Sectional Point Repair 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.

Sectional Point Repair in Austinburg

Fix the spot, not the line

A sectional point repair treats a short length of pipe, usually two to six feet, instead of the whole lateral. A short fiberglass or felt liner saturated with resin is positioned over the defect on an inflatable packer, pressed against the wall, and cured in place. The rest of the line is untouched. Where the defect cannot be lined, the alternative is a small excavation at that exact spot, made possible because the camera and locator have already marked it to within inches.

When it makes sense

One identifiable defect, or two or three close together, on a line whose remaining footage is sound: a joint crushed when a driveway was poured over it, a single root-intruded joint under a parkway tree, a break where the lateral crosses another utility trench, or the transition where under-slab cast iron meets the clay or ABS running to the street.

When it does not

If the camera shows the same defect at every joint, or channeling along the whole bottom of a cast iron line, fixing one spot moves the next backup a few feet down the pipe. A full liner costs more today and far less over the next few years.

A fair test

Ask to see footage of the pipe on both sides of the proposed repair. If it is clean for the full run, a point repair is honest and economical. If it is not, ask why a full liner was not proposed.

ZIP codes served in Austinburg

Sectional Point Repair is available throughout Austinburg, including ZIP codes 44010.

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Questions we hear in Austinburg