Pipe Bursting in North Kingsville

Homes along Route 20 and the pipe under them

North Kingsville developed as a residential village between Ashtabula and Conneaut, with most of its housing built from the late 1940s through the 1970s. The ranches and split-levels on the side streets off Route 20 and Route 193 belong to the era when a plumber might have used vitrified clay, Orangeburg fiber pipe or transite for the lateral, and which one is in the ground often depends on the year and the builder. Homes with basements usually have a cast iron stub through the foundation.

A smaller set of older farmhouses and village homes near the center predate the sewer system, and their laterals were added when the mains came through, sometimes with clay and sometimes with early plastic. Houses built after the mid-1970s, including the newer lots toward the lake and along the township edges, are nearly always PVC.

The ground, the frost and the roots

The soil here is glacial till with a heavy clay fraction, and the flat terrain between the lake and the ridge drains slowly. Trenches dug for laterals decades ago fill with water in the spring, and that saturated clay heaves when it freezes. North Kingsville is deep in the snowbelt, so the frost line reaches three feet or more in a hard winter. Orangeburg in wet ground softens and goes oval; clay pipe is lifted at one joint and not the next until the grade is lost.

Silver maples planted along the postwar streets, along with willows near the drainage ditches that run toward Conneaut Creek, are the usual root sources. Roots enter at a weeping joint or a crack and thicken until the pipe is choked. A camera run on a 1960s lot often shows roots at every joint for the length of the yard, with soil washing in where a joint has opened completely.

Which method suits a North Kingsville lateral

The inspection and a locate come first. For a line that is cracked, rooted and leaking but still round, cured-in-place pipe lining is the usual recommendation. The crew cuts roots, hydro jets the pipe clean, then inverts or pulls an epoxy-saturated felt liner through the run and cures it with hot water, steam or UV light. The finished product is a smooth, continuous pipe with no joints for roots to find and enough strength to stand on its own even if the old Orangeburg keeps deteriorating around it.

When the camera cannot get through, or the pipe has flattened or dropped, pipe bursting is the answer. A pit near the foundation and another near the main let a bursting head split the old pipe while fused HDPE is pulled into its place. For a single failed joint on an otherwise sound run, a sectional point repair with a short liner is a less expensive option.

Permits, inspection and the road

Depending on the street, sewer service in North Kingsville comes from the village system or from the Ashtabula County sanitary engineer, and the permit and inspection follow the system that owns the main. Work in the right-of-way along Route 20 or Route 193 may also require a permit from the Ohio Department of Transportation or the county engineer, since those are state and county roads. A good installer sorts out which office is involved before the job is scheduled. Homes still on septic go through the county health department.

What to expect and how to choose

On the day of the work, plan on water being off for several hours while the liner cures or the new pipe is pulled. Lining is generally a one-day job; bursting may run into a second day with some restoration at the pits. Before hiring, get the camera video, a written method and the product name of the liner or pipe. To compare installers, find a verified CIPP contractor and ask each candidate how many Orangeburg laterals it has lined or burst in the county, because that is the common failure in this village and experience with it matters.

Pipe Bursting in North Kingsville

How pipe bursting works

A steel cable is threaded through the old sewer line from a pit at one end to a pit at the other. A cone-shaped bursting head, with new high-density polyethylene pipe fused to it, is pulled through by a hydraulic unit. The head splits the old clay or cast iron outward into the soil and the new pipe follows in the same alignment at the same depth. The result is a single fused length of pipe with no joints for roots to find.

When bursting is the right call

• Collapsed sections — a liner needs a host pipe to hold its shape; a collapsed run has none.
• Bellies — a low spot that holds water stays a low spot after lining. Bursting lays new pipe on a fresh bed.
• Undersized lines — bursting can upsize a 3-inch lateral to 4 inches; lining slightly reduces diameter.
• Badly deformed pipe — Orangeburg that has flattened, or cast iron with most of its bottom gone.

What the job looks like

One pit at the house or cleanout, one at the property line or the street connection, each a few feet square. Utilities that cross within a foot or two of the sewer path are located and potholed first. The pull takes an hour or two; the whole job, including fusing, connections, inspection and backfill, is usually one day.

Permits and the street

If the downstream pit is in the sidewalk, parkway or street, a right-of-way permit and restoration to city standards are required in addition to the plumbing permit. If the connection at the main is replaced, the city inspects it before the pit closes. Confirm who is handling this before work starts.

ZIP codes served in North Kingsville

Pipe Bursting is available throughout North Kingsville, including ZIP codes 44068.

More trenchless services in North Kingsville

Questions we hear in North Kingsville