You could say Shawn House literally came up in the septic waste management industry. His father created a septic tank manufacturing firm out of Shawn’s grandfather’s concrete vault and grave digging company. At age 19, House could see from all the septic tanks they were installing that his family’s business was missing out on the related pumping work, which no one was doing.

With a homemade vacuum truck and an entrepreneurial spirit, the younger House built a thriving business that has expanded into portable restroom service and made him one of the larger players in his market. From these humble beginnings, House continually improves his lot by staying abreast of technological innovations and industry trends, hands-on hiring and management, and trying to raise professional practices in his area through employee training and customer education.

NATURAL PROGRESSION

House’s grandfather Milbourne House started the family burial vault business in 1968. In 1970, he diversified, buying a form to pour septic tanks. Septic tank manufacturing and installation began to take off, and in 1976, he and his son Michael House sold the vault business.

Shawn House followed his father into the family business, and by his mid-teens noticed that no one was pumping the tanks they installed. “Everyone was always asking me why we didn’t get into the pumping business,” he recalls. “I told my dad and grandpa that in the winter time, when sales are down for septic tanks, pumping would pick up the slack, and business referrals would flow between the two.” It was his first entrepreneurial insight.

House saved his money and in 1991 — at age 19 — bought a 1,500-gallon stainless steel Better Built tank that had been on a farm truck. It came with a Pierson 240-cfm pump. He changed valves and fittings to accommodate septic pumping hoses and mounted it on a 1969 International chassis bought from the local fire department. Then he fabricated hose trays.

“If you don’t count my time, I had $1,400 in the tank and truck to get started,” he says, chuckling. “I made my money back in a year.”

Two years later, House replaced the old truck with a 1988 International L6X4 and transferred the tank to it.

A few years ago, House’s business instincts kicked in again and he saw a niche open up in his market on the southwestern outskirts of St. Louis. A strong economy was spurring growth in tourism, which created a need for vacation homes. As developments sprang up, All Star expanded into portable restroom rentals to service these with the launch of its All About Potties division.

House tested the market by renting 50 units from a colleague, he says. “But they were old and trashy, and I wanted to have a better image. So I went to the Pumper & Cleaner (Environmental Expo International) and got 100 top-of-the-line units.” All About Potties now fields 102 units from Satellite Industries Inc.: 100 Tufway standard restrooms, and two Liberty ADA units. They also offer four PolyPortables Inc. sinks.

VARIED SERVICES

Portables now make up about 10 percent of total revenues, divided about evenly between contractor and event customers. House expects volume to continue growing.

Last year, he signed a three-year contract with a developer at nearby Lake Hannah to service rustic accommodations for weekenders and about 30 year-round residents. “They’re not allowed to have septic or wells, so they don’t even have running water.” The development’s association pays on a monthly basis for 61 units year-round.

About 15 percent of All Star’s revenues are from septic and grease trap pumping. Some 65 percent of the income still comes from septic system installation, with tank manufacturing declining to about 10 percent.

Vehicles still include the 1988 International, which now pulls a 30-foot restroom transport trailer, plus a 1991 GMC Topkick vacuum truck carrying the Better Built 1,500-gallon tank with the Pierson pump. There’s also a 1997 Freightliner with a 2,500-gallon Indiana Vacuum Tank Truck Inc. stainless tank and a Masport 350-cfm pump; a 2005 Ford F-650 with a 1,500-gallon Better Built stainless steel tank and a Masport 350-cfm pump. Portables are hauled and serviced with a 2002 Ford F-250 with a homemade single restroom slide-in unit, which sometimes pulls a 16-foot gooseneck trailer. A 1999 Dodge one-ton service van and a 1987 Kenworth flatbed with a military surplus boom to set septic tanks round out the fleet.

COMMERCIAL PUMPING

Commercial pumping customers include nursing homes, service stations and holding tanks at nearby lake developments.

All Star has a large grease collection account, a meat packing plant. Disposal goes over the state line to a private Illinois rendering company. It’s a 100-mile run one way, so House prefers to pay for one-day-a-week service from the rendering firm. All Star supplies a mobile dewatering press and storage container, which it picks up. It pumps the grease on the first of every month; the rendering company delivers the press immediately after. If All Star gets any other grease jobs mid-month, they put the waste into a holding tank until the press arrives again.

The company also pumps out 18 package treatment plants for surrounding municipalities. All Star has access to 300 acres of sand flats left over from old lead mining operations for land application. The mining company was required to remediate the brownfield, which All Star’s application now fertilizes so grasses can grow there. State law requires that All Star add 50 pounds of lime to stabilize every 1,000 gallons of waste.

House believes this disposal option will go away before long. “I think the government is going to get really strict about reporting, and will eventually allow no land application. I’m going to get out ahead of that by looking at dewatering equipment, so I can start dumping at a treatment facility.” He plans to get a larger hauling truck so he can carry dewatered sludge to a plant, for which he has already begun the permitting process.

RAISING STANDARDS

House’s long-term goal is to increase his customers’ understanding about what he does, as well as raise the professionalism of his company. “I encourage my drivers to call in and talk about a situation they haven’t encountered before. But they’ve all been with me a while, so they’re pretty well up to speed. Mostly, you need to educate the property owner about things like getting roots out of their system, how often they need to get pumped out, and what to look for in a tank that signals trouble.”

Most of the older homes in his area have Class I jet aeration systems. House’s installation experience has made him familiar with such multi-chambered tanks, and he uses that knowledge to help diagnose problems. “I’ll dig it up and show customers why theirs isn’t working. It’s usually because a different chamber was pumped previously and now another one is full, but they just think it’s all one big compartment.”

When these systems were originally built, risers weren’t installed, but now state law requires them, so they’re easier to service. “Once I get the tank dug up to show people what’s going on, I tell them we might as well install a riser to bring it up to code and make it easier to service,” House says. “They usually see the advantage in not having to have their yards dug up every time we pump.”

This would be more of a concern with property owners, says House, if they were practicing proper pumping frequency. “People don’t really know the right schedule for pumping to keep their tanks in good shape. I have my drivers ask a series of questions about the number of people in the house, whether they have a lot of girls who are in the bathroom a lot, what kind of toilet paper they use. I explain why these things are important, to help them understand better practices.” Most of his customers moved from outside the area and ask how to take care of their systems, providing All Star a teachable moment.

MOVING FORWARD

House is about to buy out a friend’s septic pumping business. This move will gain him new customers in his territory, eliminate some competition and add a new truck and contracts for about $100,000 in work annually. Though he’s only 36, it’s House’s way of building the business in preparation for succession.

His 14-year-old son, Garrett, is already firmly committed to the business. A pitcher and catcher on his high school baseball team, he voluntarily missed the all-star championship games to help his father. The younger House runs excavating equipment and helps in the office, sometimes riding along on pumping routes.

Dad has lots of advice for his son. “If you’re getting into the sanitation business, you need to educate yourself,” he says. “Get your permits, and gather all your information together so you’re legal. Then start pricing trucks, the foundation of your business. If you can’t afford a new one, start with one you build yourself, and work up.”

But it’s the example Shawn House sets for his son — more than his words of advice — that the youngster will remember.

When excessive rains swelled the Mississippi last spring, House donated six portable restrooms to sandbaggers near Hannibal, including servicing. “They didn’t call, but I’d worked at St. Genevieve in the 1993 flood, so we knew they’d need them,” says House. “We just brought them up.” It’s the kind of quiet mentorship that stays with a young person … not a bad legacy for a small family business and the customers who will continue to benefit from it.