LA Plumbing Pros
Sewer lines in Los Angeles
Roots, breaks, bellies, and the run from the house out to the main.
The sewer lateral is the most expensive pipe most people will ever own and the one they have never seen. It runs from the house, under the yard, under the parkway and usually under part of the street, and in Los Angeles that whole run belongs to the property owner.
What goes wrong in a lateral
Roots find the joints, because a joint in clay pipe is a crack with water behind it. A section shifts or breaks, often where the ground has moved or where something heavy has been driven over it. A belly forms where the line has settled, and waste sits in the dip instead of running through it.
From inside the house all three look the same: a main line that backs up, clears, and backs up again. That is why the second backup is the one to investigate instead of clearing again.
You look at it before you decide
A camera goes down the line and you watch the screen with us while we are still in it. You see what is there, we tell you how far along the run it sits and what it is sitting in, and you get the findings in writing afterwards in words you can read out to somebody else.
The findings are part of the job. They are not a product we sell separately, and if nothing needs doing yet we will tell you that.
The four ways a line gets fixed
Open cut means the line is dug up and replaced along its length. Spot repair means one bad section is cut out and replaced and the rest stays. Lining forms a new pipe inside the old one. Bursting splits the old pipe outward and pulls a new one through behind it. The last two are the ones people mean by no dig.
Which one suits a line depends on what the line is made of, where it runs and what is sitting on top of it. A lining will not save a line that has collapsed, and an open cut under a mature tree or a finished driveway is a different proposition from an open cut across a lawn.
Permits, and who owns the sewer under your street
The City, a county district, an independent city or a septic system. Which one it is decides what permit applies and who may dig in the road, and it changes block to block. We find out which applies to your address instead of assuming.
Questions people ask us
Is the line under the street really mine?
In Los Angeles the lateral from the house to the sewer main is the property owner's, including the part under the parkway and the street. That surprises most people, and it is better to know before it matters.
Can roots be cleared instead of replacing the line?
They can be cut back, and on a line that is otherwise sound that buys real time. They grow back through the same joint, so it is a schedule, not a repair.
Do I get to see the camera or just a report?
You watch it with us while we are still down the line, and you get the findings in writing afterwards.
Tell us what is wrong.
Say what the problem is and where you are. We will tell you what we can do and what it takes.
Our work is covered for a year.
A photograph of a Los Angeles street of this kind. Not a photograph of a job by this company.