Basement Oil Tanks Do Leak

Many homes that convert from oil to natural gas leave Aboveground Storage Tanks (ASTs) in a basement.   These basement tanks are rarely ever empty and are typically ignored.  Rust never sleeps and nothing lasts forever, when basement tanks leak, and many do, oil will be spread throughout the basement space, necessitating an expensive cleanup.

The tank in the following photo was out of service.  Owner converted to natural gas and never saw the need to spend the money to remove the oil tank. 

We say never saw the need, meaning there was an expense to remove the oil tank that the owner did not want to incur.  In addition, the HVAC company that performed the conversion did not want the headache of dealing with the oil tank. Fast forward a few months, the house is listed for sale, the new owners bought the house and ignored the tank.  Fixed the house up and listed the home for sale. The potential buyer was more savvy than the current owner and had soil borings completed next to the tank.  Bingo, oil was found.

The photo below?  Pouring a new concrete floor after we removed the old floor and dug up soil, about $57,000.00

The owner had to remove the tank and cleanup the leak, for a tank that they never used.  

In this particular situation the tank was not sitting above a concrete floor, but was cradled in soil just below the level of the floor.  A concrete floor was poured around the tank.  This type of situation where a tank cannot be visually inspected underneath is more common in a crawl space.  In a crawl space due to a low ceiling height, tanks are placed on their side and often on dirt floors.  Installers will dig a concave form to place these tanks on the ground, which allows the tank to sit still.  Unfortunately, having a portion of the tank buried allows moisture to accelerate corrosion on the part of the tank that is buried.

 Call the Experts

888-301-1050