The house has a well and a tank. Somebody has to look at both.
Most inspectors handle one or neither. Ray's holds both trades, which is why a well and septic check on a country property is a single visit rather than two companies and two schedules.
What gets looked at
On the septic side: the tank located and opened, the level and condition of what is in it, the baffles and the outlet filter, the condition of the ground over the drain field, and whether there is any sign of surfacing. On the well side: the wellhead and its seal, the pump and pressure system, the pressure tank, and a water sample.
The reason both matter on the same visit is that on a rural Gaston or Lincoln County property they are two halves of the same question. Water comes in from one hole in the ground and leaves through another, and a problem with either one stops a sale.
This company is listed on Google under two categories, Septic system service and Well drilling contractor. That combination is unusual and it is the whole argument for using them on a property that has both.
- Tank located and opened rather than assessed from the surface
- Sludge and scum levels read, baffles and filter checked
- Ground over the field walked for surfacing or soft spots
- Wellhead, pump and pressure tank checked
- Water sample taken
Buying a house with a septic system on it
If you have never lived on a septic system, the inspection is the moment to ask every question you have, because you are standing next to somebody who is looking into the thing. Where is the tank. How old is it. When was it last pumped. Where does the field run. What can and cannot be flushed. Where the pump and the alarm are, if it has them.
This is the recurring pattern in this company's reviews. Google's own summary of the review text lists informative staff among the top topics, and customer after customer describes being walked through their system rather than just handed a bill. One wrote that the technician was teaching and showing as he worked.
Get the county environmental health record for the property while you are at it. It is the closest thing to a birth certificate a septic system has, and the next owner will thank you for having it in a drawer.
Being straight about what an inspection is
An inspection is a look at a system on one particular day. It tells you the condition of what can be seen and measured then. It is not a warranty and it is not a prediction, and any inspector who offers you either is offering something they cannot deliver.
What it does do is separate the systems that are fine from the systems that are about to become somebody's problem, and it puts a number on the second kind before the money changes hands rather than after.
Ask up front what the inspection covers, what it costs, and what happens if the tank cannot be located on the day. Getting those three answers on the phone is worth more than any amount of reading afterwards.
Book an inspection
Tell us the address and whether you are buying, selling or refinancing.
What 245 homeowners said
Every quote below is a real review, word for word, from our Google profile.
I called Ray's back at 8:50PM Friday night, and not only did they answer they talked to me for 10 minutes and methodically went through what to check. We discovered over the phone that the pump float had fallen off the pole and wasn't activating the pump. He described how to fix it over the phone and saved me a lot of money not having to have an emergency response. Unbelievable customer service, most folks would have charged me the service fee.
Andre came out and he was absolutely amazing. Very kind and honest. The prices they have are great but we would honestly be willing to pay more for the customer service. We were told by another septic tank company that we had to replace our entire system, we called Ray's and that was not the case at all. Just needed a pipe cleared.
We've gotten pump outs from another local company every 7 years for the 26 years since we built our house. This time we contacted Ray's Septic. What a difference. The price was substantially less than several other companies and our usual vendor. Andre was without a doubt one of the most customer service focused people I've ever met. He performed the job, cleaned up the work area and was extremely professional.
We used Ray's to pump our ancient tank from the 1930's. Andre was our technician and he was nothing short of spectacular. Found our septic tank, didn't make a huge mess digging, pumped it efficiently, and gave us great tips for taking care of our tank moving forward. All for a very reasonable price.
They sent the most knowledgeable and polite technician, Andre. After he pumped the tank he explained I still had water dripping into the septic tank due to a faulty flapper in the toilet tank, that you could not hear running from inside. I called my plumber to come out and repair, he said Andre was right, bad flapper.
I asked around for a good priced knowledgeable and honest pumping service, most answers were Ray's. I had my pick of any day. Gabe showed up, very knowledgeable. I had just purchased my house so I didn't know where my tank or lid was, but I had the environmental diagram so Gabe found the lid in no time, pumped my tank, and took time to help me understand more about it.
Well and septic inspections for property sales.
That is the point of using a company that holds both trades. Ray's is listed on Google under Septic system service and Well drilling contractor, so a country property with both is one visit rather than two.
A water sample is part of a well check. Ask what is included in the test when you book, because what a lender or a buyer requires varies.
It depends mostly on how quickly the tank is located. A system with risers at ground level is fast. A tank nobody has opened in twenty years is not.
Ask what the charge is for a visit that ends without locating the tank when you book. Getting that answer on the phone up front avoids the argument later.
No. It is an assessment of the condition of a system on the day it is looked at. Nobody can warranty ground they did not put in.
We photograph the work and show you. If septic and well inspections is not what you actually need, we say so and quote the work that is.
Tell us what the house is doing.
Septic or well. Give us the address and the symptom and we will come back to you.