What is sewer lining, and how is it different from replacing the pipe?
Sewer lining, also called cured in place pipe or CIPP, rebuilds your existing sewer from the inside. We clean the old line, pull a resin liner through it, and cure it in place so it hardens into a smooth new pipe inside the old one. There is no long trench and in most cases no digging up your yard. When it is done you have a new pipe running from your house to the main, without the mess of tearing the old one out.
Why would I line my pipe instead of digging it up and replacing it?
Digging and replacing means opening a trench from your house to the main, which can mean cutting through your lawn, landscaping, driveway, or patio. Lining fixes the pipe without that. You keep the yard you have spent years on, the work is usually finished in far less time, and you avoid most of the restoration cost that comes after a full dig. For a lot of homeowners the restoration is the expensive part, not the pipe itself. Lining is not the right answer for every line, which is why we camera the pipe first and tell you honestly what will and will not work.
Is CIPP sewer lining as good as installing a brand new pipe?
Yes. The CIPP liner is the same thickness as a schedule 35 PVC pipe. It is not a lesser product. The only reason we would choose a different method is if the pipe cannot physically hold a liner, not because lining is a compromise.
Do I really need a camera inspection before you can quote lining?
Yes, and we will not quote lining over the phone. Every line is different. A free camera inspection shows us the length, the pipe material, the condition, and whether the line can even be lined. We run the camera down your line and you watch the screen with us, so you see exactly what we see before anyone talks about price. That is the whole point: you make the decision with real information instead of a guess.
Will lining stop tree roots from getting back into my sewer?
Yes. Roots get into old pipe at the joints and at cracks. The finished liner is continuous from one end to the other with no open joints for roots to push through, so once a line is lined the roots have nowhere to get back in. That sealed, continuous pipe is a big part of why we can stand behind the line.
Will a liner make my pipe smaller or slow down the flow?
The liner is thin and bonds to the inside of your existing pipe, so you give up a small amount of diameter. In real terms the new surface is smooth instead of rough, cracked, and root filled, so the line usually flows as well as or better than it did before. The industry standards this work is built on are written around keeping the pipe structurally sound and flowing properly.
How much does sewer lining cost in Duluth, MN?
Most residential sewer lining projects range from $5,000 to $15,000 or more depending on line length, pipe material, and access. Because every line is different, we start with a free camera inspection rather than a phone estimate. Once we can see the length, material, and condition, we give you a real number and your options in writing before any work begins. As a general rule, lining comes in well under the cost of a full dig and replace once you factor in putting your yard, driveway, or patio back together afterward.
What standards does Contour’s lining meet?
The lining we install follows the recognized industry standards for cured in place pipe: ASTM F1216 for inversion lining and ASTM F1743 for pulled in place lining. Our crews are trained and certified on the trenchless systems we run.
How long does a liner last, and is it warrantied?
A properly installed liner has a design life of roughly 50 years, which is why we treat it as a long term fix and not a patch. We include a 10 year warranty on our lining work.
How long will my sewer be out of service during lining?
You can keep using your water right up until we install the liner. The install and cure take a few hours, and most residential jobs in Duluth are completed in a single day. We clean the line, pull the liner through, cure it, and run a final camera pass to confirm before we leave.
What kinds of pipe can be lined?
Around Duluth and Superior most of the lines we see are clay tile, cast iron, and Orangeburg. Clay tile and cast iron line very well, as do concrete and PVC. Orangeburg is a different story. It is a soft older material that tends to deform, and if a pipe has lost its round shape a liner will just follow that bad shape, so those lines often make more sense to burst or dig. That is exactly the kind of thing the camera tells us before we ever quote a job.
Can you line just one bad spot instead of the whole line?
Yes. If the camera shows one bad connection or a short separated section, rather than a line that is failing end to end, we can do a point repair. That is a short section of liner that seals just the problem spot, so you are not paying to line the whole run when only a few feet need attention.
My line changes size partway, like six inch to four inch and back to six. Can it still be lined?
We can physically line through a size change like that, but here is the honest tradeoff. The liner follows the existing pipe, so a restriction stays a restriction after lining, and we cannot stand behind that narrow spot the same way we stand behind a full size line. On a job like that we will tell you straight, and depending on what the camera shows we may recommend pipe bursting instead, so you end up with one consistent full size pipe. We would rather put in the right fix than the easy one.
When is lining not the right fix?
Lining rebuilds a pipe that is still intact enough to line. If the camera shows a full collapse, a belly where the line sags and holds water because it lost its grade, or a pipe that is too far gone to hold a liner, then lining is off the table and we move to pipe bursting or a targeted dig. The connection at the street main sometimes requires excavation regardless. The camera inspection is what tells us which situation you are in, so you are choosing with real information.
I share a sewer line with my neighbors, or my house has a house trap. Does that affect lining?
It can, and it is common in Superior and in older parts of Duluth. Several homes sometimes share one line out to the main, and many older homes still have a house trap on the line. A house trap usually has to come out before we can even get a camera through to see the line. On a shared line, the condition of the whole run matters, not just your section. The good news is that catching it early, while the line can still be cleaned and lined, is almost always far cheaper than waiting until it collapses and has to be dug up. Both cities run programs tied to this kind of work and we are on the approved list for both. See Duluth’s I&I grant program guidelines and Superior’s Stormwater Flood Control Program, or start with our grants and financial assistance page.
