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Buyers Guide to performing an Oil Tank Sweep.

Oct 7, 2024 8:30:00 AM / by Tiffany Byrne

Buying a home built before the 1990s? Get a Tank Sweep.

Many inspections are performed when buying a home, and most are cursory visual inspections of the HVAC system, soffits, chimneys, foundation, plumbing, sidewalks, decks, swimming pools, etc.  These building components are commonly evaluated as part of your home inspection.  What is missed by many buyers is the environmental liability aspect of purchasing a home. Environmental can be asbestos, radon, mold, lead paint, and oil tanks.  Of all these environmental liabilities, oil tanks represent the biggest risk relative to remedial costs.  A hidden underground oil tank can cost a couple thousands of dollars to a new homeowner if it is not caught during the inspection process.  Worse is when an oil tank leaks, it can lead to costs up to tens of thousands of dollars. Are you ready for that?

 oil tank scan

When people are on the fence about doing an oil tank sweep, I tell them that if there is an oil tank, when you buy the home, you buy the home and the oil tank problem. 

Over the past 26 years oil tank sweeps, oil tank scans and/or oil tank inspections have become a common part of the home-buying process.

Why perform an oil tank sweep?

Oil tanks belong to a property and if you buy a home with an oil tank you buy all the costs associated with the oil tank, meaning oil tank removal, soil testing and most expensive oil tank remediation. 

The photo below is a remediation of a leaking oil tank.

oil tank leaking-5

Oil heat was popular in the Northeastern United States from the 1930s to the mid-1980s, this time frame encompasses a large part of the homes in the Northeast, meaning chances are the home you are looking to purchase utilized oil heat in the past.  Also, homes built before 1930, most likely had oil heat since coal was phased out as soon as a homeowner had a chance to switch, since coal required physical feeding of the furnace several times a day during the heating season. Find out More info on Tank Sweeps. 

What percentage of tank sweeps find prior oil heat?

With over 26 years of experience with oil tanks, we have crunched the numbers and found an average of about 75% of the oil tank sweeps find evidence of prior oil heat.  That number should not be that surprising since natural gas only became popular in the 1970's.

Who pays for a tank sweep?

Buyers typically pay for the oil tank sweep as it is part of their due diligence.  Due diligence is what a reasonable person would do to investigate a property for problems prior to ownership.

Do property owners ever do oil tank sweeps?

Most property owners do not perform tank sweeps as they do not want to find an oil tank.

The photo below shows a tank found by Curren during a GPR scan.   Home built in 1978, sold in 2016, with no oil tank sweep.

oil tank sweeps for home purchase

 Oil Tank scan with Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) or metal detector?

You should use both GPR and a metal detector to be thorough when performing an oil tank scan or tank sweep. Rely on GPR the most as it is what commercial sites use, metal detectors are more to prove that the object found by GPR is metallic.  Remember, the best equipment is the most expensive, an $800.00 metal detector on Amazon.com should not be relied upon.

 

Tank Sweep Questions?

 

Metal detectors beep if they find iron sand, buried pipes, get too close to a metal fence or a structure with metal, and yes homes have metal, or simply encounter buried metallic trash.   GPR uses a screen so the geophysical technician can see the graphical image detected by the GPR antenna. Larger signals are tanks, and smaller signals are usually pipes.

Tank sweeps with GPR

Do you need a Ground Penetrating Radar/ Tank Scan?  Call Curren Environmental Today.

1-888-301-1050 

 

Topics: tank leak, OIl Tank Sweeps, tank scans

Tiffany Byrne

Written by Tiffany Byrne

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