Cast Iron Pipe Replacement Buyer Beware of Companies Just Replacing Gut or Main Sewer Lines Only

Hello, We are Inhouse plumbing company where serving you is our business. We service the following areas of Texas Plano, Richardson, Garland & Surrounding Cities. Quickly we wanted to give you an example of something to beware of when it comes to having your cast iron pipes replaced. It is important to make sure that all your cast iron pipes under your concrete slab or pier and beam home are replaced. We are seeing a possible trend popping up where some companies are just replacing the gut or main sewer line under the home and not replacing the branch sewer line(s) but the homeowner either does not understand or the company is telling the homeowner that all, of the cast iron is replaced. Every house is different when it comes to how the sewer lines are laid out under the house, making the gut/main lines and branch lines different for each house. Keep in mind that rerouting the sewer pipes instead of replacing them where they lay under the foundation is always the best and least expensive option if possible, however, remember not all houses can be rerouted. Let’s walk through one example to try to help you understand and give you the best chance of getting your cast iron replaced completely, properly and at the least expensive cost the first time so you do not have to do this more than ones. The red lines are where the original cast iron sewer pipe was laid. The red line with pink next to it would be considered the gut or main line. The remainder of the red lines would be considered the branch lines for this homes sewer system. The green lines are where we installed the new PVC pipe by rerouting the lines towards the outside. As you can see if the main or gut line was the only part of the pipe replaced you would still have a considerable amount of cast iron pipe under the slab. Another important thing to understand is once the main or gut line is replaced, you really box yourself into a corner when it comes to replacing the rest of the lines later, especially since all the branch lines are still connected to the main or gut line. You either must replace the branch lines right where they are or you must start completely over and do the reroute, which means everything you spent on the main or gut line replacement would be wasted. Unfortunately, we went to a house/not this one but like this recently where the homeowner was selling the house and a company had replaced the main line only and once the main line was replaced, they determined the sewer system was still leaking on the pipes they had not replaced and so they went back to the homeowner for more money, which is when he called us for a second opinion. Unfortunately, there was just no way we could help him without starting completely over, but he still owed the current company 30,000.00 and they were not finished. Because our pricing is typically a lot less than most companies and very few of our complete reroutes cost more than 30,000.00, it is highly likely he would have paid a lot less than 30,000 to us from the beginning and got all the cast iron replaced with PVC by rerouting the pipes. Another thing to keep in mind is when replacing part of the pipes now and part later, you can end up with similar concerns to what we are discussing here as well as it will always cost you more long term to replace the pipes separately then it would to replace them all at one time. We understand not all people can do everything at once, we just want you to be informed so you can make the best decision with a long-term perspective in mind. Let’s compare some cost examples for this house. By rerouting this house, we saved a lot of tunneling, which is the most expensive part of cast iron sewer pipe replacement under slab foundations and traded that tunnel for trench in the yard. Our rerouting estimate was 24.5% less than replacing the pipes where they were laid originally and rerouting all the pipe was 35% more than just replacing the main or gut line in this case. Make sure you know exactly what is being proposed by the company you chose to replace your cast iron pipes and don’t forget to ask if rerouting is an option and hire someone who has your best interest at heart not theirs when having your cast iron pipes replaced. Feel free to contact us today at 972-366-6597 should you have any questions or to schedule a free estimate and consultation, we look forward to serving you soon.