When in doubt, check it !

Often times when looking for a home you base your decisions on the advertised amenities that the home claims to have. If you decide to buy this Home, DO NOT , under any circumstances, just take it for granted that the home has what is advertised. make the seller show you proof. You know full well that if the roles were reversed that they would ask you to provide proof, and you should. Its not rude, its business!
Last week I inspected a home in Coventry. The home was a flip, meaning that some one purchased a foreclosure to remodel it and re sell at a profit. The home was under going renovations as we conducted the Inspection. This particular home was advertised as having an Advantex septic system. Since the area has no sewers this was a plus for this home. For those of you who do not know, Advantex is the Cadillac of septic systems.
I always begin outside of the Home and with the septic if included. I was puzzled right off. I don't see the septic system. There is about 4 inches of snow on the ground , but that's not going to hide an Advantex. It would take 2 feet of snow to hid one. The stick out of the ground, and have landscape timber frames around them. I'M not seeing them. Advantex have an alarm panel, and I don't see one. I begin to think the buyers made a mistake. I ask them if they are sure the House was advertised with an Advantex ISDS septic. They are adamant. Yes it was.

Shortly after this, the realtor listing the home shows up and it turns out he is the owner as well. He is The realtor / Investor who is doing the flip. So I ask him to verify the location of the septic.
-- "Sure" he says," Its an Advantex system"," two years old" Quite proudly ! "Are you familiar with an Avantex system"?. ( He looks at me as if I'M clueless, and he is going to teach me).

-- I say " Yes , I'm familiar with them, and I'm quite sure there are parts missing"!

--He says " well its covered by snow" ( looking at me with doubt).

He sweeps off the snow and there are two green lids that say Advantex. They are spaced too close together as is, and I can already see what has happened. Someone ASS-U-ME-D.!

He removes the trademark ( pain in the butt) screws that hold the covers on, and opens one of the covers. TA-DA !!!! No Advantex.!! Just as I thought!! its a standard cement septic. The look on his face is priceless.

The original cement septic was 12 inches below ground and someone had installed risers to grade as a repair to prevent ground water from entering the cement covers. They chose Advantex covers because they are light, easy to keep clean, bright enough not to run over with the lawn mower, and probably cheaper than the cement version.
Inside the green covers was cement wedge covers to the cement tank. They were stuck in place. Boy were they stuck!. I used all of my tools and nothing!, it would not budge. I was concerned about breaking the lids. The seller was not. He took a hammer to them, and a crow bar. Nothing. !! These covers have not been off in a while. I decided to use water and a bar, and they finally came open. What I saw was not good. The tank was half empty. Not good. There is a leak in the tank. There's muck in the tank. not the correct muck either. Someone was flushing drywall compound in the system. It was partially blocking the sewer line into the tank.

- " That's not from us"!!!! we didn't do that."-says the seller.
- Well then you have a Burglar, I thought. One who breaks in, spackled the drywall, cleaned up the tools, and moved on. The looks of the crowd were on my side. They didnt buy it either. The house is being remodeled. There was a wire basket in the tub for straining the debris that was being flushed down. Joint compound is too heavy to flush. It collects in the base of the drains and settles. Here is the proof. He walked away. I don't think he likes me.
Inside the tank there was signs that some repairs had been done to this tank. The effluent cement baffle ( The exit side of the tank/ and cement housing) Had been smashed off and allowed to fall into the bottom of the tank. Then a solids filter had been installed. This is good. The cement in the bottom of the tank, not so good. So clearly someone had made a few corrections to the tank, but not addressed the present problem. There is a break in the tank or a bad leak. ( Might be a weep) A weep is a small hole designed in the tank bottom for drainage when built. They get plugged with Hydraulic cement. Sometimes the Hydraulic cement needs replacement. I think that's the case here.
The tank will need to be pumped dry, and inspected for a leak or crack, and repaired. then re tested. This is a far cry from an Advantex. Had the sellers decided not to inspect the septic as some buyers do, they would have regreted that for a very very long time. A conventional cement septic price ranges from 8 to $15,000.00 An Advantex ranges from 20 to $40,000.00.
A septic inspection cost $150.00 , do the math!!!

When in doubt, check it, check it, check it!!!!!!!!