Let me share with you something most septic companies won’t: there are two kinds of people in this reality. Those who assume septic systems are just “subterranean tanks for waste,” and those who’ve had raw sewage erupting into their backyard at 2 AM. I understood this distinction the tough way in 2005—waist-deep in sludge, freezing in a Washington deluge, as my brothers and I helped a veteran installer repair our family’s failed system. I was fourteen. My hands were raw. My clothes were ruined. But that moment, something changed: This ain’t just manual labor. It’s people’s lives we’re preserving.

The majority of companies kick off by maintaining tanks. We launched by building them—literally. Back in the early 2000s, when other kids were gaming on Xbox, Art Nikolin (our lead guy) and his brothers were digging trenches under the experienced eye of a septic pro their dad hired. Project by project, that installer saw something in us. Maybe it was our stubborn refusal to quit when a PVC pipe exploded at 9 PM. Or how we’d argue about soil absorption rates like kids discuss pizza toppings. By 2008, we weren’t just laborers—we were certified installers. But here is the twist: we learned this business from the ground up.

Understand, 90% of septic businesses launch with pumping. They know how to clean a tank but couldn’t tell you why the absorption area went bad three years after construction. We got our hands dirty from the foundation. Literally. I think back to this one rough summer—2006, I think—when we constructed 17 systems across Snohomish County. One customer’s yard had soil like granite. The “pro” crew before us gave up. But our mentor taught us a method: soak the ground overnight, dig at dawn. We completed by noon. That system? Still working perfectly 18 years later.

Jump to 2023. We get a frantic call from a panicked homeowner in Woodinville. Their recently installed septic system—constructed by a “budget” crew—collapsed during Thanksgiving dinner. Raw sewage leaked into their garden. The company ghosted them. We got there at 10 PM. Art took one peek at the tank location and groaned. “They put it above the house? Gravity ain’t gonna work that way, people.” By morning, we redesigned the whole layout. Spared them $20K in landscaping damage too.

This is what sets Septic Solutions LLC different: we create systems like we’re gonna live with them. Because truthfully, we did. That initial tank we installed as teens? Our family depended on it for a ten years. Every pipe we installed, every tank we placed, had skin in the game. When you have eaten dinner 10 feet above a septic field you constructed, you don’t cut corners.

Let’s get honest—septic work isn’t appealing. But there is an art to it. In 2015, we tackled a horror show job near Lake Stevens. Boulder-filled terrain. Tight budget. Three other companies said it could not be done without blasting. We spent a week carefully digging around stones, adjusting the drain field millimeter by millimeter. The client cried when we finished. Not because it was budget-friendly—but because we had saved her hundred-year-old oak tree.

Our advantage? We are not just installers. We’ve become storytellers of soil. We understand which brands of PVC crack in Washington’s freeze-thaw cycles (avoid the blue-striped brand). We have memorized which counties have clay that will destroy a drain field in 5 years. Hell, we even reworked our tank baffles in 2019 after observing how grease buildup destroys pumps. Minor tweak. Huge impact. Maintenance crews appreciate us for it.

You looking for stats? Okay. Since 2010, 92% of our systems have survived 10+ years without significant issues. But data don’t stink when things go wrong. Ask Mrs. Henderson from Monroe. Her last installer used substandard aggregate that converted her leach line into a cement-like tomb. We used New Year’s Day 2021 demolishing it out. She delivered us cookies for a year.

Let me share the harsh truth: the majority of septic failures happen because someone ignored a step. Failed to test the soil properly. Used inferior website tanks. Misjudged the water table. We’ve fixed hundreds of these failures. And each time, we record another lesson. Like in 2022, when we decided on adding double risers to every install. Why? Because Randy, our lead tech, got tired of watching homeowners wreck their lawns during checks. Now maintenance is a 15-minute job.

I won’t 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 have wrinkles from peering at soil reports and laugh lines from clients who turned into friends. Like the elderly couple in Bothell who insist we stay for lemonade after every service calls. Or the brewery in Everett whose tank we upgraded last fall—they called a beer “Septic Solutions Sour.” (It’s… an unique taste.)

So yeah, we’re not the most affordable. Or the flashiest. But when a storm knocks out power and your tank’s flooding? You aren’t going to care about deals. You’ll want the guys who have been there, done that, and still smell like slight regret. The team that answers at 2 AM because we’ve personally all been that homeowner stuck ankle-deep in disaster.

Looking back, it’s funny. That installer who trained us as kids? He quit years ago. But his lessons still echo in our heads each time we disturb ground. “Go deeper,” he’d say. “Future you will thank past you.” Apparently, he wasn’t just talking about septic tanks.