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Understanding Pipe Lining and Pipe Bursting

Plumbing Repair

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Underground drain pipes tend to deteriorate over time, especially in older homes. Pipe lining and pipe bursting are both trenchless technologies for replacing drain pipes. With pipe lining, we insert a liner into the existing pipe. We’re able to reline the pipe so that it looks brand new by the time we’re done. Even if the pipe has broken or the bottom has rotted out, putting in a liner will restore it completely back to new condition. We can usually do this without having to tear up the floor, which would be really messy for homes with hardwood or tile. Unlike pipe lining, pipe bursting doesn’t actually use the existing pipe. Instead, we use the channel to pull a new pipe into its place.

Generally speaking, pipe lining is used inside the home. It might be a slab home that doesn’t have a basement or crawlspace, or a home with a basement that has a concrete slab with pipes underneath. We usually use pipe lining with cast iron pipes, but it works with PVC or other materials, too. Pipe bursting, on the other hand, is mainly used outside the home. It might be from the home to the city connection or from the home to a septic tank. Pipe bursting can be an awesome option to spare the nice landscape, sidewalk or driveway and prevent tearing up the whole yard. It’s also generally less labor-intensive, more economical, and less time-consuming than pipe lining.

If someone is trying to decide between pipe lining, pipe bursting, or traditional replacement, I think it all depends on the specific situation. Each option has different pros and cons. For a homeowner who doesn’t want to tear up the yard or house, pipe lining or pipe bursting are two great options. Lining is a phenomenal option for finished spaces. Sewer lines can sometimes be as deep as 10 to 11 feet in our area. It takes a lot of space to displace that much dirt and it’s very challenging to get the job done safely in a small yard without significant scarring. Pipe bursting might be a good option in that case.

Regardless of your choice, it’s a good idea to contact an experienced company. Lining is a very technical process, and sometimes mistakes will happen. It involves careful timing and the epoxy needs to be mixed with precise ratios. (The ambient temperature determines how quickly the epoxy sets up.)

If you have any questions about pipe lining or pipe bursting for your home, reach out to the team at Wisler Plumbing & Air today. Contact us online or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

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Water lines can be accessed a few different ways, depending on the type of home. In homes with a basement, the water lines generally run along the basement ceiling. In homes with a crawlspace, the water lines are usually accessible from there. In a slab house (meaning the house is built on a concrete slab), the water lines usually run underneath the slab, making them much harder to access. Because the concrete slab has acid in it, copper water lines can corrode and develop holes over time.

You’ll probably find out that there’s a hole in the water line if you get an excessively high water bill. In very rare situations you might see water come up from the floor our outside the home. But generally, you’ll notice a loss of water pressure. If a hot water line running under the slab develops a leak, you might run out of hot water very quickly even though nothing is wrong with the water heater.

Dealing with leaky water lines in a slab home can be very difficult and invasive. We do have equipment that’s kind of a digital stethoscope, which allows us to listen to the vibrations of a water leak. However, it’s still very hard to find the location of the leak. Unfortunately, it’s going to be most economical to just repipe the home with a different pipe. You definitely don’t want to have a leaky water line in a slab home, but you can’t just let it go, either. Excessive amounts of water running into a home’s foundation can cause significant damage over time because it’s just not meant to have that kind of water.

The water authority usually sends letters warning about excessive usage. That could be indicative of a water line leaking under the home, but it could also mean that the water line is leaking outside the home. A professional inspection will uncover the source of the leak very quickly. One of the ways you can determine whether the leak is inside or outside is by cutting the water valve going to the house. Then go check the water meter, which is usually located by the street, to see whether or not it’s still turning. If it is, that means the leak is probably underground between the meter and the house. If it’s not, the leak is probably in the house somewhere.

If you suspect that you have a slab leak, give us a call and we can come check it out. Contact us online or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

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A plumbing emergency is a situation in someone’s home that creates an unsafe environment. It could be something like a water leak coming through the ceiling that causes flooding and leads to the risk of a ceiling cave-in. A sewage backup in someone’s home is an emergency because the water is extremely unsanitary. The smell of gas around the water heater or HVAC unit is definitely an emergency because it could pose an immediate risk. Extended HVAC breakdowns during times of hot weather can be unsafe as well.

If you experience a water leak pouring through the ceiling, it could either be a leaky drain line or  a leaky water line. The leak will not be constant if the drain line is leaking. (When you stop using the toilet, using the sink, taking a shower, or using any other plumbing fixtures, the leak will go away.) If the leak is constant, it’s generally the water line.

It’s really important that you know where the main water valve is located and how it’s operated. The first thing you’ll want to do in case of a leak is cut off the water going to your home. If you don’t know where your main water line is, locate it now, while you don’t have an emergency. (It isn’t a good idea to stack large storage boxes that obstruct the main valve because it won’t be possible to quickly shut off the water in an emergency.) Emergency stops are located under each sink and toilet. Turning off those valves will allow you to isolate a single problematic fixture instead of having to cut off the water to the whole home.

If you smell gas, the best thing to do is call the gas company so they can cut off the gas to your home. Otherwise, if you’re a little handy, you might be able to shut off the valve yourself. (It’s located at the gas meter.) If you’re experiencing a sewage backup, the best thing to do is stop using any water in the home. Do not flush any toilets, run any sinks, or take a shower until the situation is resolved.

Everyone should call a professional, whether it’s heating & air or plumbing, to assess the situation. If you encounter water damage in your home, you’ll want to call a reputable remediation company. The sooner you can stop the water and get the area dry, the less damage you will have. A warm, moist environment can potentially start growing mold within 48 hours. That’s why it’s really important to get a professional remediation company in there as soon as possible.

The next thing that we sometimes don’t do is learn from our mistakes. After an emergency situation, it’s always good to ask yourself or a professional what could have been done to minimize the damage and/or prevent the issue from occurring again in the future. Most people won’t have to deal with frequent emergencies. However, if you have a leak in one area of the house, it could very well happen in another area. Addressing the situation proactively and without procrastination could prevent another emergency situation later.

Take a step back and ask yourself what you can learn, and maybe what you can do differently. Plumbing emergencies tend to happen during the most inconvenient time. It’s a nightmare to go through these things, especially if you end up with excessive water damage. You definitely don’t want to experience an emergency while guests are visiting for the holidays and the system is most heavily used. Just pay attention, be proactive, and learn from emergencies.

Sometimes staying safe can be as simple as hiring a professional for plumbing, electrical, and HVAC. If you have any questions, contact us online or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

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You need to be very careful if you have a small leak—do not let it go because it will cause extensive damage to your home unless it’s fixed. For instance, a toilet with a little leak around the base might not seem like a big deal because it only leaks whenever you flush it. But think of it this way: if you flush the toilet three or four times a day, multiplied by a week or a month it comes out to hundreds of flushes. A tiny bit of water each flush becomes enough to do serious damage, especially on a wood floor. Eventually it will begin to rot and become soft, and the challenge of replacing a floor is much more complicated than just fixing the slow toilet leak.

Structural decay happens because water and wood don’t get along together. So if you notice a small stain on the ceiling, get it taken care of right away. Stains are a telltale sign that there’s a leak somewhere that needs to be addressed. Don’t gauge the seriousness of the problem by the size of the stain, either, because a little spot could be an indicator of a very large problem. Even worse, the combination of water and warm temperatures from something like a hot water leak can lead to mold issues.

Sometimes you might be able to check the attic for the source of the problem. If there’s a tub right over the stain and there’s an access panel, you could pop it off and take a look. For a sink located right over the stain, maybe open the cabinet doors and check for water. If you have a stained drop ceiling, you might want to pop off the drop ceiling to try and spot the cause. It’s probably time to get a professional involved if you look around and still aren’t able to find the leak that caused the stain.

A home’s crawlspace might remain sight unseen so that you never even find out about a little pinhole leak. It can lead to an excessive amount of water loss and high water bills (utility overpayment). You’d definitely save money by fixing the problem, but first you have to pay attention to crawlspaces or any other areas where you don’t look very often. There are many different components in a home can lead to stains, including HVAC, plumbing system, or roof. If you can narrow down the culprit, it will help you determine which professional to call.

If you suspect that there’s a leak in your home, reach out to the team at Wisler Plumbing & Air today. Contact us online or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

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We spend a lot of time visiting homes in the spring to replace outdoor hose faucets, especially if they are the frost-free kind. What often happens is people forget to take their hoses off of the hose faucet during the winter. Of course, we’ve had a pretty mild winter these past couple of years, so it hasn’t been as much of an issue. But the below-freezing temperatures we did experience have caused hose faucets to burst if they had hoses attached. I would definitely recommend paying attention the first time you use your hose faucet in the spring to make sure there’s no water running out of the wall around the faucet itself.

One of the other things we usually see around spring greenup (mid-April through mid-May) is the roots of a tree going into overdrive. This is when trees are looking for nutrients and sucking up water so they’ll have the energy needed to put on lots of green leaves. Roots just love sewer lines, so this is when we see an increase in sewer line stoppages and main line stoppages due to root growth.

I always recommend paying attention to the air conditioner before the weather gets hot, which is basically any time between now and June. If you know your AC has had problems keeping up in previous years, it’s a great idea to be proactive and address the issue now. HVAC contractors get extremely busy once summer rolls around, and you probably don’t want to deal with having no AC once it’s already hot.

These little things around your home can break down depending on the intensity of weather. If you’re a Diamond Club member, we’ll talk about any areas of concern during an inspection just to make sure you’re tuned into your plumbing system and heating & air system. If you have any questions or want to schedule an overall inspection of your system, you can always reach out to the team at Wisler Plumbing & Air. Contact us online or call 540-483-9382.

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One of the things I always like to mention when talking about utility bills is the word ‘overpayment’. We don’t think about our utility bills most of the time, and when we do, we accept that the utility bill is just what it is. But you may be overpaying much more than what’s necessary for your home. I don’t think any of us likes to overpay, so let’s look at how little issues with our plumbing fixtures could really be costing us each month.

If you pay for water, a dripping faucet—even if it’s just a drop every second—can add up to over 2,000 gallons a year. To get a better idea, there’s actually a pretty cool downloadable app that tells you how much water is being used by tapping your screen with the same timing as the drip. A lot of people don’t know about this, but if a dripping tub or sink faucet is using hot water, your water heater has to fill up and heat however much water is used. One drop per second is about 5 gallons per day. Imagine filling the water heater with 5 gallons of cold water that then has to be heated, even though you’re not actually using it. You’re not just using extra water at this point—you’re having to overpay on your electric or gas bill, too.

When we say a toilet is running, we don’t mean in the literal sense. It just means that the water is continuing to fill up or going into the overflow. A running toilet can use over 10,000 gallons per year, which gets very expensive if you’re paying for your water. Even if you don’t pay for water, a constantly running toilet or dripping faucet can damage the septic system. Septic systems are not made to receive a continuous amount of water. Instead, they’re only made to accept a few gallons at a time from a flushed toilet or from water going down the drain. Constant water will be enough to flood and leech out, or simply saturate the septic system and never give it a chance to dry.

Scale buildup on the water heater (e.g., an electric element with calcium buildup) is another area that causes homeowners to overpay their utility bills. On average, it leads to paying 30% more than what the bill should actually be. If you have one or two of these little plumbing issues going on in your home, you’re going to be overpaying way more on your bill every month. That’s real money you could be saving in your pocket.

We live in an area where energy is priced pretty reasonably, at least when compared to the rest of the country. Conservation might not be as much of a hot topic for us, but it’s definitely something which we should all be aware. I’d recommend people get their plumbing inspected no sooner than once a year, but no less frequently than every 3 years. Every 2 to 3 years is usually a good enough schedule. HVAC systems need to get checked twice a year, though, because they go from hot to cold depending on the season.

Diamond Club members can call to schedule an appointment for these inspections at no charge. Otherwise it will range from $150 to $200 depending on the situation. Our Diamond Club schedule is pretty full right now, so it’s definitely a good idea to call as soon as possible to set up an appointment. Reach out to the team at Wisler Plumbing by contacting us online or calling 540-483-9382.

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