All Forum Posts by: Don Meinke

You or no one else spoke to this issue.  Span, size, and spacing of the floor joists?  You have movement if tile is cracking.

Have heard on other boards the magic thickness of  subfloor is AT LEAST 1 1/4" and 1 1/2" is much better.  That does not include old wood flooring underneath NOR the  cement board underlayment.  Also many use mastic where it should be thin set,,,and back buttering tiles required.

I worked in a store that had concrete floors with tile over.  Knew the guy well whose job it was to chip out broken tile and replace.  NOT a real fun job.  This guy was chipping out the SAME tile several times a week,,,sometimes it didnt last a day.  I asked why,,,he said there is no base under it,,,the concrete had turned to dust.  Would have been better to cut it all the way down and repour a base first,,,nope,,,stupid corporate minds said its cheaper to replace tiles again and again.  moral of story,,,no base,,,no intact tile!!!!

'Here' zoning is not the issue,,,but use is.  Guess a little convo with the post office is in order.

IF the doors are one above the other commonly they use(Just an example) 110 Elm St.  and the lower 110 1/2 Elm

If the doors are side by side like a duplex type they usually have consecutive numbers,,,like 110 and 112 Elm...Depending on of course what the next house number is.  If its already using the 112 number then they go back to the 110 1/2 number.

Or the other option would be 110 Elm number 1 and number 2,,,or "A" and "B"...Whichever works better for your senario.  Written as like this 110 Elm #1,,city, state zip

Your mileage may vary!!

Refresh my memory,,WHY do you think this tank and leach field is BAD.  Or needs repair/replacement?  IF this is a buy and hold use it as is and see where it goes.

If the tank 'needs' pumped,,,pump it,,,if the laterals arent draining well enough you can blast them with high pressure air and styrofoam beads and make it work like new,

I would NOT call any inspectors or wake up any sleeping dogs I didnt need to.  Rent the thing out to as small of family as you can find and impress water conserving methods and practices.  Living on a septic tank is worlds apart from city sewer.  

Your existing system may well serve you well for many many years.  IF the neighbor dug up part of the system,,,tell him its now time to repair his damage,,,altho its important to keep the neighbor hood peace,,,if you can.  IF he is a good neighbor he WILL undo what he has done.

thats MY idea of a lawn to mow.

Long as you dont have any 'rock'et scientists that use them for window  fun.

That has been tried here but its a never ending fight against weeds growing thru those

if you have inconspicuous area like a closet ceiling to test you will be amazed how easy the scrape 'can; be.  Since you painted over it at least once it may be a bit harder.  wet it well and TRY,,,like said you can always thin dry wall over.

Asbestoes or even non,,,the dust can be nasty so wear a respirator.  If dusty use more wetting agent.  Tent off clean areas.  If you have a large fan try to make it negative pressure.  Heppa vac everything afterwards

I didnt think it was possible but my plastic wells actually collapsed.  They were backfilled with solid gravel all the way around and all the way down.  Store said too bad so sad.  You should not of backfilled with gravel ,,,,dirt only.  I dont see the difference,  

Saw the metal ones too ,,in hindsight they would be better.  Better yet is what every one else here uses because it cheaper and easier,,,treated wood.  Gets the job done and lasts long time.

Those plastic ones as well as the clear top is not cheap or for the faint of heart

DONT let the water run forever till you get a muddy mess.  You can ruin the system////drain fields.

Do get a direction from the basement exit and 'probe' with a thin stiff wire/ rod.  Softer the ground is easier to probe. (old) Tank lids are often buried,,,usually few inches to a couple feet down.  Have seen some real deep tanks but thats unusual.

If probing is not finding it you may have to have some of those fancy under gound ultra sound type searching.  Other way to get an idea is a plumber with a camera,,,they can tell exactly where  the camera is at any given time

In the OLD days around here it wasnt uncommon to find a 52 Packard and two tractor tires as a septic tank (wink wink) Okay maybe exaggerated ,,,maybe only a 47 Dodge,,,stranger things have been found

Ask the neighbor where HIS is then so you can keep it straight.  Did both properties once have same owner,,,or builder,,,as a rental??? If so a common tank was common.  Once saw every 3 houses on 1 large homemade tank,,,which was fine,,,but lateral short by tons.

You have tight septic laws now in force so sounds like your system is non conforming already.  It gets real expensive

MY stove is 220 not on a 110 circuit.  I would break up the pair each on their own circuit.  You MAY need profesional help.if changing the breaker and then outlets on that circuit.  Can you plug the microwave into a different circuit/outlet And see if it travels with it.

Are you afraid of by digging deeper than the pipe,,,as that dirt now settles and compacts itself,,,will drag the pipe down into a 'low' spot and make more trouble in the future???

OR did you support the pipe every couple foot with concrete or bricks?

Other thing I see is the use of a rubber coupler vs a 'repair' white PVC one.  They dont have a stop bump inside and slide all the way over ,,then back half way.  They are more rigid and no rubber to rot

The only backhoe I could afford was a new spade I completely wore out the hard way.  Always thought I needed a backhoe too but would have done more damage than good(for me).  Yours looks good to me tho.

I would remove trim on one side IF the screws didnt immediately fix it Put all 3 " screws with proper shims behind.  Same way with latch so somebody doesnt kick it down easily.  Sometimes you can get enuf to not rub by screwing the latch side back with long screws(where it rubs)