Septic Line Repair
We dig up broken, crushed, separated or root-filled septic lines and fix them. That covers the line from the house to the tank and the line out of it.
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Welch sits where Elkhorn Creek meets the Tug Fork, with houses packed along the creek bottoms and up the hollows. Inside the city, most homes drain to the city sewer. Just past the city limits, most homes rely on their own septic tanks, and many sit on steep ground. When a tank gets too full, the first sign is often a slow drain or a gurgling toilet.
Honey Dippers handles septic tank pumping in Welch for homes and businesses past the city's sewer lines. Welch is part of our service area, which centers on Roderfield, about nine road miles away by US-52 and WV-16. If the lid is buried, septic tank locating and digging comes first, then the pumping. Call or text (304) 436-3409 and tell us what your drains are doing.
Tell us about the septic tank, line or grease trap and where it is. We look at the job and put the quote in writing.
The City of Welch runs a public sewer system, with its treatment plant in Hemphill. On the state's sewer map, about nine in ten buildings in the city sit near a city sewer line. If your house ties into those lines, there is no septic tank to pump.
The system has been rebuilt in stages. An EPA-funded project finished in 1999 replaced broken sewers in the Browns Creek and Edmore Village areas. It also split old combined storm and sewage pipes around Summers and Virginia streets into separate lines. In 2019, USDA Rural Development funded new and replacement sewer lines into North Welch, mostly along WV-16.
Outside the city limits, it is the other way around. Just outside town, fewer than one home in ten sits near a mapped sewer line. That ring takes in Hemphill, Capels, Maitland and Havaco, and most homes there rely on their own septic systems. EPA says mountain terrain helped rule out a standard sewer extension for nearby Coalwood.
Welch is the McDowell County seat, and its houses are old. Census estimates put the median home in town at 1948, and about three in four were built before 1960. Lots are small too: most in town are under a quarter acre, by county tax parcel data.
On a small, steep lot, the tank may sit close to the house, under a porch or a walk. Over the years, old paperwork gets lost. Ask the McDowell County Health Department whether a permit sketch is on file. If there is none, we find the tank and dig down to the lid before we pump.
Old lines wear out too. The line from the house to the tank can crack or fill with roots. If the tank is not full but the drains still back up, the line is the next place to look. That is a job for septic line repair.
The federal soil survey puts about three quarters of the land inside Welch on slopes of 35 to 80 percent. It rates those hillside soils very limited for septic drain fields. Steep slope and shallow bedrock are among the reasons it gives.
West Virginia's sewage rules keep drain fields off ground steeper than 25 percent. The flat ground along the creeks is mostly built over, and the survey flags its soils for seepage and flooding. With so little good ground, the drain field a house already has is worth protecting. Pumping the tank on schedule keeps solids from washing out into it.
High water is part of life on the Tug Fork. The state's flood tool puts roughly three in ten Welch homes inside a mapped flood zone. Federal flood disasters have been declared in McDowell County more than a dozen times, most recently in February 2025. When sewage comes up into the house, call for emergency septic service.
Our service area also takes in Jed and Superior, out to Kimball and Gary. On a steep lot, the hose may need to run a long way from the road to the tank. Tell us about the driveway and the slope when you call. Read how septic tank pumping works, step by step.
Restaurants on the city sewer still need their grease traps cleaned. West Virginia's sewage rules require grease traps for restaurants that put out large amounts of grease. We offer grease trap cleaning for kitchens in Welch and across the county.
Communities and areas we serve around Welch: Downtown Welch, North Welch, Browns Creek, Hemphill, Capels, Maitland, Havaco, Jed, Superior, Antler, Kimball, Gary.
Welch ZIP codes served: 24801.
Welch is part of our service area. Tell us about the job and we put the quote in writing.
(304) 436-3409 We dig up broken, crushed, separated or root-filled septic lines and fix them. That covers the line from the house to the tank and the line out of it.
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No locating or tracing equipment. We dig up the sewer line where it leaves the house and follow it out to the tank, then dig down to the lid. From there the tank can be pumped or the line repaired, and we close the hole back.
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We pump and clean grease traps for restaurants and commercial kitchens. We clean residential grease traps too.
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Small plumbing repairs on the septic side of a home, like a line that backs up. Describe the problem when you call or text, and we tell you if it is a job we take.
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Sewage backing up into the house or a septic tank spilling over in the yard is a call we take. We pump the tank and look for the cause.
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Commercial septic pumping for stores, churches, shops, campgrounds and rental properties. We pump these tanks on a schedule set by how the property is used.
Learn MoreA few of the questions we hear most around Welch. If yours is not here, call or text and ask.
Tell us where the property is and what the septic system is doing. Call or text (304) 436-3409 or send the form, and we get back to you about the job.
Tell us about the septic tank, line or grease trap and where it is. We look at the job and put the quote in writing.