The process
How a Lining Job Runs, Start to Finish
A good lining job follows the same sequence whether the pipe is a four-inch lateral under a lawn or a four-foot main under a highway. Here is what each step is for, and what it looks like when it is done right.
Camera first, always
A sewer quote given without video is a guess, and guesses are how property owners end up paying for a liner that was never going to fix the problem. Every installer listed on this site starts with a recorded camera inspection of the full line, with each defect located from the surface and its depth marked. You see the footage, you keep the footage, and the scope is built from it. If you already have a scope video from a home inspection or a utility survey, send it; it saves a step.
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Step 1
Camera inspection, recorded
A self-leveling camera runs the full line from the cleanout, manhole or roof drain to the main. Every crack, offset, root mass, belly and connection is logged with its distance, and a locator marks each one on the surface with its depth. You get the recording.
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Step 2
Cleaning to bare wall
A hydro jetter, with chain cutters or a descaler where cast iron or roots call for them, strips the pipe to its original surface. The camera goes through again afterward, because a cleaned pipe tells the truth about its condition in a way a dirty one cannot.
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Step 3
A written scope, with the alternatives
The scope names the method, the footage and diameter involved, the price, the permits and inspections that apply, and the reasons the other methods were set aside. When the right answer is a dig, the scope says so.
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Step 4
Permits and notifications
The installer pulls the plumbing permit, any right-of-way or sewer-authority permit, schedules the inspections the local authority requires and files the utility-locate ticket before anything is opened.
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Step 5
The work, usually in a day
A residential liner typically cures in a few hours; bursting a lateral takes a day or two; a building or municipal reach is phased so no one loses their drains for more than a night. Branch lines are reinstated with a robotic cutter.
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Step 6
Final video, with you watching
The camera goes back through the finished pipe. You see the new interior end to end, and the recording goes in your file along with the warranty and the permit sign-offs.
What the scope should say
The written scope is the document that matters, and it should answer six questions without being asked. Which method, and for which feet of pipe: a full liner, a point repair, a burst, a dig, or a combination. What the camera found that led there. What the alternatives were and why they were set aside. What the price includes, down to the permits, the reinstatements and any surface restoration. What is warrantied, by whom and for how long. And when the honest answer is a dig, because a belly or a collapse cannot be fixed from inside, the scope says that too.
How long it takes
A residential lateral is usually lined in a single day: cleaning in the morning, liner in and cured by early afternoon, branches reinstated and the final video before the crew leaves. A burst takes a day or two because of the pits. A point repair takes a few hours. A commercial building is surveyed reach by reach and lined in phases so that no part of it loses its drains for more than a night. A municipal reach is scheduled around bypass pumping and traffic control and takes as long as the diameter and the length require. In every case the surface above the pipe is left alone.
What to insist on
- Recorded video of the whole line before any price, and a copy of it
- A second camera pass after cleaning, since a dirty pipe hides its condition
- A written scope naming the method for each section and the reasons for it
- A plain statement of what lining will not fix on your line, if anything
- The permits and the utility inspection handled by the installer, not left to you
- Branch connections reinstated by a camera-guided cutter, not left for you to discover
- A final video of the finished pipe, and a written warranty that names what it covers
Who does the work
Installers listed on this site have been through the CIPP Verified Installer prequalification: five or more years in business, a strong Google rating, and a check of licensing, completed work and lining equipment. Your state page says whether one is listed where you are. If none is, the national line locates a qualified trenchless contractor near you and makes the introduction at no charge, and that contractor is screened the same way.
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