Fort Worth, TX · Member since 2016 · 4 posts · 1 vote
Looking for a plumber with creative solutions. I have an older home that has a leaking iron sewage pipe under the foundation. Had a company come out and said they need to tunnel under the house to replace the main section, but could do CIPP (plastic/PVC liner) inside some portions. All of the endpoints (Bathrooms and kitchen) are on the back side of the house, so I am wondering if we could save money by going in through the back of the house, and then trenching a new sewage line from the back of the house around to the front to tie into the existing sewage line.
Yes it's theoretically possible to just bust through the footing and then just trench a new sewer line along the exterior of the house, abandoning the old line below the slab. However it'll depend on how deep the main is. You still need to maintain a slope of about 1/4:12 and you'll probably be adding horizontal distance by going around the perimeter, so you just need to make sure there's still enough vertical drop to get your desired slope. Don't forget to blueflag if you end up trenching.
@Ryan Normand Thanks Ryan! I got a second quote, and it was much better. They scoped the line and said that the main 3" line is in great shape, and doesnt need replacing, but we would need to replace the branch section from the kitchen sink to the main line, and that this section could be rerouted around the back of the house instead of tunneling under. They had lots of options to reduce cost, they came in at $8k less than the first place, and I could knock even more off of it if I trench the new lines myself (the trenching and excavation prices were pretty brutal, I could hire it out for a fraction of the price). I appreciate your quick response!
Unfortunately, I had a bad bathroom sewer pipe problem in two separate properties, what are the odds? The symptom was the same in both properties, when the toilet was flushed , waste would appear in the bathtub. At first , I went with the quick fix , cheap repair. Guess what, it reappeared about a year later. I ended up spending a lot of money on both of these repairs, because I had to get a large portion of the main sewage line replaced. I bit the bullet and got the sewage lines replaced/fixed. So far , so good.