So last weekend we had a bit of a problem at the house - the sewer system backed up.
On Monday, MLKJDAY, I opened up my handy browser and searched for Sacramento Plumber, and found Mr. Rooter. I called and within 30 minutes they were at my house diagnosing the problem. Using a fancy infrared camera they were able to snake through the pipe and look at the damage, which was extensive. The pipe was basically collapsed in several areas and had to be replaced.
So on Tuesday morning, they showed up bright and early around 9am to begin the replacement process, which involved putting together a long polyethyline pipe, and sending it down into the ground near the house, then pulling it through the earth to the other side of the yard using their trenchless process.
After fusing the pipes together, they attached the bursting head, which serves the purpose of breaking apart the old pipe as the new pipe is pulled through - basically the new pipe takes the exact same path/place as the old pipe.
This allows them to replace what you have without digging up the old stuff (and destroying the yard in the process.
As far as impact to the yard, it was minimal. They dug two main holes, one at the house where the exit pipe begins, and another on the other side of the yard where the pipe connects to the city sewer line. Here are the two holes they dug…one at the house, one at the fence.
Next, they dropped a large metal plate into the ground in the fence hole, and that’s what they used to hydraulically pull the pipe through the yard.
It took less than 2 hours from start to finish on the pipe, and by 11:30am, they were refilling the holes with dirt, having tested the new pipe.
I was absolutely amazed that it took them only about 4 total hours for the work, and even more amazed that in less than a month, there will be no visible evidence that anything happened to the yard…..if you’ve got a heavily landscaped yard (like we do), trenchless is the only way to go.
Anyway - there you have it.