Trenchless Sewer Repair in Tucson, AZ

Trenchless sewer repair is the family of methods that let a plumber rebuild a buried sewer line without excavating its full length. Instead of digging a trench along the entire run of pipe, we work from small access points, usually one at each end, and rebuild the line from the inside out. For most Tucson homes that is the difference between a one day job and a week of your yard being a construction site.

It is not right for every line. A pipe that has fully collapsed, separated at a joint, or lost its shape may need a section opened up. The camera inspection is what tells us which situation you are in, and we tell you honestly either way.

There are three methods we use, and the condition of your line decides which one. They are listed here least expensive first, because the cheapest fix that actually holds is the one we want to sell you.

Pipe coating, the lower cost option

Coating is for a line that is still structurally sound but rough on the inside. Years of scale, corrosion and grease leave the interior wall pitted, and a pitted wall catches everything that goes past it, which is why the same line keeps clogging after it is snaked. We clean the pipe back to bare wall and apply an epoxy coating that cures into a smooth, sealed surface, so there is nothing left for buildup to grab and nothing left to corrode.

Because there is no liner tube being pulled and cured, coating uses less material and less time in your yard, and it costs less than relining the same run. It is the right call when the camera shows a rough or corroded line with no cracks, no breaks and no separated joints. If the camera shows structural damage, coating is the wrong answer and we will tell you so rather than sell you the cheaper job twice.

Cured in place pipe lining

A resin saturated liner is pulled through the existing pipe and cured in place, forming a new jointless pipe inside the old one. Because it is seamless, the two things that most often kill a Tucson sewer line, root intrusion at the joints and corrosion of old cast iron, have nothing left to attack. This is the method for a pipe that is damaged but still holding its shape.

Pipe bursting

A bursting head is pulled through the old line, breaking it outward while simultaneously pulling new pipe in behind it. This is the method when the original line is too far gone to line, or when you want to increase the diameter. It still only needs access points rather than a full trench.

A main sewer line issue looks different from a single clogged fixture. If the problem is the line itself, it usually shows up in more than one place at once.

• More than one drain backing up at the same time, especially the lowest ones in the house
• A toilet that gurgles when the washing machine drains
• Sewage smell in the yard, or one patch of grass that is suddenly much greener
• Repeat clogs in the same line no matter how many times it is snaked
• Slow drains throughout the house rather than in one room
• Soft or sunken ground along the path from the house to the street

Tucson adds two of its own. Mature mesquite and palo verde roots go looking for the only reliable water on the lot, and they find it at a sewer joint. And a lot of the older housing stock still runs cast iron or clay that has simply reached the end of its life.

1. We camera the line

Nothing gets quoted from a guess. A camera goes down the line and you see the same screen we do. If the line is fine, we tell you that and you are out the diagnostic.

2. You get a price and the options

You hear the number before any work begins, along with which method fits your line and why. If a spot repair solves it, we say so rather than selling you the whole line.

3. We do the work

Most residential trenchless jobs are completed in a day. Access points get restored when we are finished.

4. We camera it again

You see the finished line on the screen before we leave, so you know what you paid for.

GoodFellas is a family owned and locally owned plumbing and HVAC company, and the crew that shows up for a sewer line is the same crew that has been in Tucson homes for years. We are licensed, bonded, and insured, and we quote the price before the work rather than after.

Sewer work is the kind of job people get taken advantage of on, because the pipe is buried and the homeowner has no way to check the story. That is exactly why we put the camera on a screen you can see and quote from what is actually there.