Criteria for Determining if a Trenchless Sewer Repair is Appropriate for You
Trenchless sewer repairs, like tankless water heaters, is a trendy plumbing procedure, which has won a lot of attention. There are times when a trenchless sewer repair is definitely justified. But, there are other times when hype takes the place of clear thinking in an effort to sell an unjustified trenchless sewer repair. For example, it is sensible to do a trenchless repair if digging a trench would mean breaking up a $5,000 outdoor porch. Hating to dig up the backyard, is no justification for doing a trenchless repair because we are only talking about moving some sod back in place after the trench is filled in. The truth is that sewer repair trench excavators carefully pile up the grass sod and then replace it in the end. Comparing digging a trench across your grass to “destroying your lawn,” is a gross exaggeration.
Trenchless repairs can be effected in two different ways. In either case, the repair requires digging only two access holes, one at the start and one at the finish of the pipe segment being repaired. In the first type of repair, the new pipe liner is placed around an inflatable tube and its outside is coated with an epoxy resin. The bladder is inflated and the liner is pushed against the sides of the sewer drain. The resin is cured in one hour and the liner is now a permanently affixed inner liner for the tube.
In the second type of trenchless repair, a pipe busting head is pulled through the old pipe along with the replacement HDPE pipe just behind it. The old pipe breaks apart and the new HDPE pipe takes its place. The new HDPE pipe is affixed to the remaining sewer pipes at each end.
Pluses of the Trenchless Sewer Repair
- Trenchless sewer repair can save money when the broken pipe travels under a structure that would be costly to repair, i.e. driveway, paver, part of a building.
- When the sewer line needing repair is unreachable, i.e. under a dwelling, then trenchless repair makes the most sense.
- The pipe inserted in head buster repair (the HDPE pipe) is more long lasting than the PVC pipe placed in trench sewer repair.
Reasons Against Doing a Trenchless Sewer Repair
- Making a trenchless sewer repair will, on the average, run 20-50% more than the expense of excavating a trench for the same segment of pipe, so unless the post trench repair cost will be 20-50% more than the price of the dig, it makes no financial sense to do a trenchless repair.
- The PVC pipe, which is put in place in the trench sewer repair, has a lifetime guarantee against tree root invasion, whereas the liner in the trenchless repair generally comes with only a 10-50 year guarantee.
Bottom line, homeowners should do a little mathematics and figure out the cost of above ground repair after their trench for the sewer replacement is filled in. If the restoration price is less than 20-50 % of the cost of the dig, or less than the additional cost of the trenchless repair if you can get an estimate, then why go with a trenchless repair? Homeowners should not be influenced by rhetoric such as ג€destroying your whole lawn as trench digging crews are trained to carefully replace sod after the excavation. Experienced trench digging companies save all the sod and replace it on top when the trench is filled in..
Resources: A-1 Plumbing of Baltimore Pro Plumber 714 Redwood Drive Westminster 21157 410-861-6075; Westminster Professional Plumber
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