Express Sewer & Drain Blog

Sewer line replacement once required plumbers to tear up yards, driveways, landscaping, parking lots, and streets. Not only is this an inconvenience for home and business owners, but it can also impede local traffic and cause major delays. Also, traditional pipe repair methods can lead to costly landscaping and construction expenses to restore the surrounding land that was dug up in the excavation process. Luckily, today’s trenchless sewer repair technologies nearly eliminate disruptions to your Sacramento property.

Modern plumbers, with the right tools, can make short work of a failed sewer line. Modern technology has paved the way for trenchless sewer and pipe repair that is minimally invasive, quick, and effective. Trenchless repair may still require a little digging, but the damage to your lawn, landscaping, and other areas of your property is largely minimized when your plumbing contractor uses trenchless sewer repair to get wastewater flowing freely again.

The Steps of Trenchless Sewer Repair

In many cases, hesitations toward trenchless repair technologies are due to a simple lack of knowledge. Granted, it can sound like an overcomplicated, expensive alternative to traditional sewer line repair. However, this is not the case. In fact, trenchless repairs can cost significantly less than traditional repairs, and offer additional benefits in both the short and long term. 

Demystifying trenchless processes can help uncover the true benefits of this technology. So, let's take a closer look at each step of the trenchelss sewer repair process.  

1. Preliminary Inspection

Before deciding what trenchless options are right for you, or even understanding how cured-in-place pipes (CIPP) can improve sewer lines, you’ll want to have a local plumbing expert inspect and diagnose damages to your pipe.

First, the plumber will need to know where and how badly your sewer line is damaged to decide on the best method of repair. To do this, they snake a video camera into your sewer line that is specially designed to navigate this domain.

The camera allows the operator to see the extent of any damage inside of the pipes and to determine if a small section of pipe needs repair, or if the entire line needs to be replaced. Many Sacramento homes are older and have sewer lines made of clay, cast iron, or Orangeburg that can fail as the materials age. Alternatively, the plumber might discover a that a tree root is the culprit of a damaged underground pipe.

With the knowledge gained from the video inspection, the plumbing specialist can determine which trenchless repair option is best for the sewer line. Among these options are:

• Full water line/pipe relining: The physical relining of inner pipe walls and compromised pipe systems.
• Sectional point repair: CIPP lining for smaller, segmented or localized pipe damages.
• Manhole to manhole lining: CIPP lining solutions for municipal sewage systems and water lines.
• Pipe bursting: The full destruction of extensively damaged pipes, using innovative bursting heads and pipe fragmenting techniques.

2. Installation

After inspecting the sewer line, your plumber will access the line at its shallowest point. This may be an area outside the home, where the line enters or in your basement. Hydro-jetting is used to clear the line and any remaining debris is removed with a manual or power plumbing snake. Once the line is clear of debris the repair can begin.

Made from a Perma-liner resin that hardens after it is placed inside your old sewer pipe, the use of this material allows plumbers to repair your sewer line without destroying your yard. It is inserted into the sewer line, into the area that needs to be repaired, and the resin is infused by a vacuum to ensure it is fully saturated. Throughout this process, a camera is used to ensure proper placement and then the curing process begins.

This CIPP method of sewer pipe repair is practical for virtually any kind of pipe damage, including:

• Cracking, fissures and breakage caused by the elements
• Intrusion by plant roots and subterranean animal activity
• Shifting soil
• Faulty installation, especially at critical joints
• Corrosion or deterioration with time

3. Curing

The curing process can take from 1-30 hours, depending on the diameter of the pipe. Once the curing period is complete, the sewer line is inspected with the video camera to make sure it is properly cured. If it is, the sewer lines can be used immediately.

Using cured-in-place pipe, technicians can essentially create resin replacement pipes within existing systems, which can serve functionally for decades to come. 

Trenchless Sewer Repair for Homes, Businesses, and Municipalities

Sewer line repair is no longer as messy a job as it once was, and Express Sewer & Drain has the equipment necessary for trenchless sewer repair at your home, business, or municipality. Trenchless sewer repair requires minimal digging and disturbance, in most situations, and some homes and businesses may require no digging at all to repair their sewer lines.

As CIPP technologies can be used to cure any kind of severe pipe damage, with efficiency unmatched by other repair methods, these solutions offer far greater value than any other pipe renovation technique. Typically, trenchless repairs can be fully completed in a single day, which limits the extraneous overhead labor costs associated with conventional pipe repair methods.

This is, of course, in addition to the other savings homeowners can see in remedial landscaping and material consumption. Even though trenchless, cured-in-place repairs can be fully cured in a single day, that doesn’t mean their structural quality or integrity is any less than traditional, dated repair techniques. In fact, trenchless repair pipes are guaranteed to work functionally for over 50 years. This gives homeowners not only quick solutions for their home pipe damages, but also peace of mind for decades to come.

Does Your Sewer Line Need Repair?

If you're having frequent sewer line blockages, multiple clogged drains, or wet, soggy, smelly spots around your property you may need sewer line repair. The process of trenchless sewer line repair is quick, minimally invasive, and repairs your pipe with a material that will hold up for years to come.

At Express Sewer & Drain, we have the equipment necessary to diagnose your plumbing problems and to get them repaired quickly with minimal intrusion of your property and your life. Contact us today if you have an immediate plumbing problem or to make an appointment for an assessment of your home, business, or municipal plumbing system.