Mike's Services LLC — Central Kansas Contractor Blog

You have found a place outside Salina, the inspection came back clean, and then somebody asks about the septic. Nobody knows how old it is. Nobody knows where the lateral field runs. The seller thinks it was pumped a few years ago. Here is what a septic inspection actually involves on a Saline County acreage, and why it is worth doing before money changes hands rather than after. Almost every property outside Salina city limits is on its own septic system. Saline, Ottawa, Lincoln, Dickinson, Ellsworth and Cloud counties are full of houses that have been treating their own wastewater for thirty or forty years without anyone thinking much about it. That works fine right up until the place changes hands. Then the septic becomes the one major system on the property that nobody has any paperwork for — and the one that costs the most to be wrong about. Why the septic is the biggest unknown on a rural property A home inspector will tell you about the roof, the furnace, the panel a...

A perc test is the single most important thing that happens on a piece of rural ground before a septic system goes in — and it's the step people skip when they're buying land. Here's what a perc test is, what it tells you about Saline County clay, and why the result can change what a property is worth to you. If you're looking at a piece of ground in Saline County and planning to build, the septic system is going to be one of the larger line items in your budget. And the number attached to it isn't set by the tank or the crew — it's set by how fast water moves through your soil. That's what a perc test measures. Get it done before you close on the land, not after. What Is a Perc Test? "Perc" is short for percolation. The test measures how quickly water drains out of your soil, and that rate determines what kind of septic system your property can legally and physically support. The concept is simple. We dig test holes at the depth the dr...

If you're on 5 acres outside Salina and trying to figure out what a new septic system is going to cost you, the honest answer is: it depends heavily on your ground. Hard clay and caliche in Saline and surrounding counties slow down every phase of the job, from the initial dig to setting the tank to running the drain field. This guide walks you through exactly what we do, step by step, and why the ground conditions out here affect your final number more than almost anything else. Most people calling us about septic installation want to know two things right away: what's it going to cost, and what does the whole process actually look like? Those are fair questions, and the answers are connected. In Saline County and the surrounding area, the ground is the biggest variable in your budget. This post covers the full process from land clearing through final installation, with honest numbers and local context so you know what you're getting into before you call anyone. What D...