A septic tank that goes bad during the warmer months is bad enough. It is worse when the ground is frozen, and the septic tank repairs are badly needed. So, how do septic tank repair contractors perform repairs when the ground is rock hard and the septic tank is several feet below ground? It goes something like this.

Hot Water and Backhoes

What most people do not realize is that frozen ground in winter only goes a foot or two deep. Still, it requires a good backhoe and lots of steaming hot water to help the soil warm up and get soft enough for the backhoe to pull up. Once the first three feet of soil has all been excavated away from the area, the soil underneath is softer and easier to excavate.

Excavating Swiftly

Even though the boiling hot water and the backhoe are working furiously to expose your septic tank, the repairs have to be completed quickly. The septic contractor has to work fast and furious to prevent the exposed ground from freezing. The newly exposed soil cannot be left as-is because the exposed soil will then freeze up before the job can be finished the next day. Thus, the upside to having repairs and a septic tank replacement in winter is that the job will all be completed in one day.

Pumping out the Tank

When the septic tank is finally and completely exposed, the contractor pumps out the tank.  It is quite a sight to see the hot steam rise from an open septic tank and realize that the steam is the result of hot human waist expelling gases into the air. After the tank is pumped clear, the repairs/replacement are performed. By now, the surrounding soil is beginning to get frozen and hard. It will take a lot to finish the repairs and start moving soil back over the exposed septic tank

Using the Frozen Soil to Fill in over the Septic Tank

When the repairs are complete, the contractor now has to warm up the frozen soil that used to cover the septic tank. As hot water helps warm the soil again, a front loader begins pushing and shoveling the soil into the hole over the top of the septic tank. Once all of the dirt has finally been pushed over the septic tank, the soil begins to freeze again. In the spring, you can replant the grass

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