If you have a soggy place in your yard or a wet area in your basement, you might have a plumbing leak. The problem might be in a supply line or a drain. You can watch your water meter to see if the supply line is leaking, and if it isn't, then it's time to call a drain line repair service to find the source of the leak and recommend the right repairs. Here's a look at three drain line repair options.
1. Add An External Patch Pipe
The drain line repair service might need to do a video camera inspection of the drain to determine the cause of the leak and to pinpoint the location of the leak. If an area of the pipe is collapsed, as might happen if you're digging in the ground and crush a clay pipe with a shovel, spot repairs might be possible.
This involves digging up the area around the collapsed pipe so the plumber can remove the damaged pieces and cut off the jagged edges of the pipe. Then, a piece of plastic pipe can be patched in line with the clay pipe and secured in place so water flows through without leaking. Once the pipe is buried and grass grows over the soil above the pipe, the repairs are invisible.
2. Put A Patch Inside The Pipe
If the leaky pipe is under your basement slab, digging it up isn't as easy as digging up a pipe under the soil. In this case, the repair service might want to use an internal patch. This is a flexible patch fabric that's pushed to the area of damage with a rod.
Standard patches have adhesive on the outside and a balloon on the inside. The balloon is inflated, and the patch expands to form a pipe that bonds to the leaky area to seal off the damage while creating a new pipe to cover the leak.
3. Put In A Pipe Liner
It's often possible to repair a drain line, but it depends on the material the pipe is made of and the age of the pipe. An old cast iron pipe might be rusty and corroded, and in that case, spot repairs might not be the best solution.
The repair service may want to put a pipe liner in the pipe instead. This is similar to an internal patch except the crew doesn't just focus on the leaky area. Instead, the liner is put inside to cover the entire length of the pipe. The liner forms a new plastic pipe inside the old rusty iron pipe, so it's like getting a new pipe without having to dig up the old one. Contact a drain line repair service for more information.
