Trenchless Sewer Repair Delaware County | No Dig | Free Quote

Trenchless Sewer Repair in Delaware County, PA

Delaware County covers roughly 185 square miles between Philadelphia and Chester County, and the majority of its residential housing was built between 1890 and 1965. That construction era produced an enormous inventory of clay tile sewer laterals — the standard pipe material for those decades — along with a smaller share of Orangeburg pipe from the 1940s and early 1950s. Both materials have a finite lifespan. After sixty to eighty years of service, clay tile joints loosen, sections crack, and tree roots find every gap. Orangeburg deforms and eventually collapses. Replacing this pipe used to mean a trench across the yard, the driveway, and often the sidewalk. Trenchless methods repair or replace the pipe through small access points while leaving the surface above it intact.

Advanced Drains and Underground Solutions performs trenchless sewer repair — CIPP pipe lining and pipe bursting — throughout Delaware County. Every job starts with a camera inspection. Every finished job ends with one too.

CIPP pipe lining

Cured-in-place pipe lining installs a new pipe inside the old one. A felt liner tube saturated with two-part epoxy resin is inverted through the pipe using air or water pressure. The liner conforms to the interior of the host pipe and is inflated against it while the resin cures. After curing, the bladder is removed, the liner is trimmed at both ends, and the result is a seamless, jointless pipe within the old pipe. The new interior is harder and smoother than the original clay, which resists root re-entry and flow buildup. CIPP is appropriate for cracked, root-infiltrated, or joint-leaking pipe that is still structurally intact enough to hold a liner. It is the most common trenchless repair option in Delaware County because the county’s clay laterals degrade in the way CIPP addresses most directly.

Pipe bursting

When the lateral is too far deteriorated to support a liner — fully collapsed, severely offset, or made of Orangeburg that has lost its round cross-section — pipe bursting replaces rather than rehabilitates it. A bursting head is pulled through the old pipe, fracturing the host pipe outward into the surrounding soil while simultaneously pulling new HDPE pipe behind it. The new pipe follows the exact path of the old one at full diameter. Access is through two small pits — typically one near the house and one at the property line or curb. The surface between those points is undisturbed.

When each method applies

The camera inspection tells us which method is right. CIPP works when the pipe has enough structural integrity to hold a liner — cracked, root-infiltrated, or leaking joints, but not collapsed. Pipe bursting works for pipes that are too deteriorated to line, or when upsizing the pipe diameter is a goal. In some cases a combination is used: burst one section and line another. We present the camera footage, explain what we found, and recommend the method that actually fits the condition of the pipe — not the one that costs more.

DELCORA and municipal sewer responsibility

Delaware County’s wastewater is processed through DELCORA — the Delaware County Regional Water Quality Control Authority. Each municipality within the county manages its own sewer main and governs how homeowner laterals connect to it. The homeowner is generally responsible for the lateral from the house to the municipal main connection. Some Delco municipalities require a permit before lateral work that touches the connection point at the main; others do not require one for lining-only work that stays within the homeowner’s pipe. We determine permit requirements for each job by address and pull the required permits before work begins.

Frequently asked questions

How does trenchless sewer repair compare in cost to traditional excavation?
Trenchless methods typically cost more for the pipe repair itself than a simple excavation and replacement would. The difference is in what you do not pay for afterward: restoration of concrete, asphalt, landscaping, and hardscape above the pipe. When a lateral runs under a driveway, a front walk, or a finished patio — common in older Delaware County properties — the restoration can equal or exceed the excavation cost. Trenchless is most cost-effective when the surface above the lateral is improved or when the disruption to the property would be significant.

How long does a trenchless sewer repair take?
A typical residential lateral CIPP lining job — camera inspection, liner install, cure, final camera — runs one day for a standard forty-to-sixty-foot run. Pipe bursting typically takes one day as well, including the access pit excavation, pull, and backfill. More complex jobs, longer runs, or jobs requiring permits or utility locates may span two days. We provide a timeline at the estimate stage.

Will tree roots come back after lining?
The liner itself seals the entry points roots used to access the old pipe. A properly installed, fully cured liner gives roots nothing to penetrate — no joints, no cracks, no gaps. Trees above or adjacent to the pipe will continue to grow, but the root intrusion cycle in the sewer line stops. If roots were the sole cause of the backups and the liner is seated correctly, those backups do not recur. The camera at the end of the job confirms the liner is fully seated before we close out.

Call 1-855-DONT-DIG or use the contact form to schedule a sewer camera inspection and trenchless sewer repair estimate in Delaware County, PA.