Sewer Line Replacement Procedure - Installing the New Sewer Line InspectAPedia® -
Guide to how to diagnose a blocked main building drain
How to determine that a sewer line needs replacement
Step by step main drain line replacement, house to septic tank (or sewer)
How to document the location of buried plumbing & septic components
Final site restoration guide after sewer or septic pipe replacement
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This article describes how the new sewer line is installed when a sewer pipe or "drain line" is replaced.We present an actual case study, illustrated with photos of each step in the diagnosis and replacement of a blocked
sewer line. Technical reviewers are welcome and are listed at "References."
This is a chapter of Inspecting, Testing, & Maintaining Residential Septic Systems an online book on septic systems. Also see Backups and Clogged Drains diagnosing septic backups and septic system failures versus clogged drains.
Guide to installing the replacement sewer pipe line
Safety of occupants and neighbors during excavation for sewer line repairs
When the plumbers left the site we had created a hole which was a trip hazard to folks who might cross the yard.
While our immediate makeshift hazard indicators
(nearby wood fence scraps and a laundry basket) was amateur and insecure, at least
we had an immediate visual indicator that there was something here to watch out for.
We then went in search for some more sturdy materials to cover the hole until
further repair work could begin.
Also amateur
but successful at warning people about the risk of falling into a ditch.
Installing the replacement sewer line
Installing and connecting the new drain sections
Sections of the new drain were laid along the trench for installation, cut to
length at either end, and then connected together. Note the grease used to slip the sections of drain pipe together.
At the up-hill house end, we connected the new drain line to the existing stub of cast iron sewer
line outside of the house foundation wall.
This avoided the cost and trouble of having to break through
the foundation wall to install a new line into the home, and avoided possible damage to the nearby
heating boiler.
The rubber coupling used to connect the two drains leaked and had to be re-connected.
These couplings
work fine, durably, and reliably provided the pipes they connect are lined up carefully. An askew
pipe connection is more likely to leak.
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Thanks to Thomas Gleason, excavators, Poughkeepsie, NY 845-454-3730, for the excavating work at the project photo documented here in September 2006
Thanks to Cleveland Plumbing, the prime plumbing contractor, Staatsburgh, NY 845-485-7700 for the plumbing work and drain clog diagnosis work documented here in September 2006
Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-161, Septic System Failure: Diagnosis and Treatment
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