Hitting septic tiles??

[Kerry]

So I'm on the south side of my house and a get a signal - starting digging and get about 7 inches down and hit what looks like a curved terra cotta roofing tile. Now this is Indiana and those aren't used here for roofing. But I wonder now about tiles in the septic finger system. I've never seen what a finger system looks like, but I know they are built with 'tiles'. Is 7 inches too shallow to hit a finger system? If I am way off base about this being part of the finger system, then I'm going to go back out and dig it up. Can't figure out what would be that thick (3/4") and made of terra cotta here on old farm land. Plus, can't forget the fact that I was digging a target I never got to.

 

[Arkwater]

If it were septic you could smell it! If it is not used any more it won't hurt to dig it up if it is a septic sys.

 

[Kerry]

Our septic system is in the front yard - this is at the side of the house and about 10 feet from an old tree. Too close to a tree for a finger system IMO. No smell at all - I think I'll dig it up today and find out....when it stops raining!

 

[Lou-CT]

You should probe around the tile to get an idea how long the tile is. 7" sounds a little shallow to me. I think the septic leaching fields have to be below the frost line.

You might also check with your town building dept. they might records from when your house was built which should show the exact location of your septic tank, and leaching fields.

 

[Kerry]

You might also check with your town building dept. they might records from when your house was built which should show the exact location of your septic tank, and leaching fields.

I thought it was a bit shallow too. Our house was an old farm built in the 1890s, and I'm sure back then they used an outhouse and the septic system was put in some time later. I just wish I knew what these septic tiles looked like. I did a goodle search and can't find anything.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

I'm not much up on septic construction from early time periods, but today when someone talks about drain tiles- aren't they refering to the black corugated pipes that are used in septic fields to leach out the waste? I don't think they are "tiles" in the traditional sense of the word....but I could be wrong.

 

[tater]

7 inches is to shallow. Here in Indiana we have to dig about 36 inches deep. I would probe with a screwdriver or something long like that. It shouldnt be hooked up to anything. Probobly just part of a broken piece that had to be dug up in the past.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

It didn't register with me that you mentioned the tile was curved, so I guess this is an actual pipe? I remeber reading roofing tile and assumed it was flat. Probably is a piece of an old drain line, definitely would be careful around it until I was sure it is of no current use.

 

[booker]

http://www.go-star.com/antiquing/antique_detective0605.htm You might give this a try and if nothing there use Sewer tiles instead of septic

 

[Harley-Dog]

I have encountered these before, and yes, it could be part of an old septic leaching system, especially since you say the house dates back to the 1890's. When older homes were converted over to indoor plumbing (probably the teens thru the 1930's, for most), I doubt there were any codes pertaining to how deep a septic system should be buried.

I have dug up old drain tiles like what you are describing. I would suggest you dig a hole large enough to expose an entire length of the tile (16" to 24"). Some of these tiles have a bell end that the smaller end of the next tile fits into. Another type of tile has no bell end, in which case the tile ends simply butt up against each other. Either case, because there was rarely any kind of sealant used around these joints, over time the tiles would fill up completely with soil, rendering them useless. If you can remove a section of tile, you'll probably see that it is completely clogged with dirt, and if that's the case, I wouldn't worry about doing any harm to anything--it's probably a non-functional system now anyway.

Harley-Dog

 

[Kerry]

Okay I dug up the tiles (skip down to second picture). On the left is the first tile I found. It's is rounded like a half pipe made of terra cotta. The donut was next to it - its stoneware of some sort with glazed coating. Its split like a sliced bagel and 3.5" across.

The iron piece is part of a large pipe I gather. If it were whole I'm guessing it would be approx. 18" across. Now the forked thing I have no idea -- its metal and painted red (coated with dirt here). Do you guys thing all this is part of an old septic leaching system? It was all about 7-9 inches down. Shallow, I think, for a drainage system. It might have been just buried trash.

The Chevy hubcap was found about 2 feet from the pipes-- with old leather glove inside it. Very strong high tones - so I thought I found a spill of silver!

 

[dh8593]

the red things

i think the red thing is for a mower to engage the different speeds

 

[hidin]

My yard is full of those terra cotta pipes. I've found them down maybe four inches-they weren't too picky about depths when they put our original system in. It all adds to the adventure of digging in my yard.

 

[hobbes_lives]

I live in a house built in 1956. The sewage pipes that they used when the house was built were 4" terracotta.

Tree roots love to grow into the pipes around where the pipes are joined together. The pipe joints are sealed using masonry cement, which tends to crack over time. This allows easy access for the tree roots to grow in and clog the lines.

I ended up personally replacing all of the terracotta sewage pipes from my house down to the city sewers with 4" schedule 40 PVC. What a job.

I guess my point to all of this is that they were definitely still using terracotta in late fifties residential construction.

 

[Treasurebone]

I live in a house built in 1956. The sewage pipes that they used when the house was built were 4" terracotta.

Tree roots love to grow into the pipes around where the pipes are joined together. The pipe joints are sealed using masonry cement, which tends to crack over time. This allows easy access for the tree roots to grow in and clog the lines.

I ended up personally replacing all of the terracotta sewage pipes from my house down to the city sewers with 4" schedule 40 PVC. What a job.

I guess my point to all of this is that they were definitely still using terracotta in late fifties residential construction.

Looks like a lot of hard work.