Trenchless methods
Sewer line repair and replacement in Denver when lining is not an option
Some Denver laterals cannot be lined: the pipe has sunk into a belly, collapsed flat, or lost its grade where heaving clay dropped it. This page covers the honest alternatives, from a short excavation at the low spot to full trenchless replacement, and how to keep digging to a minimum.
Serving Denver · Denver County
All Sewer and Plumbing Services, LLC
CIPP Verified installer. Camera inspection before any quote; permits and inspections handled. More about All Sewer and Plumbing Services →
The failures a liner cannot fix
Lining has limits, and Denver ground finds them. Bentonite clay that swells in a wet spring and shrinks in a dry fall does not move evenly, so a section of lateral sinks while its neighbors hold and a belly forms where water and solids collect. Clay tile crushed by a root or a wheel load can go flat. Orangeburg folds into a shape no liner can follow. A pipe that has lost its grade entirely, with a reverse slope toward the house, cannot be renewed in place at all. In each of these cases the pipe does not just need a new wall; it needs a new position. That is a repair or a replacement, not a lining job, and the first proposal you receive should say which you have.
Spot excavation at the low point
The locate from the camera inspection shows exactly where the belly or collapse lies and how deep it sits, so the excavation is a trench over that section alone, with a few feet on each side for tie-ins. The crew calls utility locates, saw-cuts any concrete, digs to the pipe, removes the failed section, places compacted bedding at the correct slope and sets new pipe with transition couplings to the old material on both ends. The trench is backfilled in lifts and compacted, which matters more in Denver County clay than in sand because loose clay settles for years. The surface, whether lawn, concrete or asphalt, is restored as the proposal specified. Done well, the finished section drains at grade and the rest of the lateral is addressed trenchlessly from the same trench.
Replacing the whole run without a long trench
When the camera shows that too much of the line has collapsed or deformed to save, replacement is the answer, and trenchless replacement by bursting is how a Denver lateral is replaced without a trench from house to street. Pits at each end, a bursting head pulled through the old alignment, and fused HDPE drawn in behind it give a new pipe with no joints, often one size larger. Bursting requires the old pipe to hold a path and the new pipe to follow grade; where a belly exists along the run, the low section is excavated and regraded first and the burst passes through the corrected alignment.
Where open-trench replacement still makes sense
A short, shallow Denver lateral in open lawn with no trees, driveway or sidewalk over it is sometimes cheaper to replace by trench than by any trenchless method, and a contractor should say so. The same is true where the alignment must change, for example to move a connection or avoid a new addition, since trenchless methods follow the old path. For most laterals in Denver, which run long distances under tree lawns, alleys and streets, the balance tips the other way, and the trench is kept to the one section that must be regraded.
Permits, the right-of-way and restoration
Sewer repair and replacement in Denver requires a lateral permit, and any excavation, pit or tie-in on public ground requires a right-of-way permit, a licensed contractor, traffic control and restoration to the city's standard. Pavement restoration can rival the cost of the pipe, which is why a connection reached from a pit on private property is preferred wherever the main's location allows it. The proposal should list every permit, show the dig locations on a sketch and state who restores each surface. The limits of lining that lead to these choices are described at curedinplacepipe.net, where lining's limits are documented.
The combined job and the record you keep
Most repair-and-replace projects on Front Range laterals are combinations: a short dig to fix the belly, a liner or a burst through the rest, and a new cleanout added while the trench is open. You should receive the pre- and post-repair video, the locate sketch, the permit sign-offs and a written warranty covering each method used and its length. the sewer repair and replacement page for Denver from All Sewer and Plumbing Services, LLC explains how All Sewer and Plumbing Services, LLC handles excavation and replacement in Denver, and the installer's verified standing is at the CIPP verification profile for All Sewer and Plumbing Services, LLC. To find out which sections of your line can be saved and which must be replaced, call (720) 606-6223. Estimates are free. Call now.
Estimates are free. Call now: (720) 606-6223.
Other trenchless services in Denver
Trenchless Sewer Repair Denver
Repair or replace a failed sewer line with little or no excavation.
Sewer Pipe Lining (CIPP) Denver
A resin-saturated liner cured in place forms a new, jointless pipe inside the old one.
Pipe Bursting Denver
A bursting head splits the old pipe while pulling new HDPE pipe in behind it, through two small pits.
Sectional Point Repair Denver
A short liner fixes one bad spot and leaves the rest of a sound line alone.
Sewer Camera Inspection Denver
See what is actually wrong before anyone quotes a fix.
Hydro Jetting Denver
High-pressure water strips roots, grease and scale so the pipe can be inspected and lined.
Questions we hear about sewer line repair & replacement
Why can't a belly be lined?+
A liner takes the shape of the pipe it is cured in. If a section has dropped below grade and holds water, the liner holds water in the same place, and solids keep settling there. The only fix for a belly is to excavate that section, rebed it on compacted material at the correct slope and replace the pipe, which is why the locate matters so much.
How much of the yard gets dug for a spot repair?+
Only the sagging or collapsed section plus a few feet on each side to tie in, typically a trench a few feet wide at a depth of four to six feet in Denver. The rest of the lateral is lined or burst from the same opening, so one trench serves both repairs.
Can excavation be done in a Denver winter?+
Yes. Frost reaches roughly three feet in a hard winter, and a breaker or a frost tooth gets through it, though the dig takes longer and backfill compaction needs care. If a belly is causing backups in January, it is repaired in January; if the line is draining, a jetting can hold it until the ground softens.
Who handles the permit and the street if the main is under pavement?+
The contractor pulls the lateral permit and, for any work in the public right-of-way in Denver County, the right-of-way permit with traffic control and restoration to the city's standard. Trenchless replacement from a pit on private ground avoids most of that; when the connection itself must be dug, the proposal should price the pavement restoration explicitly.
What warranty applies to a replaced section?+
A written warranty naming the method and the length, covering the new pipe and its connections, and a post-repair video showing the new section draining at grade. Where the rest of the lateral was lined or burst in the same job, the warranty should cover each method and the joints between them. Estimates are free; call now.