cast iron pipe lining

[Sasha Leans]

Hello,

I have a home that has cast iron pipes (almost 60  years old) and I have had the bathtub not drain (3rd time in almost 2 years)- 1st 2 times I hired a plumber and last time I got a 25 foot snake and unclogged it myself. On the other side of the home one of the toilets (wall hung toilet) exploded about 2 weeks ago. Someone had a large BM and when I returned later that day there was spray 2 feet up the wall, covering everything and a sewer/ plastic smell. I have had several plumbers out recently- 2 of them said they could hydrojet the pipes and then line them. One person said it looked bad and referred me to the plumbing business that is larger and does more of this work (that person said it can be lined). The hydrojetting itself is a set fee 2000$ regardless of the size of the home. This home is large- 2400sq ft- when they did the camera scope- the main line was >80 linear feet- not including any branches (the home has 3 bathrooms). This company (which has a 15 year warranty for their liners and is very established) charges 175$ a linear square foot. I am working on getting other quotes. I don't plan on keeping this home for more than 6-8 more years, but I don't want to deal with ongoing pipe issues. I don't know how effective using a liner is- I would like to avoid tearing up the floor- would also need to cut cement to do that- I didn't know what was best? Any recs here? Thanks

[Richard F.]

You definitely want to source a company that specializes in whichever lining process is best for your specific conditions. Pipe Bursting is the process recommended for a couple different properties we managed, one being multiple detached homes all tied to one lift station. No complaints or issues. Depending on access, there may still  be some trenching, but basically they just need room to operate the equipment on both ends of a run.

By the way, at 60 years old, your pipes are beyond useful life. Only alternative is replace all, street to every fixture.