Sewer line replacement in Minneapolis

When replacement beats repair

A common rule of thumb: if more than two sections of the lateral have failed, or the material is Orangeburg, the line is done. Clay is usually a 1900–1940 house whose joints have all opened over a century of frost cycles. Orangeburg is usually a 1945–1970 house in the outer neighborhoods and first-ring suburbs where the tar-paper pipe has deformed. Cast iron comes up inside the house and for the first few feet outside, where the iron has rusted through from the bottom. More on the clay version in why clay joints fail here.

In every case, the camera inspection comes first and the video goes to you. You should be able to see the reason for a $10,000 recommendation with your own eyes.

Open trench or trenchless?

Both replace the line. The difference is what gets dug up.

• Open trench is the right choice when the run is short, there is nothing valuable above it, the line is shallow enough that the trench is manageable, or the pipe has collapsed and bellied so badly that nothing can pass through it. It is also the only way to fix a sag, because a liner follows the shape of the pipe it is in.
• Trenchless — lining or pipe bursting — wins when the line runs under a boulevard elm, a driveway, a new patio, or the street, and the pipe is intact enough to work through.

Ask for both prices when both are possible.

What is involved in a Minneapolis replacement

Minneapolis laterals are deep. Frost in a hard winter passes five feet, so the pipe is set well below that — about six or seven feet at the house and often ten feet or more at the main. A trench that deep is shored with a trench box, dug with a tracked excavator, and produces a spoil pile the size of a car. Sewer lateral replacement, Minneapolis-style, usually goes like this:

1. Locates and permit. Gopher State One Call marks gas, electric and water. The contractor pulls the sewer permit and, if the connection at the main is under pavement, whatever street permit and traffic control plan the city asks for.
2. Excavation. From the foundation wall out to the property line or the main, depending on where the failure ends. Where the tap at the main is sound, the dig can sometimes stop short of the street.
3. New pipe. Schedule 40 or SDR-35 PVC, bedded in sand, sloped at a quarter inch per foot, with a new cleanout at the foundation wall and a second one at the property line so future maintenance never means digging.
4. Inspection of the open trench and the connection where the city requires it.
5. Backfill in compacted lifts, rough grade, and restoration — sod or seed, and concrete or asphalt patching where the sidewalk or street was cut.
6. Final camera pass, recorded. Ask for a copy.

A yard-only replacement usually takes two days. Add a day if the street is opened.

The street is the expensive part

The last 15 to 25 feet of a Minneapolis lateral is under the boulevard and the street. Cutting pavement normally means extra permits, a flagging plan, pavement restoration to the city's standard, and the deepest part of the trench. That stretch can double the cost of the job, which is why so many sewer replacement jobs in Minneapolis are a hybrid: open trench in the yard, pipe bursting or lining under the street.

Water line at the same time

If your water service is the original lead or galvanized line, ask about replacing it in the same trench. The two lines usually run within a few feet of each other, and sharing the excavation saves several thousand dollars over doing them separately. See sewer line replacement cost for both.

What the video should show before you agree to a full replacement

A replacement is a five-figure decision, so the camera footage should make the case on its own. These are the findings that usually justify replacing the whole lateral rather than one section:

• Roots coming in at most joints from the wall to the main, not just one or two
• Several offsets or cracks spread along the run
• Tar-paper pipe that has gone oval or blistered in more than one place
• A long sag that holds water, which no liner can correct
• Cast iron near the house with the bottom rusted through

If the video shows one bad spot and clean pipe on either side, ask why a spot repair won't do. A careful contractor will answer that with the footage, not with a general warning about old pipe.

Questions to ask before you sign

1. Where exactly does the new pipe start and stop, and is the tap at the main being replaced?
2. Is the street or sidewalk being opened, and is that priced as its own line?
3. What pipe, what slope and how many cleanouts?
4. Who pulls the permit, and when is the inspection?
5. What does restoration include: rough grade only, or seed, sod and concrete too?
6. How many days will the house be without drains, and during which hours?
7. Is the final camera pass recorded, and will you get the file?
8. How long does the written price hold?

Get the answers in writing. Two or three estimates built on the same video make the numbers easy to compare.

Living with the new line

A new PVC lateral needs very little. The trench will usually settle a bit over the first year or two, so expect to add soil and seed to the low spots in spring. Keep the cleanout caps accessible, and don't bury the outside one under mulch or a patio. Grease, wipes and paper towels still don't belong in the drain; PVC is smooth, but a clog is a clog. Store the final video and the permit number with the deed. When you sell, that paperwork answers the buyer's sewer question before it is asked.

Related reading: who owns the lateral in Minneapolis, foundation movement and sewer breaks, and what a replacement actually costs by method.