Sewer Line Repair

When this becomes an emergency

• Sewage coming back into more than one basement fixture at once.
• A patch of lawn over the sewer run that stays green and soft in a dry August.
• Repeat main line backups within weeks of a clearing.
• A sewer smell outdoors that gets stronger after heavy rain.

What a pro does

Nobody digs on a hunch. Sewer work starts with a camera run from the cleanout out toward the street, and the plumber marks the trouble spot and locates its depth from the surface. Around here the findings sort into a few types. Clay tile with roots at the joints in the older neighborhoods, cast iron corroded from the inside in the same era of housing, and joints pulled apart by uneven bedding where quartzite sits close under the trench. That last one is a local specialty. When part of a run rests on rock and part on backfill, the two settle at different rates and something eventually gives at the transition. Depth to the rock shapes the repair options too. An open trench through soil is one project and a trench that has to break into quartzite is a much bigger one, which pushes trenchless lining or pipe bursting up the list where the existing pipe can still serve as a host. Winter adds its own constraint, since ground frozen five feet deep isn't practical to open until it lets go. Permits and an inspection apply wherever the work meets the public main.

Frequently asked questions

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