The Advantages of Trenchless Sewer Repair

Problems with the underground waste and sewer pipes on your property used to require expensive and disruptive excavations to deal with. Nowadays, however, you’ve often got other options. 

Let’s talk about trenchless sewer repairs.

What Is Trenchless Sewer Repair? 

As the name suggests, trenchless sewer repair allows specialized plumbers to fix problems with underground pipes without the need to dig a trench to get at them. 

How It works 

First, the plumbers will examine the pipe in question using cameras and assess what needs to be done. They’ll then advise you as to which method is most suitable for this particular situation.

There are two main methods which they might use:

Cure In Place Lining 

A deflated resin tube is fed through the existing pipe before being inflated to match the interior diameter and left to cure.

Pipe Bursting 

If cure in place isn’t an option a new pipe can be laid by “bursting” the old one. The new pipe is connected to a cone which is slightly larger than the old pipe. This is then forced through, smashing up the sewer and leaving the new line in its place.

Advantages Of Trenchless Sewer Repair

While these methods are still relatively new, they’re quickly becoming the go-to choice for both plumbers and home/business owners thanks to some major advantages over traditional methods of sewer repair.

Minimal Disruption 

There’s nothing more disruptive to your flowerbeds than digging a giant trench through them. Likewise, driveways, gardens, yards, and anything else which may have to be dug up to access a sewer line are going to suffer under traditional methods.

With trenchless methods, particularly cure in place lining, there’s really not much disruption above ground at all. The material is usually fed through an access vent or drain cover rather than having to expose the full run of pipe.

With the pipe bursting method, some disruption is unavoidable as a pit has to be dug to allow the new pipe to be laid at the same level as the old. However, when compared to the full trench excavations which would be required for a traditional repair, this is infinitely less disruptive.

Cost Efficiency

 When you compare the costs between traditional and trenchless sewer repairs there can be some pretty significant savings.

Thanks to the minimal amount of excavation required you can save on labor costs, digger hiring and the expense of having to repair your landscaping or repaving. 

On top of all these savings, trenchless methods tend to take a lot less time to complete, again saving significantly on labor costs.

Time Savings 

Not only does the quicker nature of trenchless repairs mean you save on how long you’re paying your plumbers for, it means that your plumbing is disrupted for less time.

When your waste lines are out of action, so is the rest of your plumbing, which is not a situation any home or business wants for any longer than absolutely necessary for obvious reasons.

Durability And Quality

Thanks to the modern materials used, trenchless sewer repairs can often offer significant gains in terms of durability and quality.

Older sewer lines are likely to be made of clay or cast iron and while these traditional materials are generally strong and sturdy (which is why they were used in the first place) they will start to degrade over time.

Modern resins have been developed to withstand the ravages of time and can stand up to a lot more abuse.

Environmental Benefits

Traditional methods of sewer repair can be rather wasteful. When the old pipe is dug out it simply has to be scrapped and in a vast majority of cases, this means it’s sent to landfill.

Trenchless methods, however, leave the old pipe in place, meaning that it’s no more wasteful than the system it’s being used to fix. Additionally, techniques like Vacuum Excavation can reduce surface disruption by carefully removing soil and debris, making them an efficient alternative to traditional excavation.

As well as thinking about waste going to landfill, there’s also the risk of contamination of the soil and local water which is significantly minimized thanks to the speed and efficiency offered by trenchless sewer repairs.

Versatility 

Perhaps the single best reason to opt for trenchless sewer repairs over traditional excavations is just how versatile they can be.

In previous generations, certain areas were next to impossible to repair; runs under buildings, below certain trees or across main roads and high-traffic areas were all significant problems that sometimes required whole new systems to be put in place.

With trenchless methods, it’s not significantly harder to work under a building or road than it is in an open field, opening up a raft of new repair options which simply didn’t exist before.

Considerations Before Choosing Trenchless Sewer Repair

While trenchless sewer repair certainly has many advantages over traditional excavation based methods, it’s not suited for every single repair.

If the pipe to be repaired or replaced is too far gone, say it’s collapsed and the surrounding earth has compacted too much to get the cure-in-place resin through, there’s really nothing else which can be done besides dig it out and start over.

Likewise, some local areas’ regulations haven’t caught up with advances in technology and will require a full replacement of damaged sections of sewer.

A professional specializing in sewer repair will be best placed to examine your problems and advise on what method will be best suited to sorting the issue.

How To Choose A Trenchless Sewer Repair Provider 

Trenchless repairs are still relatively new technology so it’s of vital importance that you prioritize experience in your team of plumbers.

While most jobs will be fairly straightforward, there’s always the risk of something going wrong and when that happens underground you’ll be grateful for having real experts on site to deal with it.

No one wants to have to deal with a damaged sewer line, but with modern methods it’s a lot less of a headache than it used to be.

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