Trenchless Sewer Repair in Ardmore PA | No-Dig Pipe Lining
Trenchless Sewer Repair in Ardmore, PA | CIPP Lining & Pipe Bursting
Advanced Drains and Underground Solutions serves Ardmore and the surrounding Lower Merion Township corridor with trenchless sewer repair. Most Ardmore properties — from the pre-war stone twins off Lancaster Avenue to the mid-century colonials toward Haverford — were built with clay tile sewer laterals that are now 70 to 100 years old. When those laterals crack, root-infiltrate, or fail at the joints, trenchless repair reinforces or replaces them from the inside without excavating the lawn, driveway, or front walk.
Why Older Ardmore Properties Have Sewer Problems
The terra cotta and vitrified clay tile used in residential sewer laterals through the 1950s was built to last decades, not a century. The material holds up, but the joints do not. Bell-and-spigot clay joints were mortared or packed with oakum — materials that dry, shrink, and gap over time. A joint gap that starts small becomes a root entry point within a few growing seasons. Roots that enter the pipe do not stay small; they expand with the moisture and eventually pack the bore.
Some Ardmore properties, particularly those built or replumbed in the 1940s and 1950s, have Orangeburg pipe sections in their lateral run. Orangeburg was a bituminized fiber material used during and after World War II as a substitute for cast iron. Most Orangeburg now well exceeds its intended service life and deforms under soil load into a restricted oval cross-section. A camera inspection confirms whether Orangeburg is present and what condition it is in before we recommend a repair method.
Lower Merion Township Sewer Inspection and Property Transfers
Lower Merion Township requires a sewer lateral inspection as part of the Use and Occupancy permit process for property transfers. If you are selling a home in Ardmore, the camera scope must be completed and the findings submitted before the municipality issues a U&O certificate. We perform the inspection, provide time-stamped footage, and prepare the written report the township requires. If the camera reveals a defect, a trenchless repair typically resolves the issue faster than excavation — which matters when a closing date is set.
CIPP Lining vs. Pipe Bursting: Choosing the Right Method
Cure-in-place pipe lining installs a resin-saturated liner inside the existing pipe. The liner cures against the pipe wall and forms a new interior surface. This is the right method when the pipe is cracked, joint-infiltrated, or has corroded but remains structurally intact enough to support the liner. The original pipe diameter decreases slightly, but flow capacity typically improves because the smooth liner surface is more hydraulically efficient than old clay or cast iron.
Pipe bursting is used when the existing pipe cannot support a liner — a collapsed section, an Orangeburg run that has deformed below lining diameter, or a pipe with structural failures at multiple points. Bursting pulls a new HDPE line through the old path, fracturing the old pipe outward into the soil. The new line is continuous, jointless, and will not allow root intrusion.
We camera the lateral before recommending either method. In most Ardmore homes, clay laterals with root infiltration at the joints are candidates for lining. Orangeburg sections and laterals with multiple failures are candidates for bursting. Some runs need both, addressed in sequence at the same site visit.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How long does trenchless sewer repair take in Ardmore?
- CIPP lining on a typical residential lateral runs a full day — camera inspection, cleaning, liner installation, and curing. Pipe bursting on the same run takes a similar timeline. In most cases the sewer is operational again the same day we start. An excavated replacement typically requires multiple days of open trench depending on depth and soil conditions.
- Can a clay tile lateral be lined if it has root damage?
- Yes, if the root damage has not caused structural collapse. We hydro jet the lateral before lining to remove root mass and clean the pipe wall, then run a camera to confirm the liner can seat properly. A root-infiltrated clay joint that is still round and intact is a straightforward lining candidate. A joint that has collapsed or shifted significantly may need spot repair or pipe bursting in that section before lining proceeds.
- What if my sewer lateral crosses a neighboring property?
- Some Ardmore twins and rowhomes share a lateral or have one that crosses an adjacent lot before reaching the street main. A camera inspection locates the lateral route and identifies shared sections. If the problem is in a shared section, we advise on the appropriate approach before any work is proposed. This comes up more often in pre-war twins and attached rowhomes than in detached single-family homes.
For trenchless sewer repair in Ardmore, Haverford, Wynnewood, Merion, and throughout Lower Merion Township, call 1-855-DONT-DIG.