4 Things to Know before doing your Perc Test in Southern Md, including st marys, charles, calvert counties.

No Perc, No house

On a building lot where there is no city sewage system, if you don’t get a perc test to pass, you won’t be able to build a house there. It will remain a vacant lot. This is why so many land deals, and yours too, should be dependent upon the passing of a perc test, and a good pass too. A slow pass might mean a sand mound system, and another $10k should be knocked off the price of the building lot if that happens.

A backhoe is needed

Perc Testing requires a backhoe or an excavator. You’ll need to dig down until good soil or sand is found, THEN auger a hole for a bucket perc test. What that means is a five gallon bucket of water is poured into an augured hole about a foot wide, and a foot deep, and is timed how fast water flows in per inch. a couple inches are recorded, timed, and measured, and the government inspector takes this information back to the office, and from there decisions are made whether the ground is suitable for building a house on.

An Experienced Perc Test Operator is a Must

Because do or die decisions are made based on how fast the water flows in the perc test, it is important not just to have a backhoe operator there, but someone who is experienced with perc tests in St Marys county, Charles county, Calvert county, or anywhere in Southern Md. An experienced operator will know when a good hole has been found, make the decision to begin the hand auger process, and begin his next hole with the backhoe. (3 holes are required for testing). If the health department inspector is called out and just one of the holes tested is slower than the time rate allowed by the state of Maryland formula, the lot may not pass. The inspector needs to see 3 well flowing holes to know that the septic drain field will work for many years to come, as they tend to slow down in time. Start with a slow Perc test flow rate, and the septic system drain field won’t slow in time, it will fail. Since that is true, a slow Perc may make the county government require you to put in a longer drain field, thereby costing you more money. The experienced Perc test operator can help you pick the three best spots on the lot for the Perc test that can possibly make the difference between an average sized, well placed septic system and an extra large system in a poorly picked location, or worse yet, a failed lot.

Call Eddie Guy Septic 301-884-4571

Eddie Guy has been doing perc tests in St Mary’s county, Charles county, Calvert county, and all of Southern Md for 45 years. He knows the topography like his own backyard. He has done the perc tests on, and the following septic systems on an uncountable number of houses in St Mary’s county, Charles county, Calvert county, and all of Southern Md out of their Mechanicsville shop.