Let me explain something the majority of septic companies won’t: there are two types of people in this world. Those who think septic systems are simply “buried containers for waste,” and those who have had raw sewage erupting into their backyard at the dead of night. I learned this distinction the hard way in 2005—standing in sludge, trembling in a Washington rainstorm, as my family and I aided a weathered installer fix our family’s broken system. I was a teenager. My hands were raw. My jeans were ruined. But that night, something changed: This is not just digging. It’s folks’ lives we’re protecting.

The majority of companies begin by servicing tanks. We began by creating them—literally. Back in the beginning of the 2000s, when regular kids were playing Xbox, Art Nikolin (our ops manager) and his siblings were digging trenches under the careful eye of a septic veteran their father hired. Project by project, that installer recognized something in us. Maybe it was our stubborn refusal to give up when a PVC pipe burst at 9 PM. Or how we would argue about soil drainage rates like kids debate pizza toppings. By 2008, we were no longer just assistants—we were qualified installers. But here’s the twist: we learned this craft in reverse.

See, 90% of septic operations begin with service. They understand how to clean a tank but couldn’t tell you why the absorption area went bad three years after construction. We got our hands muddy from the foundation. Literally. I think back to this one rough summer—2006, I think—when we installed 17 systems across Snohomish County. One client’s yard had soil like granite. The “pro” crew before us gave up. But our teacher taught us a technique: soak the ground overnight, dig at sunrise. We finished by noon. That system? Still operating perfectly 18 years later.

Fast forward to 2023. We get a phone call from a panicked homeowner in Woodinville. Their recently installed septic system—constructed by a “discount” crew—failed during Thanksgiving dinner. Raw sewage oozed into their yard. The company disappeared on them. We got there at 10 PM. Art took one peek at the tank location and sighed. “They put it higher than the house? Gravity does not work that way, friends.” By morning, we had redesigned the complete layout. Protected them $20K in landscaping damage too.

This is what puts Septic Solutions LLC apart: we create systems like we are gonna live with them. Because truthfully, we did. That first tank we built as teens? Our family used it for web site a long time. Every pipe we installed, every tank we positioned, had our reputation on the line. When you’ve actually eaten dinner 10 feet above a septic field you built, you never cut corners.

I’ll get straight with you—septic work is not glamorous. But there’s an art to it. In 2015, we tackled a horror show job near Lake Stevens. Boulder-filled terrain. Limited budget. Three other companies insisted it was impossible to be done without blasting. We invested a week manually excavating around boulders, fine-tuning the drain field precisely. The client teared up when we completed. Not because it was cheap—but because we saved her hundred-year-old oak tree.

Our edge? We aren’t not just installers. We are experts of soil. We know which brands of PVC fail in Washington’s temperature cycles (avoid the blue-striped material). We’ve memorized which counties have clay that will destroy a drain field in 5 years. Hell, we even redesigned our tank baffles in 2019 after noticing how grease buildup cripples pumps. Small tweak. Huge impact. Maintenance teams appreciate us for it.

You need stats? Fine. Since 2010, 92% of our systems have gone 10+ years without serious issues. But numbers won’t stink when things go south. Ask Mrs. Henderson from Monroe. Her previous installer used cheap aggregate that turned her leach line into a solid tomb. We used New Year’s Day 2021 jackhammering it out. She sent us cookies for a whole year.

Here’s the brutal truth: nearly all septic failures take place because someone missed a step. Didn’t test the soil correctly. Used inferior tanks. Misjudged the water table. We’ve personally fixed hundreds of these disasters. And every time, we remember another learning. Like in 2022, when we began adding twin risers to all job. Why? Because Randy, our senior tech, got tired of watching homeowners wreck their lawns during inspections. Now maintenance is a 15-minute job.

I will not lie—this work takes a toll on you. Art’s got a photo from our first commercial job in 2009. We appear like youngsters playing in Tonka trucks. Today, we’ve developed wrinkles from peering at soil reports and laugh lines from clients who are now friends. Like the retired couple in Bothell who demand we stay for lemonade after each service calls. Or the brewery in Everett whose tank we improved last fall—they named a beer “Septic Solutions Sour.” (It’s… an interesting taste.)

So yeah, we’re not the lowest priced. Or the showiest. But when a storm cuts power and your tank’s overflowing? You will not care about coupons. You’re going to want the team who have been there, done that, and still smell like faint regret. The team that responds at 2 AM because we’ve personally all been that homeowner stuck ankle-deep in disaster.

Thinking back, it seems funny. That installer who taught us as kids? He quit years ago. But his voice still ring in our heads each time we break ground. “Go deeper,” he used to say. “Future you will thank past you.” As it happens, he was not just talking about septic tanks.