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November 23, 2008
Replacing a Sewer Line...
This is a photo of the front of my house in Queens.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davieeng/3053055827/
(...or larger) http://www.flickr.com/photos/davieeng/3053055827/sizes/l/
I am looking to possibly have my sewer line replaced. The dotted red line indicates where the sewer pipe is located underground.
And my sewer line is about 50 feet long to the center of the street.
In general, how much excavation work do they need to do in order to replace the entire line leading up to the street? Do they have to dig a trench for the entire length.. or do they dig a couple holes in the street/sidewalk and then another hole/trench in the garden?
Just trying to get an idea of how much excavation ("destruction") needs to be done before I start calling up the local sewer/main guys for estimates and video inspection. Any sewer plumbers recommendation appreciated too.. And a ballpark figure for replacing up to 50 feet of piping.
I was also told by a "Rooter" guy who was snaking out my sewer line recently that the underground sewer pipe within my basement might be back pitched as well ("great") . Does anyone have experience with this type of problem? If it's true, I'm not looking forward to excavating my basement too.
-D
Comments
Did you have a video camera inspection of the line? Is there a break? We used econo sewer to do the camera inspection of our sewer line. He is in Brooklyn, and very honest and reliable. We had a few hairline cracks near the wall that was causing the sewer odor to back up into the house.
There is a new technology called trenchless instead of digging up and replacing the entire line. An epoxy liner is put through the old line and you have a new sewer line without having to excavate the old one. We did this, and it worked great. No more sewer odor. We used a company called Root tech to do the liner. He was pretty good, but there are a few other companies. Don't use Roto Rooter-they are a rip off. The liner runs about $100-$125 per foot. But you would only go for the liner or excavation if there is a break in the line. That's why it's best to get the camera inspection to see what's going on in the line.
If you have to excavate and replace the entire line, it will cost a lot of money- Probably $15K or more.
Posted by: Bklyn born at November 23, 2008 9:36 PM
$15K to excavate and install a new line?
Anyone else pay this much for a new sewer line?
I thought installing liners was declared "Not an approved repair method" in NYC by the Dept. of Buildings.
I've been told numerous times that my sewer line is backpitched. So I'm going to finally get a video camera inspection within the next month or so to really see what is going on down there.
Lately, I've had to have the "$49.95" Rooter guys snake out my clogged sewer line every 6-9 months. And that's not normal.
I'm interested in getting a new sewer line installed before I consider renovating my basement. Although it's costly, I will have peace of mind that my basement won't get flooded by raw sewage.
Posted by: davieeng at November 23, 2008 10:26 PM
I had a main sewer line replaced recently. They went about 20 feet. From the closest point in the basement to the center of the street. The cost was around 8k....so 15k for 50 feet sounds about right.
Posted by: landlord at November 24, 2008 8:50 AM
Our pipe broke at a point somewhere under the sidewalk. They found the break from an optical snake they fed into the pipe. Had it been the Pipe in the center of the street, the city would have paid. If the Pipe was under our house, our insurance would have paid. There is a no-man's land under the side walk where the owner has to pay. Permit for digging up the street and a permit for digging up the sidewalk. the total bill. $15K... I thought that might have been a little high, but with brown stuff of human origin aggressively seeping into our rental, the tenants were none to happy and suggested we act very fast.
Posted by: perspective man at November 24, 2008 3:32 PM
Also had the sewer main replaced. Not a pleasant job. Used Alex Figliolia, Inc, Cost about 13K. Used a video camera, very professional and responsive, and very good follow up
Posted by: bklynbks at November 24, 2008 6:47 PM
Thanks for the replies everyone.
I guess I won't really know how much of the line needs replacing until I get the video inspection.
When scheduling a video inspection, do you usually use the company that will be doing the excavation work? And how much does it usually cost?
Posted by: davieeng at November 24, 2008 10:02 PM
.
Posted by: davieeng at November 29, 2008 5:16 PM
We had a broken line (original ceramic pipe!) under a brick walk we'd laid in our horse's walk, and Harris Water Main & Sewer were fantastic (718-495-3600). They got the permits, managed to tunnel to the spot to do the repair from there to the street without damaging the walk, and had the sidewalk repaired the next day--all included in the price. They even arranged to have the sidewalk guy match the tint in the pavement in the new sidewalk we'd laid within the previous year! I've heard nightmare stories, so these guys are the peace of mind guys.
Posted by: eFortGreene at December 1, 2008 11:21 AM
eFortGreene,
Thanks for your reply..
It's interesting to know that they were able to tunnel.
Just curious–
How much new sewer pipe was laid down?
And how much did you pay Harris's work?
Posted by: davieeng at December 2, 2008 1:17 PM
You might want to check out trenchless pipe restoration. It is great - they use an epoxy pipeliner that repairs the inside of the pipe. It saved us a bunch of money. The guys that helped were great - http://accurateleak.com It is a cool technology.
Edith
Posted by: Edith_Texas at May 3, 2009 11:05 PM
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