Most of the job is finding the lid without wrecking the yard.
Pumping a tank is the easy part. Locating it, opening it cleanly and closing it back so nobody can tell we were there is what people actually write about afterwards.
Finding the tank on a house nobody gave you paperwork for
A large share of the calls we take come from somebody who bought the house last month and has no idea where anything is buried. That is normal. The county holds an environmental health record for most systems put in since the seventies, the diagram on it shows roughly where the tank sits relative to the house, and between that and a probe rod the lid usually turns up inside a fairly small patch of grass.
One customer wrote that she had just bought her house, did not know where her tank or lid was, but did have the environmental diagram, and that Gabe found the lid in no time. Another had a tank from the 1930s and wrote that Andre found it, did not make a huge mess digging, and pumped it efficiently. That is the job on a good day.
It is not always a good day. Some tanks are three or four feet down under sod that has been growing over them since the Carter administration, and one review describes almost three hours of hand digging to reach a lid at four feet. Ask what happens if the lid turns out to be deep when you call, because that is the variable that changes the job.
- County environmental health diagram pulled where one exists
- Tank located by probe rather than by guessing
- Lid opened, tank pumped down, sludge and scum both removed
- Outlet filter pulled and cleaned if the tank has one
- Lid seated back and the grass put back over it
Risers, and why people ask for them on the second visit
Once somebody has watched a technician dig down to a lid, the next question is usually whether it has to happen again. It does not. A riser is a collar that brings the access opening up to ground level with a lid you can lift by hand, so every future pump out starts with somebody lifting a cover instead of somebody finding a shovel.
Two customers describe exactly that decision. One wrote that Chase found the two access caps quickly and that he then added ground level access caps for future pumping to avoid digging again. Another had Chase dig up the tank openings and asked for covers so they would not have to be dug up next time.
It is the cheapest thing you can do to a septic system and it pays for itself the first time the tank has to come up in February.
What the technician tells you while the truck is running
The single most common thing in the reviews of this company is not the pumping. It is that whoever showed up explained what they were looking at. Google's own summary of the review text lists informative staff and personable staff as recurring topics, and they turn up over and over in the actual words.
A customer wrote that after Andre pumped the tank he pointed out that water was still dripping into it from a faulty flapper in a toilet tank, quietly enough that you could not hear it running from inside the house. She called her plumber, who confirmed it. A running toilet fills a septic tank on its own and it is the sort of thing that gets found standing at an open lid, not from the road.
Another customer had always been on city water and sewer, said he was clueless about septic tanks, and wrote that Chase gave him some basic training on how the system worked and how often it needed pumping. That conversation is free and it is the reason people call back.
Get your tank pumped
Call and tell us the address. If you know where the lid is, say so.
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.
Septic tank pumping across Gaston and Lincoln County.
It depends on the size of the tank and how many people are on it, and anyone who gives you one number without asking either question is guessing. A technician standing at your open tank can see the sludge depth and tell you where you actually are, which is a better answer than a rule of thumb.
No, but it helps and it can shorten the job. If you have the county environmental health diagram for the property, have it out. If you have already dug the lid clear, say so when you book.
It happens, usually on older properties with no record on file. Ask what the charge is for a visit that ends without a pump out when you book, so there is no argument about it afterwards.
Yes, on tanks that have one. A clogged outlet filter is one of the more common reasons a tank that was pumped recently backs up anyway.
Yes. Ask on the phone when you book so the parts are on the truck rather than a second trip.
We photograph the work and show you. If septic tank pumping 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.