We’re looking at buying a lot and building on it. I’m trying to get some basic numbers together for budgeting. How much do I need to allow for well and septic? How much more are mound systems?
Certified boat fetish.
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Ummmm....a little more info might be in order here, with the first item being your location.
In many areas of the county, a good-flowing well can be had by drilling less than 50', on the opposite side of the spectrum, a well in Las Vegas may need to go 300' or more (trust me- been there, done that....lol). Same for a septic- depends a lot on the soil conditions, which are usually what drives whether a mound system is more cost effective or not.
So, without your location info, I'd say a safe range for the well and septic system installs would be somewhere between $5,000 and $200,000. I'm thinkin' you'll probably want to narrow that down, no?
Bob
I'm a board newbie, but I can give you a lot of guidance in this area. Facts you want to gather:
Any soil testing done yet? If so, get the details. Ask the owner, or possibly your local health district if it is a recent subdivision. Soil types, perc rates, distance to nearby wetlands, depth to ledge or groundwater all affect septic design and cost. Does the local authority require an engineered system?
You mentioned a 'mounded' sytem. Are you expecting one? Price the cost of certifed septic sand, delivered.
Are you looking at an approved lot in a recent subdivision, or an old lot of right that has never seen any design work?
Find out where well records are kept in your town/county. Get a list of nearby streets and check the well reports for total depth, depth of casing, and flow. Call a well driller and get the going rates.
Where are you located? What size house do you want to build?
Describe the lot. Rock outcrops? Completely wooded? Clear? Flat? Sloped? Any idea of the percent grade? How many acres? Any wetlands? Have they been flagged by a soil scientist?
If it is an active neighborhood, ask an excavator in the area what site costs typically run. A few phone calls could get you a rough idea if the excavator knows the area.
The same guy that does your site work usually does the septic system.
If you haven't even narrowed down to which lot, its going to make it much tougher to answer. I've seen a ledgy nightmare right next to an easy lot. Costs will vary dramatically.
Oh, and what kind of boat? Offshore cruiser here.
Mr Moose had alot of good info. Do all that he said and you will be fine. I can tell you that where I live in the pacific NW a mound system typically will run 12 to 16K. I just had a well put in and it was 120 feet deep and cost approx. 7000.00 hope that helps.
Last well and septic I had in central Va were 9k for a 530 ft well and 7k for a 1200gal tank and 1,000 gal pump chamber with standard drain field. The well price was for just the hole, no pump or tank, thats another grand.
Since you said budget and not much of anything else I might be able to help ya with the septic.
Ill dig ya 50 foot of line for a sock pipe job and furnish the car hood to cover the hole if thad help ya .
Tim
Previous posts have pretty well covered your septic design, install & $.
Our ranch is in eastern Colorado. The well depth is 1,020'. Cost to drill & complete was $18K. (Neighbors' wells at depth of 500' cost ~$11K.) The well is steel cased with a 2.5 hp downhole submersible pump. We have a well pit: a 6' dia concrete-walled underground affair that houses a 400 gal pressure tank and sediment filter. The well was drilled through sedimentary rocks (sandstone, shale & limestone - soft rocks); a well in the mountains drilled through igneous or metmorphic rocks (i.e., hard rocks) will cost considerably more for the same depth.
Check with your state water engineer for anticipated reservoirs, depths, & flow rates (12-15 gpm is nice); an avg shower requires 2.5 gpm, so if your flow rate are less, you will need to install a cistern. Your state probably will require a well permit. Ask your neighbors, the state, the county engineers, and check the yellow pages for well drillers. Get several bids and check that you are comparing apples to apples. If your well is in soft rock, a non-seismic area and 350' or less, you can probably case it with PVC (not my preference though). Again your state engineer can help you with this.
Spent 25 years in the oil patch... our well was the 1st time I ever was happy to get water!
Good luck.
De'butant10
Call a couple of local drillers and septic system installers and tell them exactly what you said here, that you're just looking for ballpark figs for budgeting purposes. If you're anywhere where it snows, these guys are probably slow at the moment and might actually call you back.
I know that I didn't give you guys much information to work with, but I really needed the exact information that you posted back. The property that we're considering is up in Door County, Wisconsin. Looking at the state as the back of your left hand, the county would be the tip of your thumb. We don't have a lot picked out yet, but the region is known for high rock. I'll take some of your suggestions and do some more research into the water table depths. Looking at the lots for sale, I noticed quite a few mentioning percing for a mound system. I presume this is due to the high rock not allowing the water to percolate into the ground.
Certified boat fetish.
Ya know I was kiddin , but we couldnt have guessed the second post you made.
Have a goodun. <G>
Tim
A mounded, or filled system is likely due to either ledge as you guessed, or a high water table, or a restrictive layer. Septic fill is expensive, and the size of the field will be determined by many factors, including the house size. Since you say there are many lots mentioning this, there should be a good supply of excavating contractors that know the local conditions. Go to them with a lot of specifics, and you may get a ball park idea. Go to them with vague questions and you'll get... vague answers.
Perhaps the easiest, since you may be reluctant to do all the homework, is to find a house similar to what you might want that was bult recently in the area. Find out who the builder was, and ask what the site costs are like.
Rock is nasty to work in. If the site is truly rocky, you might want to see if you'll need to blast for a foundation. An excavator may charge more for a rocky site, it beats the equipment to death in a hurry. And what to do with all the boulders you dig up? Bury them? Not in rock!