Bud's Sewer Service

They were so great to get to us last minute on a Saturday after nightmare contractors fired. Very knowledgeable, polite, very fair pricing. Woman who answered phone was a little brusque but serviceman very courteous. Will be recommending to everyone.

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Exemplary customer rice. More than expected. Would call again.

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Showed up on time, explained what happened and how to prevent in the future.

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This explanation will seem drawn out but you will get the point at the end and I hope it will help others save money and headaches in the long run. At the time we were new to living with an onsite septic sewer system; I now know more then I want to know about septic systems. November 2009 there were not actually any local septic pumping/cleaning providers so I checked the surrounding area and found a number of them. They were all in the same price range. I ended up selecting Bud's Sewer Service as they serviced this area, which was 50 miles from their location in St. Joseph, MO. The employee who arrived with the truck to do the job was friendly and appeared knowledgable in doing his job, which, at the time I would not really have known one way or another. He pumped the 1,000 gallon tank in about 45 minutes. It was pumped/cleaned through the opening of a 6 inch inspection riser in the center of the covered tank; he dropped the pump hose into the tank; started the pump on the truck then basically stood by the truck until the pumping was done. According to the servicing employee it required 120 feet of pumpimg hose to reach the bottom of the tank to the pumping truck parked in the drive. I told him he could back down into the yard to get closer but he preferred not to. From the time he arrived to the time he left was about 90 minutes. At that time, for all I knew, he did a good job. June 2010 we started having septic issues again, which led to the installation of a new dry-field and a lift-station secondary septic tank connected to the old tank and a $10,000.00 price tag. This system was installed by a local business. After this I knew more then I wished about septic systems. In June 2013 I started having septic issues again with the old or primary tank, which had been pumped 3 years earlier by Bud's Sewer Service. This time I spent considerable more time searching for a septic pumping provider. I selected a provider in Iowa who was reluctant, due to the distance involved, but agreed to accept the job for $300.00. The best $300.00 I ever spent. This provider said that there had to be access to the tank clean-out cover in the center of the tank and the inspection port covers at each end of the tank. I told him that there was an exposed 6 inch riser at the center of the tank. He told me that you cannot properly pump/clean a septic tank through a 6 inch opening and he would not do the job unless it was done the right way. The next two days I spent digging out by hand the top of the old septic tank, an area 4 feet by 9 feet by 3 feet deep. The 32 inch center man hole cover was the tank clean out access point and the 6 inch inspection ports at the inlet and outlet plumbing points were used to assist with pumping/cleaning the tank correctly and also to inspect the tank inlet and outlet plumbing pipes. Remember, Bud's pumped/cleaned this same tank through a 6 inch riser pipe that extended 4 feet from the top of the tank up and above ground level. The clean-out access in the top of my tank is 32 inches wide. Remember, under normal conditions the usage determines the frequency a septic tank requires pumping/cleaning. The water field in the tank is not really the problem; the depth of the sludge field at the bottom of the water field and the depth of the scum field on top the water field is where the problems start. When the new pumping/service provider arrived (actually the company owner) he said the closer to the tank he can get the better job he can do; he explained to me that 30 feet was the best and 60 feet was the maxium to do a proper job. I put him within 30 feet of the tank. The first thing he did after removing the access covers was to use a long clear tubular device to measure the depth of the three feilds, scum, water and sludge, which he showed me and explained what the measurements meant. l will not go into all the details explained and shown to me by this provider, but what he told me did make perfect sense with what I know about septic systems now. My current problems were created mostly because the tank was not correctly pumped/cleaned in 2009; the majority of the sludge and scum field remained in the tank after it was pumped in 2009. I am not easily impressed by people I do not know, but I must say, I was with this professional; his equipment and his ability to use it. He explained everything he did and why and he did not hesitate to answer any questions I had; my kind of person. This provider was on scene between 3 and 4 hours. Once finished all you could see was a wet concrete floor at the bottom of the tank corner to corner. He said that is what a correctly pumped/cleaned tank should look like. He also told me that doing this process correctly also allows the provider to inspect the tank visually as part of the service to make sure there are no other problems visable, which he did find one, the tank inspection port for the inlet pipe was precasted wrong and was 60/70% off-center creating restricted access to the inlet pipe and inlet baffle. The provider said this should have been caught by the company who installed this tank and corrected or rejected prior to installation. Sense having my current provider pump/clean the old tank I have had his company correct the inlet inspection port problem and install new 15 inch inspection port risers from tank to grade level and also a 32 inch pumping/clean-out access riser to grade level, which means no more digging out the tank for pumping/cleaning/inspection access. The provider also told me there might be a problem with the tank outlet flow pipe but that could not really be determined until the tank refills with water in order to check the outlet water flow. Due to scheduling the current provider could not schedule the riser installation work until about 2 weeks out, which was agreeable with me. By the time the crew arrived to fix the inlet inspection port issue and install the 3 new risers the tank had refilled with water. Prior to their arrival I had kept an eye on the system water level so I could see what the water level was at the tank outlet pipe; it was not good, the water level was half way into the 4 inch outlet flow pipe; there should be very little if any water standing in this pipe as it should flow out to my new (secondary) tank; for most people, to their dryfield. Seeing this I dug out 7 feet of the outlet pipe leading to the new tank. I checked the pipe pitch level; the pipe should be pitched down so water would free-flow or gravity-flow to the new pump-tank (to dryfield for standard systems). Much to my surprise, the length of pipe from the old tank was broken where it was connected to the new length of pipe going to the new tank. The flow pitch from the old tank was down (correct) to the new connecting elbow which goes to the new tank. The new length of pipe from the elbow going to the new tank has an up-hill flow pitch (incorrect/bad), which causes water to trap in the pipe to a certain pitch and allows the water level thus the scum level to be to high in the old tank which then creates a critical problem at the inlet pipe side of the old tank and can easily create blockages and system backups into the residence. This also means that the new tank that I paid dearly to have installed in 2010 was set in the ground incorrectly; it was set higher (about 6 to 12 inches) then the old tank. When the crew arrived to install the risers I pointed out what I had found and voiced my opinion; the crew leader (the owners son) double checked and confirmed my observations. He said it was deffinately an issue that should addressed quickly to avoid issues of system blockages and backups. He explained how the problem could be corrected, which turned out to be the same thought I had before their arrival; that work has now been scheduled. I was totally impressed with their work completed this day; the installation of the risers and the fix of the inlet inspection port. I know this was a long and drawn out explanation, but remember, it all started with the incorrect manner in which the old tank was pumped and not cleaned/inspected by Bud's Sewer Service in 2009. If you have a septic system,

Mark was very prompt in getting here, very professional, helpful and friendly. He ran a camera through the line to locate where the problem was, found the break in the line, cleaned the line as well as he could and gave me good recommendations who to
get in touch with to fix the broken line problem. A friend highly recommended this company and I was completely satisfied with their services and knowledge.

They were here within a couple of hours and it didn't take them long to fix the problem. I will them again in the furture.

I definitely liked the service. He was prompt in getting over here. Once he did the cleaning, he said that if I have problems again and if it re-closes up again pretty quickly, to give him a call and he would come out and start the hourly where he left off. He wouldn't begin again at the first initial hour where he charges whatever. It would save me some money that way. He was just honest and a good guy. He cleaned up after himself. I just felt like he did a good job. The price was reasonable. I was honestly expecting a bit more so that was okay. This is actually the second time we have used him. A year or two ago we had the same problem and he came out and fixed it up.