If you need to install a replacement water supply line, sewer line, or any other type of underground pipeline due to an underground pipe leak, you should ask your plumbing contractor if pipe bursting is a good alternative for you.
The traditional method of replacing a buried water service line or a sewer line involves digging a trench from where the line hooks up to the public utility lines to the spot where it enters the home. A new pipe is laid and the ends are hooked up with the old line often left in the ground.
This method works well enough, but there are some serious disadvantages. The digging usually leaves a long scar through your yard that may take years to fill in completely with grass and blend in with the rest of the yard. Even if you put sod over the trenched area, the new grass rarely blends perfectly with the established lawn.
In addition, your water or sewer line may run under sidewalks, driveways, and landscape features such as ponds, retaining walls, and other hardscapes. To avoid damaging these features and leaving a scar in the yard, consider trenchless pipe replacement.
Pipe bursting works by pulling a bursting head through the old pipe. This head breaks up the pipe and presses the pieces into the surrounding soil. New pipe is attached to the bursting head and pulled through the burst area. The new pipe ends up in the space left behind by the old pipe.
With pipe bursting, some digging is necessary at each end of the pipe to hook it up to your home and the public water or sewer line, but no digging is usually necessary in your yard and your driveways, sidewalks, and landscaping will be left undisturbed.
