Here in the Sacramento area, we are seeing a lot of homes built in the 1950′s and prior with Orangeburg sewer pipes. Unfortunately, Orangeburg is basically paper pipes covered in tar that after forty years of sewage looks something like this:

Some history on Orangeburg Pipe:

In 1893, Stephen Bradley, Sr. founded the Fibre Conduit Company in Orangeburg, New York. During the following forty years, the fibre conduit business flourished — many buildings used the 5-foot laying length conduit  for running electrical lines throughout the floors/walls of new structures. Many companies got into the business of manufacturing this type of conduit.  Some of the more notable buildings containing miles of the fibre electrical conduit were the New York Park Avenue Tower and the Empire State Building … along with other skyscrapers in New York City and other cities. Demand for the fibre conduit rose even higher during World War II.*

However, this pipe was never really designed to be used to carry waste water or sewage; it is paper covered in tar. Orangeburg pipe is rated to last 30-50 years, thus why we at Express Sewer and Drain are doing more and more sewer line replacements of Orangeburg pipe in the Sacramento area. Trenchless pipe replacement is the preferred method for most homeowners because it means that current concrete or landscaping does not need to be removed. However, trenchless pipe replacement is not an option if the Orangeburg sewer pipe has collapsed (which is what happens if ignored long enough).

Call Express Sewer and Drain to get a quote on how little it will cost to have your Orangeburg pipe replaced. We can also run a camera down your sewer line to see roots and to determine how much your current sewer line is collapsing.

*source: sewerhistory.org