In article , on Mon, 24 Jul
2006 14:32:14 GMT, 46erjoe wrote:

Getting ready to sell an old house. It used to be heated by fuel oil.
Now it's gas forced air, but the old 100 gallon tank remains in the
dirt basement. (At least I think it's 100 gallon - I don't know how to
measure volume in an oval container.)

My realtor says I need to remove it. I used a sawzall to open up a
small hole in the top to see how much oil is left inside. I would
guess about 25 gallons.

I called a waste removal company to get a quote. Yikes! $2000. I'd
like to tackle this job myself.

I figure I can cut open the entire top with my sawzall to get at the
oil. But then I'm not sure where to go from there. And even if I'm
able to pump or hand-bucket carry the oil to a 55 gallon drum, what do
I do with the stuff?

I can probably cut up the tank into pieces and put them on the curb
for garbage pick-up one piece at a time.

Ideas? What would you do? Is $2000 a fair price?


In all probability, your state (ostensibly, PA) has strict laws about
oil tanks. In MA, where I live, oil tank removal needs a permit, and
*several* inspections along the way, if it has to be cut up to be
removed. The old oil and the tank must be disposed of legally. Try to
do this on your own, and you're just asking for trouble. A dirt basement
makes this even riskier. If the guys in the space suits have to come to
your house, it's *big* bucks.

BTW, I doubt your tank is 100 gallons. That's tiny. The standard home
oil tank is 275 gallons. The capacity should be stamped someplace on the
tank.

I paid $1500 two years ago to remove and replace an old tank in my
basement. $150 of that was just to legally dispose of the oil tank.
$2,000 sounds high just to have the tank removed and disposed of. I'd
get more estimates.

--
Seth Goodman