Can you re-line Orangeburg Pipe?

First let’s start with what Orangeburg pipe is. Back in the Second World War all the iron supply was directed toward the production of weaponry, which meant that a new material had to be developed for plumbing to replace the missing cast iron.

As a result a new material called “Orangeburg” consisting of wood fibers (like paper) mixed with tar and was manufactured in Orangeburg, PA. This material was the used to make sewer pipes, millions of miles of it. It is estimated that Washington DC has 200,000 miles of Orangeburg pipe under their floors. Everything seemed OK with Orangeburg for a while, but then some serious issues started to arise.

Any solvents like nail polish remover, paint thinners and rubbing alcohol that went down the drain would dissolve the tar, weakening the sewer pipe. Usually the bottom of the pipe would go first. On sewer pipe video inspections, the bottom of the Orangeburg sewer pipe appears to bulge upwards. These bulges create blocked drains as debris is captured in these areas.

The next common drain problem with Orangeburg pipe is root intrusion. Root intrusion with cast iron pipes and clay sewer pipes (VPC) usually occurs at broken, cracked or pipe joint areas. But with Orangeburg pipe, the tree roots grow straight through the pipe walls anywhere, creating blocked drains and backups. Video’s of pipes under Chicago show the characteristic oval egg-shaped cross section of these pipes created by the load on top of the pipe flattening it out over time.

Orangeburg pipe can be re-lined, but pipe bursting is more commonly used, where a new pipe is pulled through the old pipe cavity using a pointed conical “head” that breaks up the old pipe to make way for the new pipe pulled in place behind it for pipe replacement.

There is a wonderful pipe lining E-Book that can be downloaded for free from www.craftsmanpipelining.com, which is also a very helpful website about drain lining in general for residents in Illinois.

Repairing Clay Sewer Pipes in South Florida – Before It’s Too Late

As a property manager in South Florida, we have an obligation not to spend money from the reserves unless we have to. That however has to be weighed against the increased cost of taking action later, when that cost is not only measured in increased dollar terms but in “emotional” and “inconvenience” cost.

Recently a mobile home park in Boca Raton had a sewer pipe backup emergency, the day before Thanksgiving. The property manager had been paying drain cleaning plumbers to clean the sewer pipes on a regular basis. The clay sewer pipes under the units would backup due to root intrusion, or root growth into the pipe. The roots capture debris which stops all flow inside the broken sewer pipes.

The first hint of real pipe repair trouble was when a sewer manhole started to flood into the road. Then the calls started to arrive at the front office, people complaining that their toilets and drains were backed up and their floors are flooded. Everyone was expecting guests the next day for Thanksgiving.

The City of Boca Raton in South Florida was called out to inspect the sewage spill, the health department fined the property owner, and someone contacted the news stations, and soon the site was considered “condemned”, in a way.  Emergency plumbers showed up with a Vactruck to vacuum the waste and clean the pipeline. Emergency rates were charged by the plumbing contractors knowing that there was no time to get competitive bids.

Once the emergency crews left a sewer inspection video was carried out in South Florida.  It revealed that oak tree roots had cracked the clay sewer pipes to such an extent that the clay pipe roof had collapsed, causing the complete failure of the sewer pipes service the entire mobile home park. In addition, the collapse was located underneath the clubhouse, which would have to be excavated and rebuilt in order to do the drain pipe repair. Their total pipe replacement cost was going to be $78,000, so the residents of this Boca Raton mobile home park expected a huge assessment to cover the costs of this pipe repair.

There was however a more modern way to repair sewer pipes, pipe re-lining. An inflatable tube in placed in the area where the missing or broken sewer pipe is. That tube has been wrapped in a fiberglass fabric that has been saturated with resin that hardens in 3 hours. When the tube is inflated, the cloth takes on the shape of the pipe, adhering to the pipe to become the new pipe. This is called a point repair or sectional repair. The total pipe repair cost was $5,500 and was performed by www.CrafsmanPipeLining.com. Their website also offers a very informative pipe lining E-book for free, delivered directly to your email.

Pipe ReLining in South Florida

How many of us really think of our drain pipes or sewer lines?  Have you heard of the saying ‘out of sight, out of mind’ for most of us, sewer lines are things we think about only when something goes wrong.  Really if the tell-tale signs of trouble or not there or if you ignore them “out of sight and out of mind”, could also mean “out of tens of thousands of dollars”.  One of the worst possible situations imaginable is a backed up sewer line.  Backed up sewer lines usually happen with age, breakage, fissures or cracks in the pipeline and can cause lots of damage in South Florida Homes, so you need Pipe ReLining in South Florida.

The costliest solutions include getting the entire line replaced which may mean breaking up floors, digging up your yard and perhaps even your parts of your sidewalk or street.  The worst part about this could be that you may not have access to parts of your home, or may have to stay away entirely for days or even weeks.  The problem may not end there because without the proper equipment, or experienced professionals there may be more damage done to your home structurally then initially imagined.  Think of it, jarring jackhammers digging through your foundation, the jolts of vibrations, the cracks, the loosened dirt, the mess, the inconvenience, the smell, the hotel stays and –oh did we mention that it tends to be a costly proposition not just for your wallet but also for your nerves.

Since you want to avoid those pitfalls with your sewer lines we’re glad to report that there is an innovative new technology out there that most sewer repairers are just waking up to.  We recommend that you know before you go and look before you leap.  There are pipe re-liner professionals in South Florida out there who could save you even more than just money.

Look at it this way.  Let’s say you have good tires and one of them leaks from a small puncture, you’ll likely notice it after a few hundred miles or so.  If the tiny problem stays untreated then you’ll have several options for repair:

1. Plug it,
2. patch it,
3. get an inner tube that lines the inside of the tire
4. get a new tire

Why would you want to replace your leaky tire if you can repair it?  With our research we have found that using the tire repair scenario above, the 3^rd option is the one closest to what pipe re-liners do in a less destructive or less intrusive manner.  If your sewer lines are still viable, then why would you want to rip up your tiles and dig up your yard, street and sidewalk if in most cases it may be totally unnecessary?  Pipe liners work to identify the damaged area using a video camera, then they can opt to repair the damage portion pipe or the entire pipe.  To repair the entire pipe or various portions the pipe re-lining experts insert an inflatable rubber tube which is surrounded by a resin coated fiberglass sleeve which when inflated sticks to the walls of the existing pipe and completely hardens in about 3 hours.  The job is done in roughly a day instead of a week, therefore savings can be tremendous.

When does trouble usually occur?  Of course when you least expect it tends to happen at the least opportune time, usually when you’re entertaining guests.  Here is what you can do and it’s absolutely free, check out www.craftsmanpipelining.com to learn about the money saving options concerning pipe maintenance, re-lining and to get an e-book “Insiders Secrets” Pipe Relining absolutely free.

Entertainment Parks

Disney’s Hollywood Studios found corroded cast iron sewer pipes were causing repeated blockages under the “Backlot” restaurant with sales of $100,000 per day!

Plumbers recommended cutting out 140’ of 8” thick reinforced concrete to replace the pipe, then recompacting and repouring the slab. Estimated duration: 1 week Cost: $45,000

We re-lined the pipes AT NIGHT over a three day period. No restaurant downtime. 3 days Total Cost: $17,233