Septic Repairs & Replacement

Signs your septic system may be failing

• Slow-draining sinks, tubs, or toilets throughout the house — not just one fixture
• Sewage odour near the tank or drain field, especially after rain
• Standing water or soggy, spongy ground over the field
• A patch of grass over the field that's noticeably greener or lusher than the rest of the yard
• Gurgling drains or slow flushing toilets
• Alarm sounding on a pump or panel system
• Sewage backing up into the house — this one's urgent, not a wait-and-see

Any one of these on its own isn't necessarily an emergency, but worth a call. Several together, or backup into the house, means get it looked at now.

Common points of failure

Not every problem means the whole field is done. Some of the most common failure points are individually repairable:

• Baffles — a failed inlet or outlet baffle lets solids escape the tank and clog the field downstream
• Distribution box or valve — uneven flow to the field, overloading one section while others sit idle
• Pumps and floats — mechanical failure on pressure-dosed systems, often the actual cause behind what looks like a "dead field"
• Control panels — wiring faults, failed relays, or bad settings can mimic a field failure
• The field itself — biomat buildup, root intrusion, or soil that's simply reached the end of its absorption life

Diagnosis matters because pumps, panels, baffles, and distribution boxes are all fixable without touching the field. A full field or tank replacement is the last resort, not the first assumption.

How we handle it

A site visit, a look at the tank and what we can see of the field, and — where needed — test pits to check what condition the soil and field are actually in. From there you get a straight answer: repair, or replace, with a firm number for either. If it's a replacement, we handle the design and permitting with your health authority as part of the job.