Septic riser

[kmealy]

We just had a service call because the house drains were backing up.  Turns out there was a mass of root fibers where the line came into the tank.  I'd like to install "risers" that make access easier for service and harder for roots.  Problems with buying them

1) they all seem to be too small, our tank caps are at least 24" diameter.  Few are that big.

2) for a 12"-16" section of what seems to be plastic pipe, they want $300-500, another $100-150 for a plastic lid

3) now they all seem to be plastic and not just a concrete tube.

 

I'm thinking of getting something like retaining wall blocks and building my own, mortaring them in a stack.  I might have to make a form and pour concrete to make a cap.

 

Is there a better solution?

[Gunny]

We did that with field stone for my friend in North Dakota.  He had a piece of diamond plate attached to an angle iron frame that laid on top.  

[HandyDan]

Just throwing this out there.  How about a plastic drum cut in half for the riser and lid.

 

 

 

[Fred W. Hargis Jr]

I looked into this a year ago, our risers our kind of flush to the ground. A local lumber yard (whom my septic pumper recommended) has fiberglass extensions in stock. The price was high, but it was more in the $50-$75 range I didn't buy one because I needed to come back and get the ID and OD measurements (I only had the OD) to insure one would fit....they probably had 5 different sizes. The fiberglass extensions have "fingers that fit inside the riser to hold it in place, and the body sits on the concrete ring. With the fiberglass, you would re-use the existing concrete covers. So far I haven't went back to get them; I guess they became less important to me. But your caps are quite a bit larger than mine which are more like 18" diameter. You probably wouldn't want to call them but it's Ohio Lumber in Huntsville...they are actually fairly close to Indian Lake.

[JimM]

9 hours ago, kmealy said:

I'm thinking of getting something like retaining wall blocks and building my own, mortaring them in a stack.  I might have to make a form and pour concrete to make a cap.

I have done that, and made a top with treated deck boards on a 2x frame covered with landscaping fabric, set a few inches below grade. 

 

I have also used the risers, purchased from the local septic service company.  Don't recall the exact cost, but I think it was less than $50.  Well worth not having to dig!  It's made of black corrugated plastic like culvert pipe.  It matched the opening on the tank, and the lid from the tank fit on it.   I also sealed with pipe to the tank with some mortar.

 

I'd always had our tank pumped frequently, getting some teasing from family.  Considering the cost of replacing, my response was "better be a year too soon, than a day too late."

[Larry Buskirk]

Concrete risers are still available. Ken-Crete in Kenosha, WI. still makes them.