Traditional Digging

Traditional sewer repair uses an “open cut” method to access the damaged sewer pipe. Your technician will dig a trench in your yard—usually with a backhoe or similar digging equipment—to expose the sewer line.

Sometimes it’s easy to tell where the digging is needed based on seepage in the yard above the broken sewer line, but most of the time the trench is cut using an estimate based on yard design, building records, and video sewer inspections to pinpoint the source of the damage. Once the damaged pipe is exposed, all necessary repairs are completed and the trench is filled back in.

Traditional open cut sewer repair is ideal in situations where the pipe is severely damaged, particularly in cases of heavy root incursion. The process of digging the trench will remove the invasive tree roots and give the new sewer pipe a protective buffer from future root growth.