Replies

1. 
   G.LaLonde | Jan 22, 2000 01:38am | #1

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   Mark, Yes, you are wrong! The straw will rot away in a month or two.....

2. 
   Guest_ | Jan 22, 2000 03:20am | #2

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   ....when I started in the '60s we used to use a layer of red rosin paper, which I would have to say , left a lot to be desired.....the straw is a joke....

   filter fabric is the right thing to do.....don't they inspect system installations where you are ?.....well, now you know why we have to have so many inspections....

   same thing for foundation drainage.... or why bother going to the expense at all....

1. 
   Guest_ | Jan 22, 2000 03:27am | #3

   *I have seen it done this way, but don't see the logic since septic paper is about $35 for a 3'x 100' roll. I think a lot depends on your local soil type.Here is an article that describes the straw method.I think it's just one of those (not so beloved) archaic building practices.

1. 
   Guest_ | Jan 23, 2000 01:58am | #4

   *Matt.....I was wonering how something like that could be promulgated in this day and age...sure enough.. at the bottom of the installation instructions, there is a date of publicationb 1979and they didn't update it for good current practise...especially now, like you say , with the right stuff available so readily...

1. 
   Guest_ | Jan 27, 2000 04:13am | #5

   *Back in the olden days when I first started, straw was used a lot for septic systems and nothing over foundations rock. It is not a working system, yet up untill about 80 maybe 81 I still saw it used and pass inspection. And like someone earlier said, maybe that is why we have so many inspections these days, because of bad builders or bad practices.

3. 
   H.Troy | Jan 28, 2000 05:01am | #6

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   Like you I thought hay or straw would eventually degrade if put on top of leach fields inground but, to my surprise in my research (I'm putting in a septic tank this Spring-you responded to my message 1/26) The NY State Dept Of Health allows straw to be put over gravel in leach fields even though they prefer "permeable geotextile" material.This is right out of their pamphlet.I was also advised by the local lumber yard that there is two kinds of hay or straw the regular kind which eventually degrades and "salt hay" which does not degrade in the earth. The pamphlet itself does not mention the word salt hay though.

1. 
   Barryt | Feb 03, 2000 07:34pm | #7

   *Kentucky Onsite Sewage Regulations require 2" to 4" inches of straw or an approved filter fabric over the crushed rock in a septic system. You are correct in that straw will rot away after a short time. I believe the thinking is that the soil will be fairly settled by then and not continue to infiltrate. In spite of our state regs, I think the filter fabric will last much longer and do a better job of keeping the soil out of the rock. I don't think it is overkill.

4. 
   Mark_Helling | Feb 03, 2000 07:34pm | #8

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   I stopped at a job site to talk to a plumber the other day and they were putting in this house's septic leach field. They dumped in 4 to 6 inches of gravel, topped the leach line with maybe 2 to 4 inches of gravel and then spread a layer of straw on top of the gravel before backfilling with about a foot to 18 inches of dirt. I asked the plumber if filter fabric wouldn't be a better choice and he said it was overkill, that the straw worked just as well, and that's how they treated foundation drainage as well. I've always assumed straw will rot away within a year or 2 and leave the lines prone to clog with silt. Am I wrong?