Discovering that your pipes are leaking or structurally unsound can be a terrifying moment. As you scrounge around in the reserve fund to allocate money to this project, you start to wonder how intrusive and expensive the project is going to be, never mind how long it will take!The good news is that you have options when it comes to fixing those underground water mains or sewer lines. Before the introduction of trenchless pipe repair technology, you simply had to deal with the fact that your property would be torn up; lawns demolished, walkways and driveways excavated, and potentially even walls torn down to switch out your old leaky pipes for new ones.Advancements in technology have made pipeline video cameras and trenchless pipe repairs the easiest solution to diagnosing underground pipe problems. A trenchless video camera can easily slide into the pipes to give you an inside view into whether the problem is invading roots or cracking pipes and, instead of guessing, can tell you exact where the problem lies.
How it’s done:
There are two different types of trenchless sewer repair: pipe bursting and pipe lining. Whether your pipes need to be completely replaced or simply strengthened, both can be accomplished with the help of the appropriate technology.
Pipe bursting fractures your existing pipes from within while replacing them with entirely new piping, while pipe lining coats the inside of your pipes with a food-safe epoxy.
The benefits of pipelining instead of replacing the system entirely are based around the ease with which the lining is done. The process requires holes to be dug only at the system start and end points instead of entirely digging holes all across your property.
The four benefits of trenchless sewer repair include:
- Save your landscaping
Traditional pipe repair methods required digging deep trenches along the entire length of the pipe in order to lift the old pipe out and replace it with new pipes. Unfortunately, this often had to happen regardless of whether the pipe had to actually be replaced anyway – exploratory digging would have had to been done in order to diagnose the problem with the original pipes.However, according to an Angie’s list poll, 73% of property owners say they would pay more for pipe replacement if it would preserve their existing landscaping.Identifying the problem using trenchless video cameras allows technicians to determine exactly where the problem lies instead of digging up entire sections of land in search of pipes.Trenchless pipe repair is an easier process since it means only digging holes at the start and end of the section of the pipe that requires repair. It’s much more efficient than digging up entire sections around the building. - Save time
One of the greatest benefits of trenchless pipe repair is how quickly the entire process can be completed. Because there is no time spent doing exploratory digging, excavating the yard, hauling in new pipe and switching out the old one, trenchless sewer repairs takes only between one hour to 30 hours to complete. Whereas the traditional method can take up to a week, or in some cases even more. - Save your tenants’ sanity
The process of digging up and removing your old pipes can take some time, but throughout the entire removal process, water can not run through that section of pipe. Maybe water can be redirected to other pipes, but most often, water flow either to or from your building has to be completely halted during the process.Whether it’s intake piping that requires repair, or pipes for outgoing water waste, your tenants can expect to be inconvenienced. Intake pipe repair means that you simply won’t have any water — faucets, showers, and toilet flushes won’t work. However, if the outgoing pipes are the cause of the repair, absolutely nothing can go through those pipes — meaning that alternative flushing models such as bringing in water from another source cannot even be employed during the course of repairs … and your tenants are restricted to porta potties for the course of the project.Luckily, due to the time saved by trenchless sewer repair, your tenants can quickly have water restored to get back to using their sinks and toilets normally.
- Save money on renovation costs
While the initial investment for trenchless sewer pipe repair can be anywhere upwards of $3,000, traditional pipe repair can cost as much as $25,000. For pipes buried under city-owned property, utility lines, sidewalks and/or driveways, the excavation process and repair can be extremely costly.However, trenchless pipe repair or pipelining can overcome these obstacles by avoiding them completely, at a typical cost of approximately $160 per foot.- Trenchless pipe lining: relining your damaged lateral or sewer pipe will typically cost $80-250 per foot, with an average of around $160 per foot. For standard sewer lines, repair costs can vary between $4,000 and $20,000, depending on circumstance. In most cases, homeowners pay between $6,000 and $12,000 to repair critical sewer connections.
- Small-scale pipe lining applications: for damaged pipes under 50 feet in length, lining can typically be completed for around $3,000-$4,000, again depending on the location and depth of the pipe.
If you still have questions about whether trenchless pipe repair is the best option for your property, get in touch with one of our technicians who will give you all the information necessary to make an informed decision. When Canadian Pipe Lining Technologies quotes a repair or replacement price, you’ll understand exactly what is needed, and what to expect from your repairs.