Installing a Septic System Ep13 

I'm a septic installer with over 30 years experience, when I saw the title "How to install a septic system", I was very skeptical. But I was pleasantly surprised! Nice job! No- Very nice job! You have a future in Septic installation!

You probably did a more professional job than most who call themselves a professional. Great job!!

sir, i am in awe about your dealer. first, i was shocked to see a female in her position but was impressed with her ability and cordial attitude on the job. second, i am still being amazed at your ways of doing. i thought no one cared about how things were done anymore until i started following your videos. as a special favor to me, please thank the woman and company you dealt with and please do not let up in your desire to get everything right as possible on your projects. may God bless you and yours..........g

I could have used this a week ago when a contractor dug into my system. I’ve learned more about septic systems than I really wanted to know.

I am in San Diego CA, in a 4th year, Plumbing Trade School, class, and we just watched this entire video. You did a phenomenal job!! It’s crazy you did all of this by yourself. My teacher is critiquing all the you tube vids, and he couldn’t find a single problem! Great job!

You’ve done a great job with that install. A couple of things I noticed that you might consider. Make sure you compact that area next to the tank under your inlet/outlet to prevent settling and shearing the pipe. The 2x4s under the pipe should be removed as they will cause a humped inside the pipe after backfill. I’ve been in excavation almost 32 years and a certified installer in my area. Good job!

At last I think I've caught up on the early episodes that I'd missed and hope to continue watching to the end Paul. Firstly, "I am not a builder" but I do possess a lot of common sense. I am extremely impressed with your `seemingly endless knowledge`. I have been glued to these videos and thank you very much for sharing this project with us. Cliff from London UK.

For years I have been reserved about installing my own septic system. I'm somewhat of a contractor myself but everything that I've seen about codes and such when dealing with septic installations has given me caused for worry. And that's with all the videos that I have watched over the years. Watch your video has me thinking that I will be able to save $1000's and install in myself. Thank you and keep the videos coming.

That system looks HUGE!

Great install! Great video! Don’t forget to fill that tank with water real soon. I once saw a buried septic tank float out of the ground after a heavy rain because the contractor failed to fill the tank. Best regards, Gottfried

nothing more satisfying then when the Tank goes in smoothly.... and they show up early so you don't lose a day lol

I am looking to buy some land to retire on and build a home. These vids are a HUGE help to me. Not sure my husband will want to DIY but I like this kinda thing and hopefully I can talk one of my 3 sons into helping. Great Vids. I am learning a lot. Thank you for taking the time to make the videos and sharing them.

Great job Paul, nicely explained, loved the drone footage, very effective visual. Greetings from the south of England. I've got a 3 bedroom home on clay sub-soil ground with a plastic onion design septic tank that all the waste is first fed into from where it's pumped about 50 ft to top end and the start of herringbone pipe layout. Once a year the solids are taken away in the honey-wagon costing about £180 ($220) to take away. We have a 100 ft garden about 25 ft wide. Before getting the council permission I had to dig out 3 square holes 1 mtr deep for the percolation test which took about 90 mins to drain away. Lived here since 1995. The first septic system consisted of 3, single skin, brick chambers, one lower than the other with the final end coming out into a footpath. The house had been a holiday cottage for about 15 years.

Wow, you sure did an excellent job installing the septic. I admire your "can do" approach with a desire to do it perfectly. Thanks for sharing a very well done video!

I worked for a small 3 generation septic company. You did a great job! The outlet filter is cheap drain field insurance also 👍 .

excellent job, I am an Architect, and I just wanted to say you did a fantastic job by showing us the inside of the tank and explaining really well the functionality of it. A high five to you my friend, great job.

As a professional Septic Installer, I am Impressed with your work. Everything looks great. As said before, make sure you bed your inlet and outlet pipes with gravel, pack gravel underneath both with a sharpshooter. Only thing I don't like about your whole system is the Infiltrator Chambers. They make great tanks but the chambers can be a pain down the road.

As a regulator for New Mexico he did a really good job, proper tank bedding, dbox set and speed levelers, didn't cry about the large field size requirement and did not advocate non-compliance because compliancecosts too much. Proper pipe bedding was the only thing not mentioned. Great job. I may recommend this for training sessions for installers and regulators.

Respect for putting this all in by yourself!! Me and my boss just put in an ATL and last week out in a 500 linear ft field out at a house in Illinois. Lots of work so much respect

Awesome job. I stumbled on it while rabidly researching French drains to fix my wet backyard. I appreciate the encouragement about researching and then gaining the confidence, then DOING IT!

I have never install a leach field like that but I must say it looks like it will work great. Nice video Marshall.

Excellent work! I worked my way through college as a sewer layer in the city ~100 miles to your west. The only thing that would've failed were the 2×4's under the pipe & the abscence of gravel backfill under your pipe. That's not to say those things are make or break items, code differs from place to place, but overall this is one of the only septic videos on YT that didn't make me cringe👍! Nice job!

Marshall I think you executed a thoroughly perfect hands on, common sense approach! I will need to install a septic system for my home. But it is a little different, an aerobics system. Due to my property is about 75 yards from a large lake. Here in Texas there is a state code we have to abide by involving waste solid waste treatment. I also have been in the home remodeling for many years. All it really comes down to, is mind over matter, and I can do all things in Christ Jesus who strengthens me!

I have retired just this year from residential contracting. I live in a rural area of northeast arkansas and have put in many of these type of systems. I can appreciate your attention to details. I have used distribution boxes and also a Bull Run valves which distributes water coming out of tank to three 100' lines equally.owners are to switch to three alternate lines twice yearly or so to give time for first lines to dry out. Around here seems the installs are changed by health dept. from time to time. your install is very professionally done. good video!

Its nice when you can use original soil. Up here in Connecticut sometimes you have to strip and haul in state approved septic sand, thats when it gets expensive. I used 200 yards for my system that alone was over 6 grand.

I liked how you mentioned calling the Inspector. They are there to help!

First time I watched your job and i should say you are doing a great job. Well slowly and clearly spoken. Paying attention to details that are nessarry and video is well done as well. I built a house 30 years ago with hammer and a circular saw. And i am still learning.

Thank you for an easy to watch and understand video of the entire process. Hopefully sooner than later I will be in the same position, as with many aspects of your build overall, and your experiences will indeed be rather valuable. Again, thank you for all of your efforts. As well as your positive influence, i.e. Casting Crowns. Many blessings to you and yours, Keith

Not at all boring or maybe I'm a weirdo. I like your attention to detail.

The biggest problem with any septic system is elevation, or the lack of it. If your property is flat or has little fall, I strongly recommend you elevate your house so enough height above the septic can be maintained. The S. tank should be at least 1500mm/5' from the house, it should be sized for the number of bedrooms but should not be less than 2500lts or around 600 gallons, the bigger the better. Sewerage lines should have a minimum fall of 1:60, both into and out of the tank and a minimum cover of 200mm. There should be a cleaning access about 400mm/16" before the inlet or the tank to allow cleaning in both directions. If possible the line from the toilet should go in a direct line to the tank with everything else branching off. A branch to another toilet should be done with an I.O. 45 junction. A vent line should be run up from the furthest point from the tank. There should be an inlet vent on the tank, usually over the inspection port at the tank outlet. This allows cross ventilation through the whole system and relief of any pressure build up that could cause a water seal to be pulled out of a trap. If the property is big enough, the waste water can be run to an absorption trench, (leaching area) 30M/100' long and dead level, it doesn't have to be straight. That trench should be 600mm/2' wide and the same depth with slotted trenching material 450mm/18" deep. It should be backfilled with 20mm/3/4 aggregate to the top, covered with a geodetic blanket and then cover with 100mm/4" course river sand (NOT dirt) and then topped with growing grass. If the property is with soil capable of putting in a dam, then there will be no absorption qualities to it and a transpiration bed should made by excavating 3M/10' down hill the full length of the trench to a depth of 300mm/12" and backfilled with course gravel to 150mm/6" and covered with a geodetic blanket to hold back the 100mm/4" of course river sand from filtering into the gravel, then top off with growing grass. The level of the ground where the absorption trench/ leech field is should be 450mm/18" below the invert level of the tank outlet. This is why elevation is so important. With that layout and a yard gully finishing 100mm/4" above the ground close to the house, WILL ensure no effluent flows back into the house. The yard gully should have a waste fixture, (basin, bath, shower, kitchen sink or laundry tub), running into it to maintain its water seal. All animals should kept off the grass by fencing, no vehicles should be allowed to drive over it and only a push mower or equivalent used to cut the grass no short than about 100mm/4" high. There should be at least one inspection point where the drainage line comes into the absorption trench for inspection of the trench and to pump out any sludge build up. The septic tank should be pumped out at least once every 5 years, keeping in mind that if there is rain, septic tanks will float out of the hole destroying all the work. If the property is too flat, then an aerated septic system should be installed.

I've been contemplating a future construction project: building a 1K sf container home...a septic system would be in the plans...your video has been tremendously helpful...while I foresee lots of work and attention to detail there's no better feeling than knowing you did it yourself and did it well...congrats...

you definitely have common sense!!!!! looks awesome!!!! you do great work!!!! i'm looking to build, and i find it very hard to ask for help unless i absolutely have to. my favorite word is determined, no it can't be done is not a option

Amazing the difference in areas. Where I live in Utah you get a licensed guy to sample your ground. They tell you how many feet of drain field. Then get health dept permit, if they will allow. We can use infiltraters or perf pipe and drain rock. I charge about 6000 to 6500 per system, I pay for everything. Good video.

All your videos are extremely informative & well done , as well as how detailed your work is & professional. Great inspiration for all of us DIY ! Continued success & all the best .

Not only a great job on the install, your video production was a professional quality tutorial. A+

In my country we just digging a deep hole like 6 feet into the ground covered it with steel and cement and don't forget to pin a tiny pipe to the inside out so so the tank wouldn't blown. This is new for me!

Very well executed. The only major thing I noticed that I never saw mentioned , being a professional heavy equipment operator myself, was that the hole was not benched and that there was no separation between the material pile and the hole. Safety First!

Looks Great!!!!! I have built septic systems. It looks like you will never have to replace that system. I had a 4000 sq ft house with 4 bathrooms and my system wasn't that big but I did put about 6' of sand under my Eljen geotextile system. I'm aerobic now in my new house, much cleaner and smaller.

If you have ground burrowing critters you should place chicken wire under the chambers. Adding viewing ports. Good job! Coming from a skilled pro installer.

I've never seen a septic system installed before, this was pretty cool to see.

Just hope after all your work the inspection goes well. God bless

In our municipality they require 6" of gravel underneath the pipe and up to the top of the ipe. So 10" total gravel. And 12" on either side. Then cover. We have about 12" frost line so it needs to be down 12" minimum to the top of the pipe. We usually start at 24" deep to start then drop from there. You did a good job.

You did a great job man very clean very professional should be proud of yourself be safe God bless

I almost went by because I was looking for a really quick overview video. Glad I stayed. This was a really concise and super informative video. Well Done! This falls under the old adage "you learn something new everyday".

Building my own pole barn house. Starting the septic Friday. This video is very helpful.

i'm a septic and plumbing contractor and I install systems on a regular basis...I see a few things I would do different...(concrete box, less bends for the header lines) but overall looks fantastic! I'm impressed!

Thank you so much for this video. This is exactly what I needed to understand how the septic concept works. Everything else in therms of installation is a piece of cake.

Very thorough, very organized, good photography.

Very informative. I feel the same way, if one man can do it, another man can do it.

THIS VIDEO IS VERY EXPLANATORY YOU ARE THE PROFESIONAL OF THE PROFESIONALS

This is the first time I have seen those type of leach lines. The ones I am familiar with are the ones with rows of holes along the length of the solid pipes or slots in the flexible pipes and filter fabric is an option on either type of pipe. Of course nothing but grass should be planted or allowed to grow over the leach field to help keep roots out of the pipes. I also remember that the leach lines should be bedded in and covered by small washed gravel or coarse sand but it has been years since I have seen the suggested designs.

Just ran across your post. I learned a little and enjoyed your concise, common sense approach. Nice clean workmanship! Subscribed.

You have done a heck of a great job and made excellent videos simultaneously... Don't know how you manage it all, but I'm glad your do!

Nice job, that's a lot of work when you do it yourself with no help.

In Texas we ran field dead level. No deeper than 3 ft depth from top of ground. In low rain areas, As deep as 5 ft if needed. I did conventional systems and ez flo and panels. Also aerobic spray and drip systems. We did 150 foot max length per run field lines. Good video. Never used distribution boxes just dead level headers.

Very profesional, I had a plumbing company install a septic system. After a year I started having problems with the liquids not leaching into the field lines and had to have it pumped out once a year.

This will be an inevitable chore once we get our land. Thanks for the heads up!

Funny just came across this vid. I put the first infiltrator system install in the country. Back in about 1987/88. Stonington ct. they were there first ones proto type

Very informative for this city plumber.

Nicely done. Great attitude getter done and share it with others. Laser level is one of the most important with the septic system.

My county inspector is pretty easy to work with. We are able to backfill as we go. Keep both ends and all plumbing open. Dig one trench and dump into the other.

I figure there has to be 15 bathrooms in that house

Looking to buy some property and stage a house, so this video was gold. Thank you so much!

Thank you for this video for i never got to see our septic as it was put in so its really nice to see how it goes plus i did not know about cleaning trap or filter once a yr either, which would mean lol we are wayyyy behind doing it. Thanks again!!

Nice job, well done presentation. you did much better than anything i've seen on the hgtv/diy type of "kapow-yeehaaa-yay" junk shows

The neighborhood that my parents live in has no city services for waste or sewage so everyone has Septic. My dad is in the Septic business and he installed his own. They have the greenest yard in the neighborhood. 🤣 it's amazing how if installed properly this can actually help your yard and general plant growth.

high quote. I got all buttoned up for $7k for everything (3 bedroom). If it all goes this smooth, you have built before lol First-timers will have more fun though.

That’s great that your state allows home owner to even attempt installing septic system. I would think you have done 100’s of complete systems after seeing it complete... VERY NICE WORK!! Do you have to back fill around poly with gravel to top of poly dome, and then use existing spoils to do final backfill and get back on grade? Thanks for sharing 👍

Stubborn ? you are a top quality guy .. Well done . . this is easily the best video I have seen . The leach soakaways look like they are a better idea than tubular soakaways .

I have no intentions of ever installing anything like this, but damn was this informative and entertaining for me.

In the distribution box the inlet pipe from the tank should have a either 90 degree turned down or a 45 degree turned down, the water flowing straight in will load the two lines that are directly in line with inlet water.

Nice video. We are starting the prossess of building a new homestead and I've got a septic system to diy for the same reasons as you

Very impressive looks very nice, I am in a process of building mine too for a 2499 sqft house average I have to dig 8 trenches 75 ft long each, is going to be a lot of work but your video had encourage me to do it plus will be getting a little help from a professional plumber.

Excellent video and clean installation! I do things myself and the key to your success is common sense and research! 👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾

93.8k subs as of when I watched this video. Congratulations I can see why you are growing. I am just about to start my own home build with septic and well. Thanks for the great info 👍🏻👍🏻

Brings back memories of earning money at college cleaning and repairing systems (50 years ago). Looking at your dirt it looks to contain a lot of clay (low perm) and I haven't looked back in your videos (but will) to see what your load will be (family size and guest hosting). I guess you just backfill these plastic units with nothing special over the top. I would have loved to see what the filed looks like in June 2020. Wonder if you left the risers at the end so that you could garden between the runs like row stuff or vines (pumpkins, squash, etc non-cultivation stuff). Lotta hard work. Great job.

amazing determination - amazing effort. Good to see your confidence in being able to do anything you put your mind to.

Coming along great! Diggin the drone shots!

That will make a nice garden area.

For your giveaways, Milwaukee is good stuff and lots of trinkets like LED headlamp, fold out ute knife, inkzall markers. Cool project. I am wrapping the finish work on mine, in PA.

A great job. Methodical and well done. Since it's yours, you care about installation.

Very educational, didn't realise there maybe a filter on the 2nd chamber outlet

Fantastic video. Well done professional installation. Terrific training video for all. Thank you so much.

I'm getting ready to have company put in this same type of septic system you are doing. I'm keeping your video so I can see if they do as good a job as you. Thanks for a great video👍

How cool is that crane truck! What a handy thing.

I’m getting ready to do a system here in Oregon, I can do anything I believe . Your video was very helpful

Great job on septic. Without attitude very nice.

This was a great video breaking down how it works and how to build. Thanks!

You've come a long ways Brother (215 subscribers at time of video to 340k now!) So proud of you...keep it up! 👍 👍

beautiful space. Breathtaking location.

Hey man this was a great video! I really enjoy watching videos that will help me learn more with my time. You did a very well job working all this alone " Even though you could've had a hand to grab a thing or 2" good job!

how do you not have more views and/or subscribers?? You definitely earned my respect and subscription. Thanks for doing this - it's certainly an inspiration to me.

i learned alot thanks for the thorough camera work ....helps alot to be able to see the details.

Mark Kinney plumbing here in charlotte NC, and this was a great show brother, great job .

That is one massive drain field... Well done video .

great series of videos. I heard you mention boiler. You should really consider geothermal system. You would also have several great places for solar energy both roof if oriented correctly and ground. Too late now and not sure if allowed but might have been able to put closed loop under the septic area deeper .

Tremendously valuable video. Thanks for putting it up.

Hopefully those Infiltrator sections have improved over the years, they were pretty much abondoned around my county years ago, had too many problems with the plastic sections calapsing after the soil got water soaked and heavy. Good luck

Looks like you know what you're doing. (That's a compliment!) 👍

Septic tanks?....... RU-vid recommendation always suprise me... Yey!