Far too often, we see driveways installed by spreading a thin layer of 5/8” on top of grass or dirt. While this might look fine at the time of installation, shortly after the organics and soft material will settle and cause pot holes or soft spots, creating issues for the lifetime of that driveway.

We build our driveways and roads by digging down to solid material first, removing the organics (i.e. grass/sod, bushes, roots, etc.), digging out any soft spots we find along the way. We then lay down a layer of base rock, and fill any of the soft areas that were dug out with base rock as well. Removing organics will prevent settling… aka potholes… later down the road. (See what we did there?)

Drainage is one of the most important things you can do at your site. As the old timers say: “move the water or it’ll move you!” Drainage prevents water intrusion on many levels: in your septic drainfield (ground water can cause premature failure), under your house (which can cause mold, floor buckling, flooding, and a whole lot of other issues), and driveway washout, just to name a few.

There are different types of drainage systems used for different things, but here are a few: footing drains, french drains, swails, storm water systems, and retention ponds.

Footing drains are standard on all of our projects. We have dug up foundations and installed footing drains on houses with flooding issues that didn’t opt for them from the start, and take our word for it: it’s A LOT of extra (and unnecessary) messy work and money! Think of how gutters move water away from a foundation. Gutters are not common in this area because of snow damage, but footing drains have the same concept except they are underground and catch the groundwater. Ultimately, they move the water before it reaches your house and/or property.

It is crucial that your home sits on a well built foundation. It’s not something you can change later, like a paint color. It must be done correctly from the beginning.

Compaction & fill: Some projects require fill (see more info in section below about county requirements for fill). As you fill an area, it must be compacted in lifts (using a compactor such as a diesel plate, hoe pack, roller, etc.) If compaction is not done correctly, concrete will settle and crack/break over time. Although a material such as rock or screenings are usually our first choice as a good structural fill, dirt on site may be used as fill if it is structural and organics are not present. Dirt usually needs about 1 year to settle out though, unless it is compacted in lifts.

We bed utilities with either sand, pea gravel, or screenings unless your dirt is suitable enough to use as backfill. This is to prevent large rocks in the soil from breaking the conduit.

Fun fact: it is also helpful for future digging, since you can see the difference in material and see where the ditch line is at, making it easier to locate conduit and pipe before hitting it!

Proper concrete prep is a critical step as well. Just like we mentioned above, keeping organics out is important to prevent settling and cracking concrete. After the removal of organics we will spread rock with fines in it, rake it out perfectly to grade using a laser (as Aaron always says “rock is cheaper than concrete”) and then water it. If your wondering what “fines” are, they are bits of smaller rock/dust. Fines settle in and when watered they help the rock lock together. It is then compacted with a smaller compactor (such as a jumping jack and/or plate compactor) and now you’re ready to pour concrete!

Worth noting: we don’t use dirt under side walks-only structural material like rock with NO organics. We are not willing to take the risk of organics breaking down and settling, leaving you with cracked concrete. On our prep for garage/shop floors/slab on grade or a smaller area that needs to be filled, we use pea gravel because it is self compacting. Then we will put a cap of finer rock on top and compact it.

So often on septic installs the attention to detail is overlooked, causing major issues in the future and resulting in costly repair bills. We can confirm this because of what we’ve seen on the many repairs we’ve done. Repairs expose the flaws. Far too often the repair is something totally preventable, that had gone overlooked during installation, and is now costing thousands of dollars for an unsuspecting homeowner.

It is an absolute necessity for an installer to give extra care and attention to their work. The quality of material is equally as important. Aaron has extensive knowledge of septic systems as well as proper installation techniques and materials, thanks to growing up in his family business that specialized in septic systems.

Tanks: We only use concrete tanks, except on rare occasions when we have to use a plastic tank, in which case we use the Norwesco brand (or similar) one piece tank. We will not use the plastic 2 piece tanks with a seam in the middle. Are they easier to install? Yes, they’re easy to move around by hand, that’s why contractors like using them. Will they cause the homeowner issues in the future, requiring repairs? Yes in almost all cases, they will. This has been our #1 repair, and if done right, requires a costly full tank replacement. The 2 piece tanks are suppose to be backfilled in a special way according to the manufacturer, which almost never happens. Even if it is done correctly, the seam in the middle of the tank will warp and leak, causing water intrusion and premature failure. Water can come from the surface, such as snow melt, or underground in areas with high ground water. Water can also puddle around the tank if it was backfilled incorrectly. That is why we only use tanks that are water tight.

Lids: Water tight lids must be used as well. We use Orenco brand fiberglass lids for this reason. Some contractors choose other lids that are light duty, which are also prone to leaks.

Backfill: First of all, we dig our tank holes tight to prevent overuse of backfill material. We then set the tank on a perfectly level bed of pea gravel, then we backfill our tanks and pipe with pea gravel. Pea gravel is self compacting, and will prevent the pipes from settling and breaking, as well as protect the tank from any rocks that can damage the tank.

By using quality materials and installation techniques, future repairs and issues can be prevented. Is it more expensive? Well, like the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. But in this case it is actually not much more expensive than the low quality materials. We’re talking a few hundred bucks that will save you thousands in the (near) future. The concrete tanks are actually cheaper than the plastic tanks, they are just a little more inconvenient for the contractor to deal with since you have to set them with an excavator or tank truck. We say that inconvenience is worth it for our customers!