Pipe Bursting in Harbor Heights

What fails under Harbor Heights homes

Older Pacific Northwest neighborhoods were built with concrete and clay side sewers, sometimes with sections of Orangeburg (tar-impregnated fiber) pipe from the 1950s and 60s that has since deformed. Cast iron runs under the house; the side sewer to the street is often long and deep on hillside lots.

Wet ground for much of the year, big root systems from firs, cedars, and maples, and hillside soils that creep downslope all work on sewer joints. Groundwater makes open trenches slow and messy, and many side sewers run under sidewalks and streets that the city requires be restored to standard.

Lining handles the root-intruded clay and concrete; bursting replaces the Orangeburg and collapsed runs; both avoid digging up a wet hillside yard or cutting a city street.

How pipe bursting works

A steel cable is threaded through the old sewer line from a pit at one end to a pit at the other. A cone-shaped bursting head, with new high-density polyethylene pipe fused to it, is pulled through by a hydraulic unit. The head splits the old clay or cast iron outward into the soil and the new pipe follows in the same alignment at the same depth. The result is a single fused length of pipe with no joints for roots to find.

When bursting is the right call

• Collapsed sections — a liner needs a host pipe to hold its shape; a collapsed run has none.
• Bellies — a low spot that holds water stays a low spot after lining. Bursting lays new pipe on a fresh bed.
• Undersized lines — bursting can upsize a 3-inch lateral to 4 inches; lining slightly reduces diameter.
• Badly deformed pipe — Orangeburg that has flattened, or cast iron with most of its bottom gone.

What the job looks like

One pit at the house or cleanout, one at the property line or the street connection, each a few feet square. Utilities that cross within a foot or two of the sewer path are located and potholed first. The pull takes an hour or two; the whole job, including fusing, connections, inspection and backfill, is usually one day.

Permits and the street

If the downstream pit is in the sidewalk, parkway or street, a right-of-way permit and restoration to city standards are required in addition to the plumbing permit. If the connection at the main is replaced, the city inspects it before the pit closes. Confirm who is handling this before work starts.

Getting it done in Harbor Heights

A camera inspection maps the line and marks every defect on the ground with its depth. The line is cleaned with a hydro jetter so the pipe wall can be seen and, if it is being lined, so the resin bonds to clean pipe. Lining works from the cleanout at the house; bursting needs a small pit at each end of the run. Either way the yard, driveway and slab in between are never opened. Most residential jobs in Harbor Heights finish in a day, and you should receive the before-and-after footage as part of the job.

Permits are part of it. Lateral work in Harbor Heights normally needs a plumbing permit, and anything in the sidewalk, parkway or street needs a right-of-way permit as well. The contractor pulls those and schedules the inspection; if a quote does not mention them, ask.

Finding the right contractor in Harbor Heights

Harbor Heights does not have a CIPP Verified installer assigned yet. The curedinplacepipe.net directory lists vetted lining contractors by state. The form below and (877) 880-8125 both reach our network directly; we match the request with a qualified contractor covering Harbor Heights. Estimates are free. Call now.

More trenchless services in Harbor Heights

Questions we hear in Harbor Heights