Gastonia, NCSewer LineRepair

Fifty to seventy-five years in red clay: why lines fail here

Cast iron drain pipe wears from the inside. Wastewater runs along the bottom, so the bottom thins first, then cracks, then drops out. In the yard, clay pipe was laid in short lengths, and each joint is a seam that can shift and open. Roots do not break sound pipe. They find a joint that already leaks and grow into it, and trees have had a long time to find the joints under these lots.

The oldest pipe is in the mill-era blocks. The frame houses around Loray Mill went up for the most part from the early 1900s to the 1920s, and York-Chester has houses from about 1856 to 1955. Plumbing that old has usually been repaired in pieces, so one line can change material several times between the house and the street. Each change is a joint, and joints are where sewer lines fail.

• Cast iron with the bottom worn through
• Clay joints that have shifted apart
• Roots growing through a joint
• A sag where water sits

Find it on camera, mark it, replace that section

We begin with a sewer camera inspection, going in wherever access is best: an outside cleanout, a pulled toilet or a vent on the roof. If roots or sludge block the view, hydro jetting or a cable clears the way, provided the pipe is sound enough to take it. When the camera reaches the damage, we locate it from above and mark the ground.

You see the footage and hear the price. For a break in the yard, utility locates are called in first. Then we dig at the mark, remove the failed pipe and install new pipe with proper slope and bedding. For a cast iron line under the house, we cut out the bad sections and fittings and hang the new pipe with correct support. Permits are handled when the work needs one. Two Rivers Utilities runs the public sewer. Where its part of your connection starts is a question for the utility, and our mark on the ground shows you which spot to ask about.

From the Loray mill blocks to the 1960s subdivisions

We expect repair calls from York-Chester and the Loray Mill village first, then from the many streets built between 1950 and 1979. Other neighborhoods we cover include Highland, Brookwood, Gardner Park, Fairmont Park and Forest Brook. Around one home in four dates from 2000 or later. Their PVC lines seldom need repair, and when they do it is usually one settled section.

Half the homes in Gastonia predate 1980, so real-estate agents should expect the sewer line to come up in any sale of an older house. A camera inspection paired with a plumbing inspection before listing puts the facts on the table early. Landlords with older rental houses can stop paying for the same cleaning every few months by repairing the section that causes it. Businesses with a failing line can read about our commercial plumbing work.

Scheduling, pricing and warranty for a Gastonia sewer repair

Phone whenever it happens. We work 24/7, and if the line is backing up into the house we can restore flow as an emergency plumber visit, with same-day service available. Inspections and planned repairs normally follow 24 to 48 hours later.

A sewer repair is priced after the camera inspection, not over the phone. The cost turns on how far down the pipe sits, how long the damaged run is and whatever lies above it. A section in a crawlspace, or one that sits shallow under grass, is a smaller job. A break under a driveway is a larger one. You have the price in hand before work starts, and if the rest of the line is sound we leave it alone.

Your repair comes under our 1-year labor warranty. Any drain cleaning done along the way is not part of that warranty.