Cost to put liner in trench rotted main sewer line?

General Landlording & Rental Properties

Cost to put liner in trench rotted main sewer line?

Real Estate Agent · Salt Lake City, UT · Member since 2014 · 473 posts · 230 votes

Hey BP, I have a up-down duplex in Provo, Utah. The basement tenants heard gurgling in the toilet when the washing machine was running upstairs.

Initially thought it was a vent blockage, but we had a camera run through the lines, and there is a 3 foot section of the main sewer line (cast iron) with trench rot. A little further down, there's a section with substantial root penetration. Also some of the pipe joints are starting to get misaligned.

Plumber recommended putting a resin-liner in. Quoted $7,000 for 40 feet. The pipe is about 2 feet down, and will require a few feet of excavating cement where they will put in the liner and a new cleanout access point. About 15' of the 40' is under concrete, and the rest under the front lawn (won't need to be excavated if we do the liner method).

Does 7k for 40' seem reasonable?

Anyone know if pipe bursting is an option in Utah County? Wouldn't be opposed to digging the whole thing out and replacing it at the right price either.

Duplex is occupied as well.

Thanks!

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Johnson City, TN · Member since 2014 · 586 posts · 705 votes

seems to me like digging the entire thing up and putting in new would be as cheap or cheaper.

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Rebecca Belnap
Rental Property Investor · Lehi, UT · Member since 2015 · 195 posts · 133 votes
9y
About 20 years ago, we had to replace 75 ft of sewer line out to the street. We used PPM and they did a good job. It took forever because they had just replaced Provo's center street and wouldn't give us a permit to cut into it. Fortunately, the apartment complex was on a corner and we got the permit to cut into the other street and create a new connection. Can't remember the price, but I do remember thinking that the extra 20 feet in length to skip 20 feet of concrete and only have to cut through 10 feet of asfault was about $2000 less.
A few years later the pipe collapsed again further up in an area that hadn't been replaced yet. That time, we called them to do a 60 foot section, but when blue stakes went out it turned out the entire section was installed directly under the gas line and it had to be hand dug. They couldn't start for 2 weeks. After 3 days of sewage backing up into the main floor apartments and having tenants put up in hotels, we gave up on the pros and started hand digging.
The first 2 feet was no problem, had it done with 2 people in half a day. After that the compacted dirt was like concrete. At 4 feet, we found the gas main and were lucky we didn't hit it with the pickax. After 4 days we were 6 feet down and had to fill buckets and hand them to the person up at the top. On day 5, I collapsed in tears and swore that I now knew what Hell would be like and swore to mend whatever evil ways I have. My husband called his sister and paid her to help with the rest. I got to be the person at the top pulling buckets up with a rope. By the end of the day they had found the pipe at 7 feet down on one end and 9 at the other. In the end, we spent about $500 in labor (not our own) and materials and swore that we would never do it again.
Not that the story helps much, but I thought I would share what can happen. I didn't even know lining it was an option, but it sounds like a good solution if you can to it. Just always make sure you get enough bids to know if you have a good price. 3 minimum, 5 is better.
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JD MartinBusiness Member
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Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
9y
^^^ Wow. Didn't anyone suggest abandoning the existing line and just digging next to the gas line? That is for sure what I would have done in a case like that. Not to mention if you (or someone else) was standing in hand-dug ditches 7-9 feet deep, that's pretty dangerous because I'm certain you weren't using a trench box. And even if you wanted to put it back directly under the gas line, someone with an excavator could have easily dug next to the gas line to identify location and depth, then dug around it.
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Taylor Chiu
OP
Real Estate Agent · Salt Lake City, UT · Member since 2014 · 473 posts · 230 votes
9y
@Loren Clive I haven't talked to our insurance yet, but I doubt this will be covered, since it is between the house and the road.
@Rebecca Belnap WOW. What a crazy story. So what type of piping did you replace that collapse with?
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Rebecca Belnap
Rental Property Investor · Lehi, UT · Member since 2015 · 195 posts · 133 votes
9y
@JD Martin All of the water, sewer, and gas lines were installed in a trench at the same time at the back of the property 2 feet from the building and 4 feet from the property line. On the property line was a fence and then the driveway for the 26plex next door on the other side. We might have been able to dig a hole and find the gas line confirming where it was and removed the fence, The driveway for the neighboring unit went all the way around the property, so they could have used the West entrance for a day or 2. But we didn't really know what we were doing, just that sewage was backing up into the apartment we were living in. We got the idea to dig and we dug, I'm sure the smell of sewage affected the decision. No trench box, we had the foundation of the apartments on the one side and the driveway stabilizing the other side pretty well. A lot of clay in there, so we had nothing that even looked like it wanted to go anywhere.
@Taylor Chiu It's a 6 inch sort of mint green pipe heavy duty PVC meant specifically for sewage drain lines. One end has the connection built in so you just push them together and they seal. I can't remember if they were 20ft or 16 ft long.
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David Healey
Real Estate Agent · Millcreek, UT · Member since 2015 · 64 posts · 22 votes
9y
Great thread, guys. I've learned a lot. I helped my dad replace the water line from the main (street) to the house about 7 months agoin American Fork, UT. We spent about $800 for the mini-ex rental, new water line and fittings. We dug under about 4 feet of concrete sidewalk and some 10" landscape curbing by hand. We ended up digging down to almost 6 feet. The project took us about 8 hours start to finish and only the $800. I've never done a sewer line up. Would you experienced viewers say a sewer line is a more difficult job than a water line? We literally just had to dig the 6 foot trench about 20 feet (about 5 feet by hand) and then lay the new line and connect it on both ends with the fittings, then bury the line.
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Taylor Chiu
OP
Real Estate Agent · Salt Lake City, UT · Member since 2014 · 473 posts · 230 votes
9y
@David Healey Just seeing your post now. Wow, $800 isn't bad at all, and all in a day's work! Was the soil pretty easy to turn up, or did it not matter since you were using the mini-ex?
In my case, I had another guy come out and he said it didn't look like there was trench rot under the concrete after all. So the only remaining issue is the root intrusion under the lawn.
I've spent some time digging with a shovel, and have found the line. Unfortunately I haven't found any root intrustion where they said it would be...or in the 12-13 feet of the pipe that I've dug along. Getting close to the edge of the lawn, so I'm hoping I'm within a couple feet of finding the trouble spot.
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David Healey
Real Estate Agent · Millcreek, UT · Member since 2015 · 64 posts · 22 votes
9y
@Taylor Chiu You are a resourceful man. Guess you are getting some good use out of all that Oly skillset. Good luck, Taylor. Hope you find a resolution soon.
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Taylor Chiu
OP
Real Estate Agent · Salt Lake City, UT · Member since 2014 · 473 posts · 230 votes
9y
@David Healey Was the mini-ex able to get through roots and rocks pretty well, or did you not run into that much? Who did you rent it through?
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