In the past, solving a sewer line problem could be destructive to your yard and home. Since sewer lines usually are underground, it was common to destroy landscaping and yards by digging the trenches required to reach and repair them. Nevertheless, current trenchless sewer line repair methods have made the process significantly less intrusive and damaging.
Trenchless methods involve repairing sewer pipelines without digging and removing large portions of foundation, walls, and flooring to reach the building’s pipes. Instead, the Trenchless pipe repair techniques restore existing pipes internally using the broken pipe as a host, instead of the costly and disruptive digging of trenches followed by traditional repair of pipes and fixing impacted surfaces such as floors, foundation, walls, and walls cabinetry.
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Benefits of a trenchless sewer repair include:
- Less destructive
- One day completion
- It saves time and money
Unlike traditional repair options, trenchless methods are faster because they need less work. Before, having a sewer required sparing time to fix the yard yourself or a landscaper, courtesy of the excavation necessary by old repair methods. Nowadays, many homeowners go for trenchless sewer repairs since they save money and time.
Trenchless Sewer Repair Methods
The three popular trenchless sewer repairs are pipe bursting, cured-in-place pipelining, and slip lining. Nonetheless, not all trenchless repair methods are appropriate for various types of lines. Multiple factors such as age, the type of pipe your home has, and its surroundings can restrict your choices. The following is a brief description of these methods.
Pipe Bursting
The process of pipe bursting utilizes a bursting head to pass through a damaged sewer line. Plumbers fix a new set of pipes to the lead in this method and then pulled through the old line. As it moves through the sewer line, the old set of pipes is smashed, pushed away, and displaced by the new tube. One advantage of this method over other sewer line replacement methods is replacing the old piping, ultimately allowing installing a larger sewer line. In addition, while pipe bursting requires no excavation, it involves less digging than ancient trench-utilizing techniques. Pipe bursting only needs digging a hole at the sewer line’s exit and entry points that need replacement.
Cured-in-Place Pipelining
This method makes use of epoxy to seal and reinforce a smashed pipe internally. Plumbers apply a tool to inflate a liner, wet with epoxy in the sewer pipe, such that the epoxy dries, sealing the broken pipe wall. Once dry, the liner fixes leaks linked to cracks or other pipe damage.
This method is significantly cost-efficient compared to other sewer pipeline repairs and does not need excavation.
Cured-in-place repairs may have the same life span as new sewer pipes. However, they reduce the diameter of pipes. Therefore, this method may not be appropriate for a pipeline that plumbers have repaired many times or in circumstances where the original lines are not adequately wide to function effectively after the repair is complete.
Slip Lining
This technique is the original trenchless method of sewer line repair. It involves putting a slip liner into a pipe to prevent leaks. The liner is often made from plastics. Like pipe bursting, slip lining needs two holes to be made for the exit and pipe entry to be repaired. Slip lining, just as in cured in place pipelining, also reduces the sewer pipe diameter.
The Best Trenchless Repair Method
The best trenchless repair method for you best addresses your situation, preferences, and budget.