I have an interesting dilemma sitting in front of me regarding an estimate. I guess the best way to describe it is to describe the events that have led up to me writing this.

I just finished putting the final touches on my first Blog post (http://wp.me/p4iP0n-4) and sent it out to the world. I grabbed a stack of paperwork and the first note I read is “Customer wants budget proposal”. Background: We performed a septic inspection of this property last week (40-year-old house and system) and found 2 systems. One system has a tank and small “drain field” (really it’s a couple of laterals). The other “system” has a grease trap and a cesspool for gray water (kitchen sink, dishwasher and laundry discharge). The buyers really want the property and the seller is “motivated to sell” (I’m not 100% sure what that means but I’ll play along).

November 19, 1914:  Operation of Sewage Disposal Plants. By Francis E. Daniels. “A man in charge of a sewage disposal plant should know what each unit of his works is doing every day. A skilled observer may detect faults and short-comings with some degree of certainty by mere inspection; and if the output is bad and a heavy pollution is occurring or a local nuisance is resulting, it is not at all difficult to recognize the trouble. If the break-down has been sudden and due to a wash-out, a broken bed or wall or some other equally obvious cause, an expert is not needed to diagnose the case. But suppose the output of a plant or of some of its units is gradually falling below the requirements. In that case the gradual decline cannot be detected by observation and in order that one may know what is actually happening…