Taking the Mystery Out of Pittsburgh Trenchless Sewer Repair
In an older city like Pittsburgh, trenchless sewer repair has been a long time coming.
For a home or commercial building owner, the onset of sewer drainage problems lists up there with the worst news you can get about a property.
Raw sewage, in particular escaping from damaged or degraded sewer pipes, brings with it very real health risks. So it’s for this reason alone there really is no DIY option when it comes to old leaking sewer lines. The problem here is that even if you do it yourself, once you dig down and access the problem, raw sewage is considered toxic waste.
You can’t simply haul it off to the local landfill or dump it in a far corner of your property.
So the good news is that new materials and mechanical innovations are a real game-changer that make the trenchless sewer line repair option faster and for sure cleaner.
How do you resleave a sewer line?
The answer comes in the form of a flexible hi-tech inner sleeve comprised of durable plastic and flexible rubber that’s pulled through the old damaged line, starting at an access point at one end and ending up at a retrieval point at the other.
There is also another system that uses an even more flexible limp composite plastic sleeve that is first saturated with polymer resin and then pulled through an older sewer line.
Then once it’s in position, it’s inflated with air much like a long balloon and then allowed to harden as the air pressure holds it up against the inner surface of a damaged line.
The end result in both of these methods is to effectively form a new sewer or drain line that in some instances delivers a longer service life than the pipe that was replaced.
Is this a marketing gimmick or is pipe lining worth it?
The answer here is that in some instances, it’s really not even an option when accessing an old sewer pipe that has degraded to a degree that the repair is better done by digging down to it with a backhoe.
Then in other instances, pipe lining is a cost-cutting lifesaver.
Try to understand that digging a ditch in even the best of circumstances is a messy, labor-intensive proposition. When it’s done, anything physically in the way of the project is, for all intents and purposes, gets demolished.
So if a sewer line is running under a driveway, a patio, a sidewalk, or whatever, in the past a path needed to be cleared so the backhoe could come in and dig the ditch to access the pipe.
Then another thing to consider is how deep down a damaged sewer pipe is. If it’s a few feet down, for instance, the ditch only has to be dug a few feet deep to access it.
But that’s a best-case scenario because it’s not uncommon for sewer lines to be located several feet underground, and the deeper a ditch is dug, the higher the cost increases exponentially. So yes, pipe lining can be a real cost and time saver.
How long does trenchless sewer repair take?
The answer here is that in the vast majority of instances, it takes less time than doing the repair by digging a ditch to access the pipe.
In some cases, it can be done in a couple of days.
What needs to be understood is the large amount of intrusive excavating work that was required in years past to access a sewer line so that the repairs could be done.
That’s just the excavating work because the time it takes for the actual work to be done to remove older damaged sewer lines and then replace them also has to be considered.
It can be very time-consuming, with the trench itself effectively functioning as a veritable money Pit.
Then for days and in some instances, even weeks, the work goes on as home or business owners try to do without a functioning bathroom. Then lastly, there are the savings on surface features such as driveways, patios, or whatever that now dont have to be destroyed, which also has to be factored into the equation.
Trenchless sewer repair pros and cons
Through it all, though with trenchless sewer repair options holding out the prospect of savings in time and money, there are still some pros and cons that need to be considered.
One of the first cons for trenchless sewer repair is that the old sewer line remains in place, and after the insert is in place, the actual diameter is reduced.
So yes, your sewer line is back up and going without anything above ground having to be destroyed by digging a ditch through it, but you will be left with decreased volume capacity.
Also, any problems that were brought about by ground settling creating dips in your sewer line, don’t change either. Then another downside is that in most instances, there will be no upgrades like additional trunk lines or anything else that could be added in with a complete replacement.
So while trenchless sewer repair holds out the option for time and cost savings, it carries some downsides that may or may not apply to any given sewer repair scenario.
What are the potential problems with trenchless sewer repair?
The fact is that while trenchless sewer repair does hold out the prospect for fast, affordable solutions without the intrusive mess of having a ditch excavated at your home or business, it does carry the potential for some problems.
What’s important to keep in mind here is that it’s the old degraded sewer line that functions as the new outer lining for an epoxy or rubberized interior replacement.
Also, as noted in the pros and cons section, because the inner lining constricts volume capacity, less sewage will be able to flow through it once the repairs are done. Then one more potential problem with trenchless sewer repair is that it may require annual inspections and maintenance.