Hydro Jetting in Austinburg

Austinburg's housing and where the sewer reaches

Austinburg was settled in 1799, and its historic center along Route 307 and Route 45 still holds Greek Revival and Victorian homes from the 1800s. Scattered through the township are century farmhouses, and around the I-90 interchange and along Route 45 there are ranches, commercial buildings and newer houses from the 1960s onward. Public sewer reaches only part of the township, mainly the corridor near the interstate and some of the denser lots; the rest is on septic.

Where sewer does exist, the laterals under the older homes are often vitrified clay in jointed lengths, connected when the mains came through. Mid-century houses may have clay, Orangeburg or asbestos-cement pipe, and anything from the late 1970s on is generally PVC. Older homes with basements usually have cast iron through the foundation wall. Because sewer arrived relatively late in the township, some laterals are long, running a hundred feet or more across a deep lot to reach the main.

River valley clay, deep frost and roots

The township straddles the Grand River valley, and its soil is glacial till with a heavy clay fraction, with wetter ground along the river and the creeks that feed it. Clay holds water, and in the snowbelt the frost line runs three feet or more. Saturated clay heaves when it freezes and lifts jointed pipe unevenly, so a lateral that was laid to grade decades ago now has offset joints and bellies.

Silver maple, sycamore and willow grow along the river and the roadside ditches, and old sugar maples line the historic center. Their roots follow the moisture that leaks from every clay joint and fill the pipe over a few seasons. Long rural laterals have more joints and more opportunities for root intrusion than a short village run, and a camera inspection on an older Austinburg lot often shows roots at a dozen joints or more.

Which repair fits a township lateral

The camera inspection and a locate come first, and on a long lateral the locate matters because the installer needs to know the depth and path before choosing pits. If the clay is cracked, rooted and leaking but still round, cured-in-place pipe lining handles the whole run from a single access point. The crew cuts roots, hydro jets the pipe, then inverts or pulls an epoxy-saturated felt liner through and cures it with hot water, steam or UV light. Long runs are well suited to lining because the alternative is a long trench.

If the camera cannot pass a collapsed or crushed section, pipe bursting replaces the run with fused HDPE pulled between two pits. On a deep rural lateral the pit near the main may be substantial, and the crew should shore and dewater it properly. A sectional point repair, a short liner cured over one failed joint, makes sense when the rest of the pipe is sound.

Permits, the right-of-way and inspection

Sewered properties in Austinburg go through the Ashtabula County sanitary engineer for the permit and inspection. Pits in a county or township road right-of-way require a permit from the county engineer or the township trustees, and work along Route 45 or Route 307 involves the state transportation department. Septic properties deal with the Ashtabula County health department, and a failing septic lateral between the house and the tank follows the same trenchless logic as a sewer lateral.

On the day and how to choose an installer

Plan on several hours without water, a truck and reel near the house, and a crew working from the cleanout or a pit at the foundation. Lining on even a long lateral is usually a one-day job; bursting can stretch to two with restoration. Before hiring, ask for the camera video, a written method and the product name for the liner or pipe. To compare installers, find a verified CIPP contractor and favor crews that have lined long rural laterals in Ashtabula County clay, since the length and the groundwater here are the parts that trip up the inexperienced.

Hydro Jetting in Austinburg

What a jetter does that a cable cannot

A hydro jetter pushes water through a nozzle at several thousand PSI. Rear-facing jets pull the hose down the line and scour everything off the pipe wall: roots, grease, sludge, mineral scale, and the rust flakes inside old cast iron. A cable machine drills a hole through the blockage and leaves the rest on the wall, which is why cabled lines re-clog on a schedule.

Where it fits in a repair

Jetting is step one before lining, because a liner has to bond to clean pipe, and step one before an honest camera inspection, because a line full of roots or scale hides its own condition. It is also legitimate maintenance on its own for a structurally sound line that roots keep finding.

When a line should not be jetted

Cast iron that is paper-thin at the bottom can be opened up by an aggressive descaling pass. A collapsed clay section will not let the hose through. Orangeburg can delaminate under pressure. An experienced operator checks the line first, matches the nozzle to the material, and stops if the pipe is not holding up.

Maintenance versus repair

If the camera shows sound pipe, annual or semiannual jetting is a cheap way to stay ahead of roots. If it shows open joints, channeled cast iron or offsets, jetting is a stopgap and the money is better spent on lining, which removes the joints the roots are using.

ZIP codes served in Austinburg

Hydro Jetting is available throughout Austinburg, including ZIP codes 44010.

More trenchless services in Austinburg

Questions we hear in Austinburg