Pipework in homes and businesses is the single most neglected area of domestic and business property maintenance, and it’s easy to understand why. For a start, it’s out of sight, but it’s also disruptive and chaotic when repairs do have to be carried out, so people tend to ignore it until it can’t be ignored any longer.
Are you finding your drains or toilet blocking on a regular basis and you have to get the Drano® or plunger out?
Have you begun to notice a rather unpleasant smell in your garden or backyard?
A damp patch which never seems to dry out? Or noticed an unaccountable dip in your garden or yard?
It could be caused by damaged drainage and you might just need your pipe relined.
If you’ve ever had to call in the plumbers to replace or repair a broken or cracked sewer or blocked drain pipes, you are no doubt aware of how disruptive and destructive the process can be.
Driveways, gardens and even rooms inside the home are often ruined by trenches when pipes are being repaired, dirt and debris is piled in heaps while the plumbers get to fixing, and in the dry summer, the dust flies into the house no matter how hard you try to avoid it!
If the damaged pipe is in your home, or underneath your home in the concrete slab, this is even harder. Many a bathroom or kitchen has to be destroyed to get to the offending pipe, costing thousands of dollars to replace.
Even with the repair completed and trenches back-filled, it takes a long time, and additional expense, to return your home to its former glory.
Thankfully, using modern technology, there is now a better, cleaner and more efficient way to repair your damaged pipework. Using drain pipe relining instead of digging up and replacing your pipes.
What is Drain Relining?
Pipe relining solutions involve the use of modern technology and materials to repair old, leaking and damaged pipes, or blocked drains, by using relining technology.
Using modern drain relining techniques, the need for the traditional upheaval of trench digging, and the mess and disruption that goes with it is negated.
If you have damaged, leaking or broken pipes on your property, your local plumber will follow a number of steps:
They will survey, analyse, prepare, repair and then confirm.
This is all completed with minimum disruption to your lifestyle and day to day activities.
Surveying and Analysing
The first thing your plumber will need to do is find out where, and what, the problem is. Provided the pipe is not flooded, a digital drain camera on a long flexible feed is inserted into the suspect pipe through the inspection pit, and slowly slid or drawn through the pipe while the operator monitors its progress on a laptop computer.
There are a couple of situations where drain pipe relining cannot be undertaken, and replacing the pipe is the only solution.
- Where the pipe has been completely crushed, or
- Where tree roots have entered through a small crack and been allowed to grow larger and block the pipe.
In almost all other cases of damaged pipework, using trenchless pipe lining technology will solve the problem in a much more cost-effective, non-destructive manner.
How To Prepare for Sewer Relining
Whether it’s a leaking pipe or blocked drains and sewers caused by household waste getting trapped by cracks or small tree roots, the problem has to be cleared and cleaned before sewer pipe relining can be undertaken.
This is carried out using very high-pressure water jets inserted into the pipework to clear all grime, grease and other obstructions prior to repairing the length of pipework. Now, with the pipe cleared and cleaned, the clever bit starts, using a modern sewer pipe relining system.
Undertaking your Trenchless Pipe Repair
With debris removed and the existing pipe cleaned, it’s time to prepare for the sewer relining. The flexible length of relining pipe, a composite material known as GRP (Glass Reinforced Pipe), is measured and cut.
The prepared length is then coated with a layer of epoxy resin, which will bind the repair pipe to the existing and add extra strength to the pipe.
Once epoxy coated, the trenchless pipe lining is slid through the pipework to the damaged sections using cables and winches.
When it’s correctly positioned, compressed air is used to open up the trenchless pipe repair and squeeze the repair pipe tight against the original until the resin sets.
If the repair pipe has had to pass any inspection openings or junctions, these are cut out when the resin bond has completely dried, using standard electric pipe saws for inspection pits, or robotic saws for underground junctions.
Complete and Confirm
With the new trenchless pipe repair completed, your plumber will undertake a remote camera inspection to check all junctions are clear and the repair has completely sealed all around, before finally carrying out a water test to ensure the repaired pipework is totally clear and sealed.
All of this carried out without a shovel or pickaxe in sight!
Conclusion
Pipe relining is a cost-effective solution for repairing your drainage or sewer pipework, without the disruption, or destruction, of driveways, lawns and gardens associated with traditional pipe repair work.
If you have a pipe and something isn’t quite right. Give us a call on 0422 902 890.
RD Plumbing Solutions are trained in pipe relining, and offer a full pipe relining service. We are Adelaide’s Emergency Plumbing Specialists and are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week whether you need a Hot Water System replaced, Leaking Taps or you’re considering a Bathroom Renovation.
Master Plumber. Master Solutions.
