My parents recently bought 45+ acres in Hopewell and are finished with most of the stuff for there house besides stupid little things. My wife and I are planning on laying a foundation out on there property and getting a prefabricated home. Before we do so, since we will be close to 1000’ from my parents we will need to do a well (which I figured would be around $3000-$4000 or so) and a septic system. Has anyone just recently done a new septic system? I heard you cant do the traditional ones anymore in PA and they are trying to start using just the sand mounds now?? Im sure there are soil tests and what not that need to be done as well?
It depends on the type of soil you have and how fast it absorbs water if you need a sand mound or traditional septic system.
You will have to have a percolation test done to see which one you can get away with. A lot of the time with that amount of land you can get away with a traditional system.
Check with the township sewage officer. Most require a pit and perc. Pit is just a big ass hole that a backhoe digs, can’t remember how deep but it only takes a few minutes. I actually was allowed to do my own perc test, under the direction of the township SEO. Had to dig a certain number of holes (i think 6), and put water in them, and then measure how much they dropped at certain time intervals. The soil on that lot had so much clay the water level wasn’t dropping at all. That lot would have required a monster sand mound( i didnt buy the property). The township sewage dept should be able to give you an idea of the types of systems in the area.
I know where we are (New Sewickley Township, Beaver County), you have to have a pit and perc test. You can perform your own perc test with the township supervisor or they can have someone do it, but you have to use their guy. One company has the bid on septic tanks, and you have to have a sand mound/leech bed put in. Older septic tanks are grandfathered, but if something goes wrong with yours and you have to repair it, they make you bring it up to current code. It’s not cheap.
We were lucky (knock on wood) that our property had a good septic tank and well on it.
At the moment… I dont believe so, I might have to look into something like that. W/e land I use they are going to give me and they have no problem with giving it to me, legally I should probably have it divided though huh?
i am looking to get property and build a house myself. You have to get the perk test first. In order to have a sand mound now you have to have atleast 24" of topsoil which is actually one of the cheaper septic systems and kinda hard to come by. The property i was looking into was 11.8 acres , my dad was going to buy 10 acres and develop it with spec homes and i would buy the rest to build. It would have costed 30k to install the type AB septic which is basically the last ditch resort for septic. And that was 30k for EACH acre that would be sold, so 300K in 10 acres of land plus the purchase price. There are actually 2 lots of land near me with this same situtation of the type AB. and i forgot, it is getting more strict for doing septics. the AB MUST be installed by a certified person, which the only one is from virginia. no lie.
