That spray foam isn't going to seal. You need to actually clean the concreate surface. Not just kind of brush only the lose soil away with your glove. The foam will adhere to the soil that is still compacted to the concreate. Then when you freeze & thaws, the compacted soil will pull away from the concrete during expansion & contraction. Which will make a very nice gap for water to intrude the tank, and for gasses to escape. The proper sealing material is mastic on a clean surface.
We can get to -35 below in our area. Any thoughts about if we should insulate inside the riser for winter months? Our pumper said our tank was dead. It's a cabin so there is very little useage.
Hi, nice job. We are in an area where there is flooding once in a while, do you think your set up would be enough to prevent the tank from filling up each time there is a flood?
Hi Carl! Yes it does seal up nicely when you apply an adequate amount of foam between the tank and the Seal R adapter. However, unless it is just surface flooding, the drain field will most likely flood as well and could enter the tank through the outlet line. Hope that is helpful!
What a great idea. I have a 20” square lid like this and was going to build a frame around it and then place some wood on top of the frame to cover it (leaving the concrete lid in place, of course). This is much better. All your videos are helpful and appreciated.
I see you sell the zabel effluent filters. Have you ever seen a tank get overfilled with liquid that it pushed the filter up from the pipe a few inches? my septic outlet was partially blocked until the filter was pushed back down tight where it should be. trying to understand how it got that way. either someone failed to put it in all the way or the water pushed it up??? any thoughts?
If the filter is plugged with solids, it can cause the tank to overfill and back up. Occasionally this could cause the filter to pop up some. There are also some filter/outlet devices that have a ball in the bottom that will block the bottom of the outlet device when the filter is pulled out. The purpose of this is to prevent solids from escaping out to the drain field when a plugged filter is pulled. However, if the filter is not installed all the way back into the outlet device, it could prevent water from being able to move through the outlet device.
djsepticservice Thanks for the reply. sadly it was overfilling because it wasn’t all the way down and it needed cleaning. The moment he pushed it down it started to flow again. He pumped the tank down then pulled it and cleaned it. I didn’t want it pulled until it was pumped to avoid any chance of solids going down. Either pushed up from water build up or previous person failed to install correctly. As far as solids he said it was only a few inches but that filter problem somehow allowed solids to cover the inlet and outlet. So glad this was resolved before it backed up into the house 😳 Idk why they installed short risers when they could have came to the surface and made it easy to get to so the filter maintenance could be done easily. Probably could’ve gotten longer without pumping had this not happened. Learning all I can now... Thanks again for the input
Yes, we are in Michigan. As long as the tank is active, there should not be any concern about freezing. They do make insulated lids though, if freezing is possible.
It can be tough on that type of tank. You could try to contact your local concrete companies, especially the ones that manufacture septic tanks, and ask if they make or could make a concrete base ring for riser installation that is big enough to cover the size of the opening.
Nice product but, questionable install, Foam & Glue don't stick to dirt too well so, it would probably best to hose off the dirt from the concrete, wait for it to dry and then install the riser.
@@lh98 If you have had any experience with asphalt roofing cement/tar, you know that with time it cracks and separates. Urethane caulk is less likely to do so, both need to be applied in quantity sufficient to fill any gaps and best to vacuum the surface and wire brush the top and vacuum again and then apply the sealant and bolt down the adapter ring. Good idea to check for any protruding aggregate in the top of the tank also and flatten such with a hammer before attaching the adapter ring.
That spray foam isn't going to seal. You need to actually clean the concreate surface. Not just kind of brush only the lose soil away with your glove. The foam will adhere to the soil that is still compacted to the concreate. Then when you freeze & thaws, the compacted soil will pull away from the concrete during expansion & contraction. Which will make a very nice gap for water to intrude the tank, and for gasses to escape. The proper sealing material is mastic on a clean surface.
excellent presentations! Thx 4 sharing your knowledge and professional experience for diyers!!!!
Thanks for watching!
That spray foam isn't going to seal. You need to actually clean the concreate surface. Not just kind of brush only the lose soil away with your glove. The foam will adhere to the soil that is still compacted to the concreate. Then when you freeze & thaws, the compacted soil will pull away from the concrete during expansion & contraction. Which will make a very nice gap for water to intrude the tank, and for gasses to escape. The proper sealing material is mastic on a clean surface.
We can get to -35 below in our area. Any thoughts about if we should insulate inside the riser for winter months? Our pumper said our tank was dead. It's a cabin so there is very little useage.
With little usage, insulating the lid of the riser is not a bad idea. They do make insulated lids as well.
Hi, nice job. We are in an area where there is flooding once in a while, do you think your set up would be enough to prevent the tank from filling up each time there is a flood?
Hi Carl! Yes it does seal up nicely when you apply an adequate amount of foam between the tank and the Seal R adapter. However, unless it is just surface flooding, the drain field will most likely flood as well and could enter the tank through the outlet line. Hope that is helpful!
What a great idea. I have a 20” square lid like this and was going to build a frame around it and then place some wood on top of the frame to cover it (leaving the concrete lid in place, of course). This is much better. All your videos are helpful and appreciated.
Am here brushing off the dirt lol
I see you sell the zabel effluent filters. Have you ever seen a tank get overfilled with liquid that it pushed the filter up from the pipe a few inches? my septic outlet was partially blocked until the filter was pushed back down tight where it should be. trying to understand how it got that way. either someone failed to put it in all the way or the water pushed it up??? any thoughts?
If the filter is plugged with solids, it can cause the tank to overfill and back up. Occasionally this could cause the filter to pop up some.
There are also some filter/outlet devices that have a ball in the bottom that will block the bottom of the outlet device when the filter is pulled out. The purpose of this is to prevent solids from escaping out to the drain field when a plugged filter is pulled. However, if the filter is not installed all the way back into the outlet device, it could prevent water from being able to move through the outlet device.
djsepticservice Thanks for the reply. sadly it was overfilling because it wasn’t all the way down and it needed cleaning. The moment he pushed it down it started to flow again. He pumped the tank down then pulled it and cleaned it. I didn’t want it pulled until it was pumped to avoid any chance of solids going down. Either pushed up from water build up or previous person failed to install correctly. As far as solids he said it was only a few inches but that filter problem somehow allowed solids to cover the inlet and outlet. So glad this was resolved before it backed up into the house 😳
Idk why they installed short risers when they could have came to the surface and made it easy to get to so the filter maintenance could be done easily. Probably could’ve gotten longer without pumping had this not happened. Learning all I can now... Thanks again for the input
How far away from the residence should the tank be?
Your local health department will have its own specifications, but in most areas, the minimum set back from the foundation is around 10 feet.
Where are you located? Michigan? Concerned about freezing and snow conditions affecting risers set up.
Yes, we are in Michigan. As long as the tank is active, there should not be any concern about freezing. They do make insulated lids though, if freezing is possible.
Daaa try a broom
How do you install these on slab lids that is as wide as the septic tank
It can be tough on that type of tank. You could try to contact your local concrete companies, especially the ones that manufacture septic tanks, and ask if they make or could make a concrete base ring for riser installation that is big enough to cover the size of the opening.
Nice product but, questionable install, Foam & Glue don't stick to dirt too well so, it would probably best to hose off the dirt from the concrete, wait for it to dry and then install the riser.
Thanks. No glue involved though. We use concrete anchors to attach the riser to the septic tank so it creates a tight seal.
djsepticservice what about roofing tar or silicone in caulking tubes to make a seal vs expansion foam? or has the foam worked well for y’all?
Agreed. Poor preparation.
@@lh98 If you have had any experience with asphalt roofing cement/tar, you know that with time it cracks and separates. Urethane caulk is
less likely to do so, both need to be applied in quantity sufficient to fill any gaps and best to vacuum the surface and wire brush the top and
vacuum again and then apply the sealant and bolt down the adapter ring. Good idea to check for any protruding aggregate in the top of the
tank also and flatten such with a hammer before attaching the adapter ring.
Sloopy job
That spray foam isn't going to seal. You need to actually clean the concreate surface. Not just kind of brush only the lose soil away with your glove. The foam will adhere to the soil that is still compacted to the concreate. Then when you freeze & thaws, the compacted soil will pull away from the concrete during expansion & contraction. Which will make a very nice gap for water to intrude the tank, and for gasses to escape. The proper sealing material is mastic on a clean surface.