Hi! New Jersey Homeowner Selling House Tank Sweep Problem

netrubicon

Newbie
Nov 1, 2018
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Hi there,

I am a NJ Homeowner in Bridgewater NJ. We recently sold out home and during the inspection phase an inspector did a tank sweep to find any underground storage tanks. Fair enough! The land was purchased in the early 1960 by my dad who cleared the trees and had the house built.

Well...during the tank sweep inspection, the inspector flagged a target in the back yard. He told me we would have to dig down a couple feet to unearth the signal that he picked up. The signal target he marked with flags in the shape of a rectangle about the size of a coffin. Here is the problem,

I went out and dug down about 18 inches and ran into solid trap rock or bed rock. I used a 50+ pound breaker bar to try to get through the rock but it is solid rock! He came back to do a re-inspection and still thinks that we should dig down to 5 feet to make sure there is no tank there??? I do not want to ruin my yard with a backhoe only to have the backhoe not be able to bust through this rock.

Im not sure what type of metal detector he was using but it was all yellow and telescopic. I doubt that the detector could distinguish what type of metal it was picking up let alone the target depth. First he said dig 2 feet then he said to dig 5 feet...yeah right!

Is there anyone I could hire that could confirm with a high degree of certainty the exsistance of the metal object? On a side note we live about 2 miles from Stavola rock quarry and the area we live in was mined a lot during the 1800's for copper. I have metal detected in the past here in this area with an Ace 250 and just got hit after hit to find nothing but rocks and some typical nails/and scrap hardware. Any thoughts on what to do next????

Thank you for your input.

Al
 

vpnavy

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Jun 15, 2008
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I noticed this was your very first post - so, Welcome Aboard Al! Now, until a member pipes in - you might consider jumping over to Forum: New Jersey and seeing if their is a club, etc. near your home that might be willing to come over and MD your yard.
 

A2coins

Gold Member
Dec 20, 2015
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Ann Arbor
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I think one of those box derectors might give an image and size
 

redbeardrelics

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Jan 3, 2014
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I would suggest that instead of using a metal detector, you should use a "privy probe". Which if you are not familiar with, is a roughly 5 to 6 foot long 5/16" diameter spring steel rod with a Tee handle welded to one end. Anyone who has probed the ground with one of these for old privy or outhouse pits can pretty easily tell you by pushing it into the ground a few times, if there is a metal tank, rock, bricks, glass, or shell etc. there. They can also pretty easily tell you if the ground has been disturbed there with previous holes being dug, or if it is undisturbed, natural or "virgin" ground. It would only take a few minutes, and would leave nothing but a few 5/16" diameter holes in your yard.
 

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