Growing up in the Central Western Indiana community of West Point, Gary Cheesman knew he would be a plumber — the third-generation Cheesman at the helm of his family’s successful business.
In 1975, Cheesman passed two milestones: graduating from high school and taking on the company’s first septic system repair job. More than 30 years later, he recognizes that second milestone helped redirect the company’s business focus toward septic systems.
Today, Cheesman Inc. specializes in total water services for rural homes and does a substantial share of its business in onsite system repair. The wide service menu helps the business bridge slow times. Whereas a business solely focused on new installations could suffer from a decline in housing starts, Cheesman Inc. does not.
Moving into repairs
The repair business started when a customer had what he thought was a clogged sewer line, when what he really had was a failing septic system. “Helping that customer solve his septic system problem is what got us into this business in the first place,” Cheesman recalls.
That initial problem steered the business in a direction Cheesman’s dad and grandfather never expected. Today, about 20 percent of the business deals with problem systems, which may or may not be in violation of state law. Cheesman has never met a regulator willing to write a notice of violation for a slow-draining toilet. “I have, however, seen homeowners willing to spend whatever it takes to make it go away,” he says. Working in the flat to slightly rolling terrain about two hours southeast of Chicago and an hour northwest of Indianapolis, Cheesman has learned a lot from and about the soils. “The soils I work with in our 35-mile service area range from slowly percing, clayey soils to glacial tills,” he notes. Each soil has its own characteristics and challenges.
“I do not like working blind,” Cheesman says. Whether approaching a major system repair or a new installation, he needs to know all he can about the soils. How do they handle water? What problems do they present? How can he best take advantage of the site’s conditions while avoiding inherent problems? Starting on the repair side of the business, he has an added appreciation for the need to match the system to the site. “Often, I bring in a soil consultant to develop a detailed picture of the soils I have to work with,” he says. For repairs, this level of detailed evaluation is not needed to satisfy a regulation, but “I need it to satisfy me,” he says.
A problem is a problem
The easiest repairs are those involving a broken pipe, a failed pump or a defective control system. Troubleshooting an electrical failure can be relatively simple. Finding a crushed or obstructed pipe may involve a great deal of detective work, and it may even require a video camera or other advanced tools. “In some cases, the actual repair work is accomplished in less time than the troubleshooting and, in some cases, it’s not,” Cheesman says.
Addressing the special needs of problem systems requires attention to detail and the ability to closely hear what the system and site are telling him. His goals on every repair are to properly treat the effluent and to safely reintroduce it to the soil. “Simply making it go away is not the right solution for today or in the long run,” Cheesman says. When dealing with major repairs, which he describes as, “far more than replacing a broken pipe,” Cheesman has a no-nonsense approach. “I have seen how crowding a site’s capabilities or trying to push the soils to do more than they can, can come back to bite an installer,” he says. About twice a year he declines to install a system because the landowner wanted him to cut corners or crowd the system to keep costs down. A large percentage of failures he sees result from installations in soils that would be suitable, except that the installations are too deep. “The soils in our area become tighter as you go deeper,” he says. “This translates into slower perc rates at deeper soil depths.” In some situations, the entire site was unsuitable from the beginning. While initially systems in either situation may appear to work, “It’s just a matter of time before they create problems the homeowner can recognize,” Cheesman says.
Right spot, right time
Designing and installing replace-ment systems in suitable soils is straightforward. A conventional system is designed for the approved site, and it is installed as if the lot were being developed for the first time. Unfortunately, the suitable spot may not be very close to the existing treatment tank or to the existing house.
In these cases, it may be necessary to pump the treatment tank effluent up a hill, or move it a long distance by gravity to reach the new absorption area. Again, the terrain dictates how the effluent will move. In one extreme case, the absorption field was about 600 feet uphill from the house. Of course, that required an effluent pump.
Occasionally, Cheesman finds suitable soils that are not on the same parcel of land as the house. Here, the challenge is “getting an easement from the other landowner to allow my client to install a system where it will work, even if it is not on land he owns,” Cheesman says. Getting that easement requires skills that have nothing to do with operating a backhoe. Fortunately, such cases are unusual. Cheesman will not install a system in wet soil conditions. “Clayey soils are too easily damaged by smearing and compaction,” he says. He takes special steps to protect the absorption area. “I once watched a cement truck driver, to make his delivery route easier to traverse, carefully remove the ‘Keep Off’ signs and flags I had placed to protect a proposed absorption area,” he says. “I was not happy!”
Changing workload
In installations, repairs and water-supply system work, Cheesman takes his roles of consultant, problem-solver, designer, installer, and educator seriously. About 85 percent of his systems are in-ground installations, and the balance are pressure-dosed sand mounds. Of the in-ground installations, about 60 percent use gravelless chambers from Infiltrator Systems Inc.
The rest are the traditional box-and-rocks systems where the absorption area may be a subsurface bed or a series of trenches. “Chambers are not used in mound systems,” he says.
So far, Cheesman has encountered advanced treatment on only one project. In a new community, an AdvanTex AX20 recirculating filter treatment system, manufactured by Orenco Systems Inc., is installed at each home. From each unit, a small-diameter, gravity collection system gathers and delivers the treated effluent to one receiving tank. From there, it is discharged to a two-zone drip irrigation system.
The neighborhood association owns the collection system, receiving tanks, and drip fields. When the development is completed, the system will serve about 40 homes.
While management of systems like these would seem a logical extension of the business, Cheesman Inc. has not moved in that direction yet. In fact, the company has discontinued system inspections for real estate sales — the hassles outweighed the rewards.
Family in the business
Six full-time employees working in three crews keep the work moving forward. Tod Synesael and Jeremie Pruitt are backhoe operators and crew leaders. They are supported by Blake Noles and Anthony Tatman, also an operator in training. Keith Burton and David Buckles are part-time utility workers. Tod’s cousin is fellow employee Bill Synesael. When the septic system crews need him, Bill brings his pump expertise to the jobsites. At other times, Bill’s primary focus is on water supply systems.
Cheesman’s son Ike, 26, is an “owner in training,” who does anything assigned, and is working his way through an apprentice experience. In the office, Barb Caudill and Gary’s sister, Jackie Kerkhoff, keep things running smoothly. Chessman’s mom and dad, Jack and Vonda, “do all sorts of things that are never seen, but which assure smooth operations. More importantly, my parents provide continuity and counsel that I appreciate and welcome,” Chessman says.
Keeping two crews busy, coordinating a well driller and a pumper while meeting with site evaluators, regulators and customers keeps Cheesman on the road. Each crew has a Bobcat S220 skid-steer and a Case 580 backhoe. Crews can call upon a fleet of four dump trucks: 1996 Ford and 2001 Sterling single-axle units and Ford Super Duty 550 construction dump models (2004 and 2008). There are also two 2004 Ford Super Duty service trucks and a 1996 International single-axle flat bed truck with knuckle boom that can support all crew needs.
A 1997 Ditch Witch directional boring unit, a Ditch Witch 6510 trencher, and a 1996 GMC Topkick service truck with a permanently mounted hoist are most frequently deployed to support the water supply work. All equipment can be applied to tasks to which any of the crews may be assigned. This redundancy is a safeguard against downtime caused by equipment failure.
Cheesman calls himself the “drive-by guy” because he spends so much time on the move. That’s the way it has been since his first venture into septic system repair. Problem systems and sites will never be eliminated, and as designers turn to advanced technologies to overcome site challenges, Cheesman and his crews will learn, grow and move in that direction.
The business, the owner and the customers are well served by and enterprise influenced by constant education and the continual application of lessons learned. “I just can’t compete with someone who gives away his talents, because he does not depend on this work to make a living,” Cheesman says. “We are here for tomorrow, not just for today.”
