Because the work is site specific. Tank size, how far the truck parks from the lid, whether the lid is buried, soil type and disposal fees all move the number, and they vary house by house rather than by neighbourhood.
Why nobody can price a system by phone
The soil decides, and soil is site specific
Pumping can be priced over the phone within a range, because the variables are few: tank size, hose distance, disposal fee and whether the lid is buried. Those are set out on septic pumping cost, and a firm number follows once we see the lid.
A full system cannot. Two neighbouring lots can differ by tens of thousands because one drains and one does not, and nothing short of test pits and a percolation rate tells you which you have. That is why soil evaluation comes before the quote and not after.
The same applies to fields. Until the bed has been probed, nobody knows whether you are looking at a partial repair or a full rebuild, and the difference between those is the whole point of drain field diagnosis. Anyone quoting either one sight unseen is quoting the worst case and hoping.
Range by phone
Pumping
Soil test first
Full system
Probe first
Drain field
