Sewer line replacement
Sewer line replacement in Houston
When the camera shows the same failure at every joint, one more spot repair is money down the line. We replace the lateral end to end in new PVC, pull the permit, get it inspected, and put the yard back the way we found it.
When replacement is the right call
Three things on the camera footage move a job from repair to replacement:
- Cast iron with channel rot along most of its length. Once the bottom of the pipe is gone in three places, it is gone everywhere. Cast iron sewer pipe replacement Houston 1950s–70s homes need is the biggest single category of work we do, and patching it section by section costs more within two years.
- Multiple offset joints. Gumbo clay racks a 1970s–80s PVC or ABS lateral at every coupling over 40 years. If the camera shows offsets at four joints, the fifth is coming.
- Orangeburg. The tar-paper pipe used on some 1945–1965 builds when cast iron was short. It ovals, blisters and collapses. There is no repairing it; orangeburg pipe replacement Houston homeowners get quoted is always the full run, and it should be.
Bellies longer than about 10 feet, a line that was laid with no fall at all, or a lateral crushed by a slab addition or a pool deck are the other candidates. We will show you the footage and explain which one you have.
Open trench, step by step
- Camera and locate. We map the run from the house to the property line, note depth every ten feet, and mark it. On most Houston lots the lateral is 2–5 feet down — shallower than northern cities, which is one reason our replacement prices are lower.
- Permit and utility locates. A City of Houston (or suburb) plumbing permit, pulled under our Responsible Master Plumber license, and a Texas811 ticket so CenterPoint, the water line and the cable are marked before the excavator arrives.
- Excavate. A trench 18–24 inches wide along the marked line. We stockpile the topsoil separately so it goes back on top.
- Set the new pipe. Schedule 40 PVC, solvent-welded joints, bedded on bank sand at a quarter inch per foot of fall — the slope that lets solids keep up with the water. A two-way cleanout goes in at the house if there is not one.
- Inspection. The city inspector sees the pipe in the open trench. Nothing gets covered until it passes.
- Backfill and compact in lifts, sand around the pipe and the native clay above, so the yard does not sink over the trench next spring.
- Restore. Sod or seed over the trench line, concrete poured back where a walk was cut, and a final camera pass with a recording for your file.
A 40–60-foot lateral is usually two days. A long run on a Memorial or Spring Branch lot, or one under a driveway, is three to four.
Replacement under the driveway, the pool deck or the oak
If the lateral runs under something you do not want to lose, the trench is the expensive part, not the pipe. That is where pipe bursting or cured-in-place lining earns its price. The trenchless page explains both, and trenchless vs. open trench helps you choose. On a plain grass yard, open trench is cheaper and just as permanent.
What sewer line replacement costs in Houston
| Situation | Typical price |
|---|---|
| 30–50 ft lateral, grass yard, 2–4 ft deep | $4,000 – $8,000 |
| 50–80 ft lateral, or 4–6 ft deep | $7,000 – $12,000 |
| Lateral under a driveway, walk or patio (open cut and re-pour) | $9,000 – $15,000 |
| Connection at the main in the street (city-side work, if needed) | quoted; often the city's job |
Sewer line replacement cost Houston-wide depends on length, depth, and what is on top. There is no per-foot number that means anything until the camera has been down the line; the pricing page shows what moves each row. Typical ranges, not a quote.
Where the city's responsibility starts
On a City of Houston connection, the homeowner owns the lateral to the property line, and Houston Public Works maintains the main and the tap in the right-of-way. If the camera shows the failure past the property line, we stop and tell you to call 311 — that repair is the city's, and you should not be paying for it. Suburban MUD districts in Katy, Cypress, Pearland and Fort Bend work much the same way, but ask the district before assuming. Who owns the sewer lateral in Houston walks through it.
After the work
The yard will sit slightly high over the trench for a few weeks while the backfill settles, then level out. We come back and top-dress if it sinks. The new PVC carries a manufacturer's material warranty measured in decades and our workmanship for the first year; realistically, a properly bedded PVC lateral outlasts the house. Open trench, step by step covers the whole process in more detail, including what to watch in the first year.
Other sewer services
Sewer Line Repair
One broken, separated or bellied section replaced in PVC after the camera finds it — dig or tunnel to that point only, $1,500–$4,000 typical.
Sewer Line Repair →Trenchless Sewer Repair
Cured-in-place lining or pipe bursting through one or two access pits — the fix when the line runs under a driveway, a pool deck or a live oak.
Trenchless Sewer Repair →Sewer Camera Inspection
A recorded look inside the line with the break located and marked on the surface — the $250–$500 visit that decides whether you need a $500 job or a $12,000 one.
Sewer Camera Inspection →Under-Slab Sewer Repair
Tunneling under the foundation to replace failed cast iron, or re-routing the drains overhead — the Houston job with the widest quote spread, explained.
Under-Slab Sewer Repair →Questions we get asked
How long does a sewer line replacement take?
Two days for a typical 40–60-foot yard lateral: dig and set pipe the first day, inspection and backfill the second. Runs under concrete, or long runs on big lots in Memorial or Spring Branch, take three to four. We get the house draining at the end of each day.
Will you have to dig up my whole yard?
A trench 18–24 inches wide along the pipe's route, and nothing else. We stockpile the topsoil separately, backfill in compacted lifts and re-sod the trench line. Where the route crosses a driveway or a sprinkler line we say so on the estimate; where it crosses something you cannot afford to lose, trenchless is the alternative.
Is it cheaper to replace the sewer line and the water line together?
Usually, if the water line has problems too, because they often run in the same corridor and one trench serves both. On a 1960s home in Sharpstown with a galvanized water service, doing both at once typically saves $1,500–$3,000 over two separate jobs. We will tell you if the water line looks fine and leave it alone.
Does the new line come with a warranty?
Schedule 40 PVC carries the manufacturer's material warranty, and our workmanship — joints, bedding, fall, restoration — is covered for one year. A PVC lateral bedded properly on sand does not have a realistic failure date; the joints on the 1970s lines we replace failed because they were laid in bare clay with no bedding.
Need sewer line work in Houston?
Call for a free estimate. Mon–Sat 7am–7pm.