I've got an old (1968) house w/ cast iron sewer pipes that drain really slow and are very clog-prone.

I'm getting a ton of junk mail flyers from plumbing companies offering the "in-place" cleanout and relining of pipes without having to dig trenches in the yard or inside the house.

Does anyone have experience with or price info regarding these?

To simply "jet out" the pipes in this 3Bed/2bath house on 0.25 acre lot, I have an estimate of around $2K, with a warning that it might actually damage some of the pipes in the process.

For pipe "relining" I've seen internet discussions citing the $6K to $20K range.

Is it reliable or a rip-off?

TIA

Curtis

I don't know anything about pricing but a city worker was showing me the inside of some pipes they were replacing in a community that were 50 years old. This wasn't sewer but city water coming into the housing community. They were disgusting looking from the photo he showed me.

There are a bunch of options. CIPP relies on the integrity of your existing pipe, cheapest but potentially risky and possibly shorter lived. Depends on existing condition. Slip lining better, new pipe inside old, but higher dollars, more permanent. Again, there are different kinds at different costs. Replacement best but most expensive and invasive. Caveat, I've only been involved with commercial, not home systems. We were looking at $ millions.

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I converted from septic to sewer in my first house in the early 80s. The stub out was in the back of my house (where the septic tank was), so, I had to dig a long way (about 200 ft) and it was hot, hard work (esp in July when I did it). The trench was knee deep when I finally hit the sewar connection. But, I was young and tough, so I did it. The PVC was not that expensive and the cost would have been mostly labor had I hired someone. If you are young and tough (or have a couple of teenagers) I would look into just replacing it with PVC.

Thanks for the comments so far.

This video has a good explanation of two of the technologies: CIPP (Cured in-place pipelining) and a newer on called Spin Cast.

This is a typical advertising before & after shot:


I'm neither young nor fit... but if I were, I would dig a trench from the house to the city line and replace the old cast iron with PVC, but I suspect most of my hangups are under the slab.

One option someone else presented was just digging up short trenches to those bathroom drains that are on the perimeter of the house, and redirecting them to a small lift station that can pump them down to the city line. Maybe somewhere in the middle cost-wise...

My neighbor had it done and made me guess at the pricing. It was a long and somewhat shocking conversation. Their 1958 two bathroom house was in the $20 grand range.

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I was right.

Edited: 11/24/2024 at 03:21 AM by Cole

This isn't going to answer your question, but it may help you make a more informed decision


If you are familiar with the "Nextdoor" website, I belong to the Satellite Beach one, and this topic comes up regularly. There are people who provided feedback on their experiences doing these repairs on their circa 60s beachside homes, also which company they used, etc.

Excellent idea -- many thanks. I'll see if I can remember my password from 10 years ago, or create a new account and check.

Follow-up: I had 5 companies quote it; all were in range $19K-$22K, and all companies were from far out of town. One offered me a 25% discount for the next week because they (allegedly) had other trucks and crews in the area.

For a $5K savings, I jumped on it at $15K. They estimated a 3-day job, but it took them more like 4.5 days. No complaints -- it was a rental house, I didn't have to be there, and the tenant should never call me about clogged up sewer lines.

This tech should get a bit cheaper in the future as equipment/automation improve and more companies (competition) enter the market. Whether/when it's enough to meet demand will reveal the price inflection point.

Those many. many. many. years ago, , , , , in SPS, , , , , the house (built in 19587/58) had the ols 'Orangeburg' sewer pipes nd they eventually went tits up!! Every inch, outside of the confines of the slab needed replaced/ Pretty much plugged and/or collapsed. So very, very, luckily, , , , , , my brother and I were good friends with somebody in the County's sewage department so, , , , ,. We dug trenches besides the runs of pipe from the house and the buddy's crew came out and fixed everything up to a 'T'!!

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Dora Hates You

Which version did you use?

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For the 3" and 4" pipe, it was CIPP; they preferred that because it provided more structural support.

But they used an epoxy spray similar to the SpinCast on the smaller pipes for ease of access, and to avoid a blockage in case the sleeve or old pipe around it ever collapsed (got pushed in by tree roots or whatever).

TBH, I had to conduct the whole transaction and provide supervision in Spanish, so I'm not sure exactly what I got other than an emailed warranty in English.


Edited: 01/09/2025 at 01:28 PM by CurtisEflush

Lol. I could have gotten a couple cervazas and maybe directions to the bathroom under similar circumstance. . Seems like a good fix though.

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