Sewer line repair and replacement in northern Utah

Treat sewage as a health hazard and stop feeding the line.

• Stop running water. No flushing, showers, laundry, or dishwasher.
• Keep people and pets away from the sewage and anything it touched.
• If the water has reached outlets, cords, or appliances, stay out of it. Shut off power at the breaker only if you can reach the panel from a dry spot.
• Do not pour chemical drain cleaner into the drain.
• Call a plumber. Our emergency line is answered 24/7.
• Call your city or sewer district too if sewage keeps rising with all water off, or if neighbors have the same problem. The blockage may be in the public main.

Jordan Basin Improvement District, a sewer district in the south Salt Lake Valley, explains the difference: when the problem is in the house plumbing or the private lateral, turning off all water use will generally stop the backup.

A broken sewer line usually gives warnings before it fails all the way. Watch for:

• Backups that return soon after a drain cleaning.
• Several drains that are slow at once, or toilets that gurgle when other fixtures drain.
• A sewage smell indoors or in the yard.
• A patch of lawn that stays wet or grows greener than the rest.
• A dip in the yard, or cracked pavement, above the line.
• Mud or roots on the cable after a cleaning.

None of these proves a break. Grease, wipes, and roots in a sound pipe cause some of the same signs. A camera inspection settles it. The video shows whether the pipe is cracked, shifted, sagging, or collapsed, and the locator marks the exact spot and depth. That is what a repair estimate should be based on.

The property owner is responsible for the sewer lateral, the pipe that runs from the building to the public main. The city or sewer district maintains the main. Utah sewer districts describe it that way.

Snyderville Basin Water Reclamation District, which serves the Park City area, states that the private property owner is fully responsible for the entire length of the lateral, from the building to the connection at the main. Jordan Basin Improvement District says the district is responsible only for its own property, not your line or your connection to the main.

Rules can differ by provider, so ask yours. During a backup, call them as well as a plumber. They can check whether the public main is blocked, and you do not pay a plumber to fix a problem that is not on your side.

Every repair starts with the camera and ends with a test.

1. We inspect the line by camera and mark the location and depth of the damage.
2. We explain the options and give you a free estimate.
3. Buried utilities get marked before we dig. We make the request, because Blue Stakes of Utah 811 requires it to come from the excavator, no later than 3 business days before planned digging. In an emergency, utility operators try to respond as soon as possible.
4. We check the permit and inspection rules of your city or sewer district.
5. We dig down to the pipe and cut out the damaged section.
6. We set new pipe at the correct slope on firm bedding and join it to the old pipe with couplings made for that connection.
7. We run water and the camera through the repair, then backfill and compact the soil.

The estimate spells out who restores the lawn, concrete, or asphalt above the trench.

It depends on how much of the pipe is bad.

A spot repair makes sense when the camera shows one problem, such as a single break, one root-filled joint, or one shifted joint, and the rest of the pipe is sound.

Replacement makes sense when the damage is spread along the line: cracks at many joints, roots in several places, or cast iron that has rotted through along the bottom. Pipes like that keep failing one section at a time. Ogden City, for example, lists pipe breaks or cracks due to tree roots among the causes of sewer backups.

A sag has to be dug up, because the slope of the pipe has to be corrected. Trenchless lining or pipe bursting can renew a long run with less digging when the pipe qualifies.

We show you the video and explain why we recommend one option over the other.

We give free estimates. Sewer repairs vary more than most plumbing jobs, and these are the things that change the price:

• Depth and length. Deeper pipe and longer runs mean more digging.
• What is above the pipe. Lawn is simple. Concrete, a driveway, a large tree, or a street adds work.
• Where the damage is. Under the yard, under the floor slab, or out near the main.
• The method. Spot repair, full replacement, or a trenchless method.
• Permits and inspections. Your city or sewer district sets these.
• Restoration. Replacing soil, sod, concrete, or asphalt after the pipe is fixed.

Financing is available for larger repairs. You get the estimate, with the camera video to back it up, before any work starts.