Trenchless Cast Iron Sewer Pipe Repair Explained
Trenchless Cast Iron Sewer Pipe Repair For Backed-Up Leaking Drains
Most homes in the United States and most buildings have old cast iron sewer drains. Over time the moist part of the pipe, that being the floor, will rust out due to corrosion. The first sign of trouble occurs when the bottom of the pipe cracks. The crack causes 2 problems, the first being exfiltration, meaning the water flows out of the pipe instead of pushing debris down the pipe. The lack of flow will cause backups. The second problem of the crack is that as it widens the bottom of the pipe disappears leaving sharp edges at the edge of the walls, which in turn capture debris which causes backups. So in order to repair cast iron sewer pipes there are multiple options, the best being cured in place pipe lining, which is the cheapest trenchless cast iron sewer pipe repair method.
So how does trenchless cast iron sewer pipe repair work?
First of all the pipe is hydro-jetted by a high pressure water nozzle with tiny holes that squirt water on to the pipe which strips all the rust and sand out of the pipe. Then a sewer pipe video inspection camera is pushed into the cast iron sewer pipe in order to measure how long it is and where the incoming pipe connections are. Then the pipe lining material consisting of a long fabric sock is measured to be the exact length of the sewer pipe that will be prepared using trenchless cast and sewer pipe repair technology.
Then the long liner is impregnated using epoxy resin that turns rock hard in about 30 minutes due to an exothermic chemical reaction. Prior to hardening, the saturated sock is pulled into the pipe and an internal balloon or bladder is inflated before the epoxy resin hardens. Once the pipe lining material has hardened, the balloon is pulled out of the lining and a new video is prepared showing the new pipe lining inside the old pipe. The warranty is typically 50 years and installation takes about one day. It costs about half as much as excavating the floors or walls in order to replace the pipe the old fashion way. Pipe diameter is only reduced by 5%.