Allow me to tell you something most septic companies refuse to: there are two categories of people in this world. Those who assume septic systems are just “subterranean tanks for waste,” and those who’ve had raw sewage gurgling into their yard at the dead of night. I understood this reality the difficult way in 2005—standing in mud, trembling in a Washington downpour, as my brothers and I aided a weathered installer restore our family’s collapsed system. I was fourteen. My hands were raw. My clothes were destroyed. But that moment, something crystallized: This is not just digging. It’s folks’ lives we are protecting.

The majority of companies begin by servicing tanks. We started by constructing them—actually. Back in the early 2000s, when most kids were gaming on Xbox, Art Nikolin (our ops manager) and his siblings were excavating trenches under the watchful eye of a septic veteran their dad hired. Project by project, that installer recognized something in us. Perhaps it was our stubborn refusal to quit when a PVC pipe failed at 9 PM. Or how we’d argue about soil percolation rates like kids debate pizza toppings. By 2008, we weren’t just laborers—we were qualified installers. But here is the kicker: we learned this trade in reverse.

Understand, 90% of septic operations begin with maintenance. They know how to service a tank but can’t tell you why the leach field collapsed three years after setup. We got our hands filthy from the ground up. Literally. I remember this one hellish summer—2006, I recall—when we installed 17 systems across Snohomish County. One client’s yard had soil like bedrock. The “expert” crew before us quit. But our guide taught us a method: saturate the ground overnight, dig at first light. We finished by noon. That system? Still running without issue 18 years later.

Skip ahead to 2023. We get a frantic call from a terrified homeowner in Woodinville. Their fresh septic system—put in by a “cheap” crew—went belly-up during Thanksgiving dinner. Raw sewage oozed into their landscaping. The company abandoned them. We showed up at 10 PM. Art took one glance at the tank positioning and groaned. “They put it uphill the house? Gravity ain’t gonna work that way, folks.” By sunrise, we redesigned the complete layout. Saved them $20K in landscaping damage too.

This is what sets Septic Solutions LLC apart: we build systems like we’re the ones gonna live with them. Because in a way, we did. That first tank we installed as kids? Our family depended on it for a long time. Every pipe we placed, every tank we set, had skin in the game. When you have eaten dinner 10 feet above a septic field you built, homepage you do not cut corners.

Let’s get real—septic work isn’t appealing. But you’ll find an art to it. In 2015, we accepted a horror show job near Lake Stevens. Stone-riddled terrain. Limited budget. Three other companies insisted it could not be done without explosives. We invested a week hand-digging around rocks, repositioning the drain field precisely. The client teared up when we finished. Not because it was cheap—but because we’d saved her hundred-year-old oak tree.

Our advantage? We’re not just installers. We’re storytellers of soil. We recognize which brands of PVC fail in Washington’s winter cycles (avoid the blue-striped brand). We memorized which counties have clay that’s gonna clog a drain field in 5 years. Shoot, we even redesigned our tank baffles in 2019 after seeing how grease buildup cripples pumps. Tiny tweak. Huge impact. Maintenance guys love us for it.

You want stats? Sure. Since 2010, 92% of our systems have survived 10+ years without major issues. But numbers won’t stink when things go bad. Ask Mrs. Henderson from Monroe. Her previous installer used cheap aggregate that turned her leach line into a cement-like tomb. We dedicated New Year’s Day 2021 demolishing it out. She delivered us cookies for a whole year.

Here’s the ugly truth: nearly all septic failures occur because someone ignored a step. Failed to test the soil correctly. Used inferior tanks. Misjudged the water table. We’ve fixed countless of these messes. And each and every time, we file away another learning. Like in 2022, when we decided on adding dual-access risers to every job. Why? Because Randy, our lead tech, got tired of watching homeowners wreck their lawns during inspections. Now maintenance is a quick job.

I will not lie—this work ages you. Art’s got a snapshot from our first commercial job in 2009. We seem like kids playing in Tonka trucks. These days, we’ve developed laugh lines from studying at soil reports and laugh lines from clients who became friends. Like the senior couple in Bothell who demand we stay for lemonade after every service calls. Or the brewery in Everett whose tank we replaced last fall—they branded a beer “Septic Solutions Sour.” (That’s… an interesting taste.)

So absolutely, we aren’t not the cheapest. Or the fanciest. But when a storm knocks out power and your tank’s backing up? You will not care about discounts. You will want the crew that have been there, done that, and still smell like lingering regret. The team that answers at 2 AM because we’ve personally all been that homeowner stuck ankle-deep in crisis.

In retrospect, it seems funny. That installer who trained us as kids? He retired years ago. But his lessons still ring in our heads each time we break ground. “Go deeper,” he’d say. “Future you will thank past you.” As it happens, he wasn’t just talking about septic tanks.