Tank Sweeps when Purchasing a Home

Next to a home inspection, a tank sweep is an important inspection when buying a home.  Environmental regulations are not fair and place the responsibility of cleaning up contamination on the property owner, not the party that caused the contamination. When buying or selling a home, having a tank sweep performed helps manage the liability of oil tanks.  Metal rusts and holes appear, and oil will leak out of the tank to the extent that remediation is required by law and the owner is responsible for cleanup.   I would hope that both buyers and sellers understand that a $25,000 oil tank leak devalues a property and it also an expense a new homeowner wants to avoid, hence the need for tanks weeps, to find a problem before you find a problem.  And yes, an undisclosed oil tank is a problem.

The photo below relates to a $25,000 cleanup from a tank not supposed to be on the property.  No tank sweep was performed before purchase, to be fair this was in Ocean City NJ, so you don't expect an oil tank to be present, or at least the uninformed.  The buyer's realtor also documented that this area does not have buried oil tanks but was wrong. You do a tank sweep to prevent this from happening to you.

What is a tank sweep?

It is an evaluation of a property for prior oil heat and evidence of abandoned oil tanks.  Historically most buyers will leave their homes within 5-10 years after purchase.    A home built in 1950, could have had 8 owners when measured from 2023.  An oil to gas conversion on a home could likely have been performed 3 owners ago, providing plausible deniability of the current owner having no knowledge of prior oil heat, since they purchased the home with natural gas as a fuel source.

Can I look for an oil tank myself?

Sure, the photo to the left is a diagram of a tank layout, and the photo to the right is the tank fill and vent pipes aboveground.  If you see these pipes, you have a tank.

Tank Sweep Questions?  888-301-1050 

Can you scan 100% of a property?

No one can provide 100% coverage.   People install additions over tanks, park cars, decks, moving PODS, etc.  Note the photo below, a tank could be under a car, or the POD and no one would be able to survey those locations.

Ditto for this gem of a backyard.  The possessions strewn across this area will prohibit scanning the area.

When do you do a tank sweep? 

Should you do the tank sweep on the same day as a home inspection?

Your best defense is a good offense, the sooner you do the tank sweep the more prepared you are, especially if an oil tank is found. Here is a good rundown of a tank sweep we performed. 

December 20th  Curren provided a quote for tank sweep.

December 20th First client executes and wants to schedule work for December 28th, which is the day they are having a home inspection performed.   

Curren persuades the client to do work on December 22nd and an oil tank is found.

The December 22nd GPR report and the cost to remove the tank are supplied to the client.

January 12th, the owner of the property contacts Curren to put an oil tank removal quote in their name and hires Curren to remove the oil tank.

It took almost 2.5 weeks for the owner to come to terms with having to remove the oil tank.

Curren completed the tank sweep almost a week earlier than the date the client requested.

All parties are now dealing with municipal permitting which will take a week to four weeks, placing the oil tank removal date in February.  Soil lab testing will take another week, so say, in the middle of February.  Almost 45 days from the start of the project a report will be issued and all parties cross their fingers that the soil results are clean.

Pro Tip

Get the tank sweep done sooner rather than later.

Best Tank Sweep

At Curren we feel we provide the best possible sweep for several reasons:

• Over 26 years in business

• Licensed to remove oil tanks in three states, meaning we know oil tanks.

• Tens of thousands of tanks are removed, Curren knows how oil tanks are buried and where helps when you are looking for a hidden oil tank.

• Because we remove oil tanks, when we find a oil tank, you can get a cost to remove the tank.  Clearly, the owner must pay for removal but having an instant cost helps with at least one of the unknowns, it keeps the process moving forward.

Tank Sweep Questions?

888-301-1050