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Home » Blog » How To Repair Old Drains Without Digging?

How To Repair Old Drains Without Digging?

drain cleaning

If you are on this website blog, then it’s pretty sure that your plumber might have found damage in your drainage system. You might be fearing the cost and the damage that will be done to fix the problems in the old drain. But don’t you need to worry, with the advancement of technology, you can now repair the old drainage without actually having to dig the floor.

Now, old drainage repairs don’t mean disruption and high cost anymore. These technological advancements help you to do “no-dig” repair for the cracked or damaged drainage. In this article, I have explained the methods of drainage repair and have also given approx costs of drainage cleaning in San Diego. Ponder upon the article to know about it.

But before we move on to understand different methods of drain cleaning without digging, let’s see the reasons why the drains get cracked.

What Can Be The Possible Reason For Cracking Drains?

You might have often heard people seeing that the drainage pipes crack during the winter months. It’s quite common for pipes to crack during the winter months. The cold temperature causes the pipes to ice up. Ice has more density than water, and ice water expands on freezing and turns into ice. This expansion of the ice causes cracks in the ice and causes it to burst.

Damage to the drains also occurs due to high temperatures. With the high temperature, the pipes heat up and expand, which causes damage to the drainage. Many times, the pipes are made up of very low materials. So, the slight stress can cause damage to them.

Sometimes the drains are clogged with heavy sludge that may lead to blockage and generate tension in the pipes. However, this might sometimes lead to damage to the pipes if the drain cleaning service professionals have not checked for long.

Drain pipes lead to a bad smell and create a very unpleasant environment. Also, this smell can be irritating for the people residing around the pipes. Open drain means that it will be attacked by the various microbes and flies. These can then enter your house and lead to several diseases. So, it becomes necessary to repair damage in the old pipes at the earliest possible to avoid health risks.

Why Do You Require Periodic Cleaning Of Drains?

Drains are the system that is continuously working. There are many possible reasons why you might require a drain cleaning service. One of the possible reasons and that too the most common reason for this is cracked drain pipes.

Another possible reason why you might require urgent cleaning of drains includes:

  • Old drains – Old drains often crack up by themselves as the material of the drain might get worn out.
  • Clogging due to mineral buildup, intrusion of tree roots, sludge, plastics changing grounds, or the collapsed joints.

When any of these mentioned scenarios take place, you might need urgent drain repair services. The first thing that comes to the mind of everyone thinking about cleaning the damaged drain is they would require digging the ground or floor of their house underneath where drain pipes have passed.

Apart from the inconvenience and long restoration time required for the traditional digging and clean methods, it also hurts to see the beautiful yard getting damaged.

So, without consuming any more time, let’s move on to see the no-dig methods of drain cleaning.

Methods Of Draining Repairing Without Digging

The no-dig method of drain repair is also called a trenchless process. This trenchless process has been used by several drain cleaning service providers to give timeless service to the customers. However, this technique is not only used in residential areas but also in commercial buildings to repair street drain lines and sewer lines.

There are two main ways of cleaning drains without digging. They are pipe relining and pipe bursting. Both these types of cleaning require specialized equipment. Also, they require experts to detect the damage with the help of a camera. The effects of the damage on the flow of water are also studied using the camera tool.

Pipe Relining

Pipe relining simply involves the installation of a pipe or CIPP within the existing pipeline. The cured-in-place pipe ( CIPP) will then fill the crack in the drain pipe. The joints of the pipe are a solid layer of ⅛ inch thickness. There is a long procedure to carry out this pipe relining. In this method, a resin solution is used to form the customized pipe inside the drainpipe at your home.

1) Inspecting The Pipes:

Plumbing professionals will first insert their camera tool in the nearest drain from your yard. The specialty camera of the plumbers helps them to spot the location as well as the nature of the damage. They also evaluate the condition of the drain pipes. If the pipes are very damaged, they might recommend you to change the entire drain pipe.

2) Drainage Cleaning Service

Before moving on to do further work, the plumber will do thorough drainage cleaning. In this cleaning, they will remove the mineral deposits inside the drain pipes. This is usually done with hydro jetting. In hydro jetting, high pressure of water is used to remove the collected mineral layer. The high-velocity hydro jet exerts pressure on pipes through the high-velocity water from the jet nozzle.

Also Read: What Are The Signs Of The Clogged Drains?

3) Insertion Of Liner

A liner soaked in the epoxy is inserted into the pipe. A rope is attached to the end of the liner to pull it to the required place using the existing access points in the drain in your yards. Now, it is pressed into the place by filling the bladder with the air. This bladder is also called the tube or calibrated bladder. The epoxy lining then begins to heat up and hardens. This process takes as long as one hour.

4) Ensuring The Right Spot Of Hole

Now, with the help of the camera, experts ensure that the pulled felt liner and inflated bladder are in the right spot.

5) Sticking Of Epoxy Pipe To The Existing Drain Pipe

Now, the drain services in San Diego will blow air into the bladder to inflate it. This inflated bladder allows the felt liner of epoxy to stick to the existing drain pipe. The bladder remains inflated until the resin creates a hard pipe. After that, the bladder is pulled outside, and a brand new, sturdy, and cleaned pipe is ready.

6) Final Testing

After the complete process is done, once more, the camera inspection is done. Here the CCTV camera is used to check whether everything has been installed properly, sealed, and repaired.

There are different types of relining used to repair the drains. However, Greenline, Redline, Blueline, and Sumoline are the types of relining. Mostly for drain repair, blue line relining is used.

Advantages Of Relining

  • Requires less time
  • Strengths to existing pipelines
  • Environment-friendly
  • Work can be done without disrupting the floors of the house or the surrounding area
  • There is no need to shut the nearby footpaths or road areas for doing the drain work.
  • It’s more cost-effective
  • The process of drainage repairing also helps to improve the water flow through it.
  • It seals perfectly by preventing further breaks.

Pipe Bursting

It is referred to as pipe splitting. Unlike the traditional method, the drain service provider doesn’t involve digging the entire damaged drain line. Pipe bursting involves digging a small pit. This small pit is used for the insertion of the pipe. So, it’s not a complete trenchless process. It can be called a semi-trenchless process. The procedure of the bursting pipe is as follows.

  • As the name suggests, it involves bursting. Two bursts or holes are made at the drain ends. But specialized equipment is required for the task. However, a burst is done at the cone-shaped bursting head through an old or damaged drain pipe.
  • When the bursting head is making a hole, experts will pull the replaced pipe into the place exactly where it is required.

What To Choose? – Pipe Relining Or Pipe Bursting

Depending on the damage, you will have to decide from the pipe bursting and pipe relining. It also depends on how deep the drainpipe is situated and where your house is located. Yes, the locality of your house is also a factor to consider while choosing. The professional drain cleaning company in San Diego will help you choose the one among both. Let’s see the factors to consider before deciding between the two.

For shallow pipes, the bursting method may be the best. Pipe Bursting would be more affordable here in this case, especially in the area where no obstructions are present.

On the other hand, if you damaged pipe under driveways, large trees, or under sideways walks, pipe relining would be a better option for you.

Cost Of The Traditional Versus Trenchless Repairing

Trenchless repair involves the use of more equipment and machines in the process. Though it seems simple, in reality, it is a more complicated process for inexperienced hands. Thus, it costs more than the traditional repairing method.

When you look at the pipe repair prices, it doesn’t completely depend on the equipment and machinery that are used. But it depends on the uprooting of the ground above the damaged pipe, which includes uprooting the yard, street, etc.

The average cost of trenchless pipe repair may vary according to the different companies. Drain cleaning process cost in San Diego varies based on the work that has to be done. It can cost more when a more complex floor is present above the drain pipe. In such a case, if you go for the digging repair process, it might cost up to more than the non-digging methods. So, go for expert consultation to get optimum results without hurting your pockets.

Why Do You Need Professional Assistance For The Optimum Old Drain Repair?

If you have noticed or analyzed the damage in your drain, you don’t need to worry about the destruction of the beautiful yard or the floor of your house. Experts use time-tested technology to get the drain repair process done tirelessly. Contact the professional drain services provider to repair the damage. The expert plumbers are well-equipped with advanced tools to clean and repair the drains. If you live in San Diego and are looking for a drain repair company, just go nowhere. Rely on EZ Plumbing Restoration for quick yet effective Drain services in San Diego, and that too at your convenience.



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