About Heating Oil Tank Sweeps & Tank Locating

Learn about Oil Tank Sweeps and Tank Locating from Jack, the head locator at Rush Locates. With Years of experience as a locator he has the info to help you answer all your questions.

About Oil Tank Locating

An Oil Tank Sweep is most often done during an inspection phase of a home purchase as part of the buyer’s due diligence. A tank search should always be done if one has not been done. But not all tank locators are equal! Jack at Rush Locates has found tanks other companies have missed. Oil tanks, septic tanks, dry wells, cesspools, all found by Rush Locates and missed by other companies in town.

The Oil Tank Search

Performing a Heating Oil Tank search usually takes between 40 and 60 minutes and costs $125. For the oil tank search we would like access to to the furnace area of the home or crawlspace if the home is pre-1985.

The ‘tank sweep’ process is multifaceted.
First it involves a search of historical data, information, photographs, and records of not only the house but also of neighbors and neighborhood trends. Homes in Portland sometimes have better records of oil tanks than the surrounding area.
At the time of the appointment we begin by performing a rigorous search of the interior and exterior of the home to look for signs of oil heat.
After this we use a series of metal detectors to sweep the property for any large metallic bodies and metal pipes. On normal homes the entire property is swept but in cases of very large yards we only scan the areas where a tank would be. We further investigate any targeted areas with other technology and tools.
A full report of the investigation will be provided to customers the same day.

Using years of first hand investigation and construction knowledge Jack Andrews, the owner and operator of Rush Locates LLC, can help homebuyers gain piece of mind regarding potential buried heating oil tanks.

What Else can be Found?

Rush Locates specializes in locating buried underground heating oil tanks for home buyers. But we can also locate other things that interact with our machines.
Such as:

Second tanks are rare, third tanks are even more rare. But they still happen. Sometimes a replacement below ground storage tank is added, sometimes a garage has its own heating tank, sometimes a gasoline tank is present.

Misunderstandings about oil tank locating are common. Oil tank locating tools won’t find buried treasure or gold coins. The tools used for a tank sweep cannot find gold, silver, or platinum. If you’ve buried an actual pirate style treasure chest with iron bands, we can help find that.

Why Tank Searches Recommendations are Increasing

Searches for oil tanks in the Portland area are more common than ever. Tank searches didn’t used to be so common, but a combination of new rules and realtor knowledge has resulted in more awareness and incentive to have a tank locate performed.

Heating oil tank cleaning and remediation cost can be high. Although they usually start at $1,000 and normally don’t cost more than $4,000 total, large plumes of diesel contamination can cost over $10,000 to remediate.

In addition to a general home inspection, we advise some auxiliary tests. Things like Radon testing or sewer scopes are far more common place today than they used to be, and for good reason. Radon is a radioactive element in the soil therefore it can off-gas into the atmosphere of a home. Sewer scopes can uncover $10,000 problems. Knowing about Oil Tank Locating is often the biggest cause of scheduling one. In this case the existence of real estate buyer’s agents who have experience and recommend scheduling an oil tank search is the best way to  avoid future risk.

Underground heating oil tanks can be a health danger and they can be costly to rectify. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has rules and regulations regarding soil contamination from HOTs.
Due to these requirements, soil samples are analyzed from beneath the tank for every tank decommission. At times a tank will need removal. Compared to the $125 for a oil tank search, this can be an expensive process.

Banks have foreclosed on a number of homes with oil tanks and had to foot the bill themselves. After this happened it became harder to get financing for a home with an oil tank if it wasn’t certified by the DEQ.

The increasing use of buyer’s agents who work directly for the buyer have helped inform new buyers of the potential cost of failing to perform adequate inspections.

For your peace of mind, get a tank search with Rush Locates today.

Schedule Online At Anytime, Maybe Even Right Now!

Is there an oil tank search under your house? Might you be breathing vapors coming from diesel fuel in the soil? Performing a tank search is the only way to find a buried oil tank that’s long lost. The Oregon oil tank remediation cost is unknown until after the tank search and soil samples.