I need to tell you something most septic companies will not: there are two categories of people in this world. Those who believe septic systems are simply “buried containers for waste,” and those that have had raw sewage bubbling into their yard at the dead of night. I discovered this difference the hard way in 2005—standing in mud, trembling in a Washington deluge, as my siblings and I aided a grizzled installer restore our family’s failed system. I was 14. My hands were raw. My jeans were destroyed. But that moment, something clicked: This isn’t just dirt work. It’s folks’ lives we are safeguarding.

Nearly all companies kick off by pumping tanks. We started by creating them—literally. Back in the beginning of the 2000s, when other kids were glued to Xbox, Art Nikolin (our operations head) and homepage his siblings were digging trenches under the watchful eye of a septic veteran their dad hired. Project by project, that installer noticed something in us. Maybe it was our fierce refusal to give up when a PVC pipe burst at 9 PM. Or how we would argue about soil percolation rates like kids argue about pizza toppings. By 2008, we were no longer just helpers—we were licensed installers. But this is the secret: we learned this craft in reverse.

See, 90% of septic companies launch with maintenance. They understand how to service a tank but couldn’t tell you why the drain field went bad three years after construction. We got our hands dirty from the foundation. No joke. I think back to this one rough summer—2006, I think—when we constructed 17 systems across Snohomish County. One client’s yard had soil like granite. The “expert” crew before us quit. But our mentor taught us a method: hydrate the ground overnight, dig at first light. We wrapped up by noon. That system? Still operating without issue 18 years later.

Jump to 2023. We get a frantic call from a terrified homeowner in Woodinville. Their fresh septic system—constructed by a “cheap” crew—collapsed during Thanksgiving dinner. Raw sewage seeped into their landscaping. The company abandoned them. We showed up at 10 PM. Art took one peek at the tank location and shook his head. “They put it higher than the house? Gravity doesn’t work that way, friends.” By dawn, we had redesigned the whole layout. Protected them $20K in landscaping restoration too.

This is what makes Septic Solutions LLC apart: we create systems like we’re gonna maintain them. Because actually, we did. That initial tank we built as kids? Our family relied on it for a decade. Every pipe we installed, every tank we placed, had our reputation on the line. When you’ve actually eaten dinner 10 feet above a septic field you built, you don’t cut corners.

I’ll get straight with you—septic work is not pretty. But you’ll find an craft to it. In 2015, we tackled a nightmare job near Lake Stevens. Rocky terrain. Limited budget. Three other companies insisted it was impossible to be done without explosives. We spent a week manually excavating around rocks, adjusting the drain field precisely. The client teared up when we finished. Not because it was budget-friendly—but because we had saved her ancient oak tree.

Our edge? We aren’t not just installers. We’ve become experts of soil. We recognize which brands of PVC break in Washington’s winter cycles (stay away from the blue-striped material). We have memorized which counties have clay that will choke a drain field in 5 years. Hell, we even reworked our tank baffles in 2019 after observing how grease buildup cripples pumps. Tiny tweak. Huge impact. Maintenance crews thank us for it.

You want stats? Fine. Since 2010, 92% of our systems have gone 10+ years without major issues. But numbers won’t stink when things go wrong. Ask Mrs. Henderson from Monroe. Her previous installer used inferior aggregate that transformed her leach line into a concrete tomb. We dedicated New Year’s Day 2021 jackhammering it out. She mailed us cookies for a year.

Let me share the harsh truth: nearly all septic failures happen because someone ignored a step. Did not test the soil correctly. Used substandard tanks. Miscalculated the water table. We’ve fixed hundreds of these disasters. And each and every time, we remember another learning. Like in 2022, when we started adding twin risers to all job. Why? Because Randy, our lead tech, got tired of watching homeowners ruin their lawns during maintenance. Now maintenance is a 15-minute job.

I can’t lie—this work takes a toll on you. Art’s got a photo from our first commercial job in 2009. We look like kids playing in Tonka trucks. Now, we’ve laugh lines from studying at soil reports and laugh lines from clients who became friends. Like the elderly couple in Bothell who require we stay for lemonade after every service calls. Or the brewery in Everett whose tank we replaced last fall—they called a beer “Septic Solutions Sour.” (It’s… an unique taste.)

So yes, we’re not the most affordable. Or the showiest. But when a storm knocks out power and your tank’s overflowing? You won’t care about coupons. You’re going to want the team that have been there, done that, and still smell like faint regret. The team that responds at 2 AM because we have all been that homeowner trapped ankle-deep in disaster.

In retrospect, it’s funny. That installer who taught us as kids? He quit years ago. But his words still echo in our heads each time we break ground. “Dig deeper,” he used to say. “Future you will thank past you.” As it happens, he hadn’t been just talking about septic tanks.