank, lay the lines or the low-pressure pipe, set the distribution box and bring the lids up on risers.
- County inspection: the county inspects the finished system.
- Operation permit: when the system passes, the county issues the permit to use it.
- Backfill and the yard: we backfill and grade. Expect bare ground over the lines and risers at the surface, and keep cars off the field.
Which office? Wake County Environmental Services covers Raleigh, Garner, Knightdale, Wake Forest, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, Cary and Apex. Durham County Public Health Environmental Health, Orange County Environmental Health in Hillsborough, Chatham County Environmental Health in Pittsboro and the Johnston County and Harnett County offices cover their counties. The other counties we serve have their own environmental health offices, and we tell you which one applies. The state rules are 15A NCAC 18E.
What the ground decides
The soil on your lot picks the system more than anything else. Where the ground drains, a conventional gravity system with trenches is the usual answer. Where it drains slowly or the soil is shallow, the county may call for a shallower, longer field or a low-pressure pipe system, and where the field sits uphill from the tank, a pump moves the water to it.
A band of dense clay and shale, the Triassic Basin, runs under much of Durham, Morrisville, western and southern Cary, Apex, Pittsboro and parts of Holly Springs. It drains slowly, so drainfields there are often larger, shallower or low-pressure pipe, and they fail from saturation. Planning a septic installation in Durham or a new septic installation in Holly Springs? Expect that clay.
Around Hillsborough and Chapel Hill the Carolina Slate Belt puts rock close to the surface, so a septic installation in Chapel Hill often means shallow soil over rock. Most of Wake County is red clay, which is the ground under a septic tank installation in Raleigh, NC or a septic system installation in Garner. Toward the Johnston and Harnett lines the ground turns sandier and drains better, where the Coastal Plain begins.
Tank replacement
Sometimes the tank is the only thing wrong. We replace a tank, rather than repair it, in these cases.
- Concrete that is cracked through or crumbling
- A steel tank that has rusted out
- A lid or a tank top that has collapsed or will not hold
Replacing a tank is a repair, not a new system. It takes a county repair permit, and we pull it. Before we set the new tank we look at the lines and the distribution box, because a new tank on a failing field only moves the problem. If the field is the trouble, see drainfield repair and replacement. For a single broken part, see septic tank repair. Ask for risers on the new tank, so the lids stay at the surface, and after that it goes on the septic tank pumping routine.
What changes the cost of a new septic system
We do not put a number on a new system before we have seen the lot, because the lot decides most of it. These are the things that move the price: the soil and what the county’s evaluation calls for; the type of system, gravity or low-pressure pipe; whether a pump is needed or the field can run downhill; how easy it is to get equipment to the site; the size of the tank; and the county’s fees.
Call (919) 481-6929 and ask for a site visit. Tell us the address, whether the county has already evaluated the lot, and who is building.
Septic installation questions
What owners and builders ask before they start.
Do I need a permit to install a septic system?
Yes. A new system needs an improvement permit and a construction authorization from the county environmental health office before anyone digs. After the install the county inspects and issues an operation permit. A replacement tank needs a county repair permit, and a routine pump-out needs none.
How long does a new septic system take?
The permits set most of the schedule: the county evaluates the soil, issues the improvement permit and authorizes construction before we dig. Weather and soil add to it. We give you a schedule once we have seen the lot.
Who does the soil evaluation?
In most cases the county environmental health office. What it finds sets the type of system the lot can take. Call for a site visit and we will walk the lot with you first.
Can you replace just the tank?
Yes, when the rest of the system is sound. It is a repair permit, not a new-system permit. We check the lines and the distribution box first, because a new tank will not fix a failing field, and we tell you so.
What is a low-pressure pipe system?
A pump sends small, measured doses of water through small pipe laid shallow across the field, instead of letting it run by gravity into a few trenches. It spreads the water evenly over ground that drains slowly or is shallow, which is why it shows up in the clay around Durham, Cary, Apex and Pittsboro.
Will you work with my builder?
Yes. Call with the lot address and where the county stands on the permit, and we plan the install around your builder’s schedule. The house location and the grading decide where the system can go, so the sooner we talk, the better.