I've blogged several times about our house. It's my family's original farmstead. DW and I began renovating the house in 2008, and moved in August 2009. We completely renovated the house interior before moving in. We knew that there were several projects on the outside that needed attention, too.

In 2011, we had a new roof installed. In 2012, we had the front porch renovated. In 2013, the back porch was built.

We've decided that the our 2014 home improvement project will be a new septic system. The septic system that was installed (probably) 80 years ago simply does not support 6 people, and the laundry of six people, and the dish washer in the house of six people, and the showers and baths and toilet flushes of six people.

We've had the tank pumped twice since we began house renovations - once just before we moved in, and again this past September. I've not been around either time it was pumped, but the hauler described it as about the size of a coffin.

I began investigating a new septic system last fall. I'm certain I blogged about it then. What I found out is that the size of the tank is dictated by the number of bedrooms in the house, and the size of the drain field is dictated by the rate that the soil around the drain field percolates water. Our soil is loamy - not sandy and not heavy clay - so I'm expecting a medium sized drain field.

I'm estimating the cost at around $6,000.

Two sets of family members had troubles with their septic systems this very cold winter. Septic systems can freeze up when they're not used every day. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law spent February in Mexico. They came back to a septic system frozen in two places - from the inside going out, and the outside coming in. Their drainage pipe goes under their driveway, which was cleared of insulating snow, and caused major problems, and a big mess.

My parents spent January and February in Florida. They came back to a frozen pipe, inside going out. My dad said that it was "only" frozen about 1-2 feet. So their mess wasn't nearly as big, or difficult to fix - but it was still enough.

So, we may choose some extra insulation when we have the new septic system installed. I'm not sure what that will add to the cost. But, there may be another very cold winter 20-30 years from now when the extra cost will have been worth it.

It's a bit disheartening that we'll be spending 6K, and not add to the beautification or storage capacity or comfort of our house (we'd also like a garage, and/or geothermal heat for example). But, indeed, a new septic system is a project that needs to be done, and it will be better to do it when it's still a choice, and not an emergency.