The standard method for replacing and repairing residential sewer lines for many decades was through excavation work. In order to access the pipeline, digging equipment must tear open property from the side of a house to where the sewer pipe crosses underneath the property line. The process is extremely messy, making the area around a home appear like an archaeological dig, and it is also expensive and time-consuming.
It’s also not the only way to handle service for sewer lines. Meet trenchless technology.
How trenchless sewer line replacement and repair works
Trenchless technology is a type of lateral digging that was originally used in mining, then later in civic engineering that permitted laying of pipe beneath streets without disruptions. In a home, trenchless technology access the pipeline from the side, with one hole dug to reach the end of the pipe near the street, and a hydraulic system attached to where the sewer line exits the house. From the outside, a sewer liner is sent through the old pipe, and the hydraulic systems draws the line into place, where it inflates to glues onto the old pipe and create a new lining. In a full line replacement, a pipe burster breaks apart the old pipe and new pipe is fed in to replace it.
The benefits
The major advantage of this system is that it minimizes the damage done to the property. Only a single hole needs to be dug, and when the job is finished the hole is simply covered over and re-landscaped. There’s almost no sign that any work was done afterwards (except, of course, for a new working sewer line). Another benefit is that this process is much less time consuming: the plumbers can have the work completed in an hour. This makes the job less expensive as well.
Not all plumbers have the ability to perform trenchless sewer line work. Call on a team that offers it: Ken Neyer Plumbing, Inc. in Cincinnati, OH.