Services
Oil Tank Sweep
A scan of the property for buried or abandoned underground oil storage tanks (USTs), a significant and frequently overlooked liability on New Jersey properties. I charge less than half the state average.
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Services
A scan of the property for buried or abandoned underground oil storage tanks (USTs), a significant and frequently overlooked liability on New Jersey properties. I charge less than half the state average.
Schedule Now
A scan of the property for buried or abandoned underground oil storage tanks (USTs), a significant and frequently overlooked liability on New Jersey properties. I charge less than half the state average.
Underground oil storage tanks can wreak havoc in a home purchase, especially if you don’t fully understand what is at stake. The problem with a UST comes down to two things: leaks and liability.
A leaking tank can cause soil contamination, groundwater contamination, property damage, vapor hazards, fire hazards, and a real loss of property value. Worse, the responsibility for cleaning up any contamination rests solely with the property owner, and the cost depends entirely on the size and scope of the spill.
Even if you had no idea a tank was buried there when you bought the property, you generally cannot recover your losses from the Seller or prior owners, except in rare cases of provable fraud or intentional misrepresentation. Your homeowner’s insurance typically will not help either, since oil tank leaks are usually excluded except in very limited circumstances.
The first step is to add a tank sweep to your home inspection. I use detection equipment along with a careful visual survey of the property, inside and out, to determine whether a UST may be present.
I look for the tells: fuel lines or vent pipes protruding from the ground or entering the home through the foundation, depressions in the yard, patchwork where lines were once run and later removed, and areas of dead grass or landscaping caused by fill-pipe spillage or an active leak underground.
The average tank sweep in New Jersey runs about $250. I charge less than half of that. No sweep is 100% guaranteed, but set against the financial liability of a future environmental cleanup, getting one is a no-brainer.
Any time you are buying a home in New Jersey on land you will wholly own (and therefore be wholly responsible for) you should get a tank sweep. This generally excludes condos, co-ops, and some townhomes. It is worth doing even if:
• the home was newly or recently constructed • the Seller assures you the property has always had gas heat • an above-ground oil tank is currently in use • the Seller assures you they have always had an above-ground tank • an underground tank was already removed and the Seller has paperwork showing it never leaked
You do not want to be the one left holding the bag when a tank you knew nothing about springs a leak. In New Jersey transactions, if a tank is found during inspections the Seller will almost always agree to remove it, once they know it is there, they are legally obligated to disclose it to every future Buyer, which makes the home effectively unsaleable until it is gone. It is in their interest to handle it now, while they still have you under contract.
The good, the bad, and the costly.
Board Certified Master Home Inspector · 35+ years of hands-on experience · Every inspection conducted personally · Serving all of New Jersey
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