Do you know the difference between maintenance and rehabilitation when it comes to pipes? Buried lines are a vital artery for homes throughout Dallas. Both your water supply and your sewage mainline are essential to the continued flow of water in and waste out. Over time, both of these key connections can suffer from the effects of age and the prodding of external factors that cause damage.
Maintenance involves repeated service over many years that seeks to clear blockage and prevent developing problems from becoming big issues. Rehabilitation is something that typically only occurs near the end of a system's lifetime. Where routine maintenance is meant to keep infrastructure working, rehabilitation is meant to restore plumbing systems to their previous working condition. The techniques that fall under both of these categories are methods to avoid pipe replacement and advanced pipe repair in the future.
It's as important for homeowners to know about pipe rehabilitation as it is for the team of Dallas plumbers. You might have a problem and not even know about it. It's essential to be able to spot signs of trouble now so you can take advantage of rehabilitation before you're forced to begin the more expensive and stressful process of pipe repair later.
What is Pipe Rehabilitation?
Essentially, it's the process of performing spot-repairs on damaged plumbing infrastructure to extend its life. There are many ways that this can be done, but unless you're a professional plumber, you'll probably have to rely on somebody else to get the job done well. The techniques involved are a kind of advanced pipe repair that uses specialized equipment and knowledge.
How do you Rehabilitate Pipes?
Traditional methods used to involve digging large trenches to uncover buried plumbing, perform an inspection, and fix the issues—but that presented a number of challenges in urban centers like Dallas. A lack of complete records, especially in older neighborhoods like Dallas' conservation districts, makes it difficult to find buried infrastructure. Not to mention various other utility services that present more buried obstacles.
There are actually so many urban obstacles that experts divided them into two categories. Horizontal obstacles are all those above ground factors like traffic flow. Vertical constraints are those above and below the fixture in question, but still below the surface of city streets.
In order to better perform rehabilitation and other advanced pipe repair in urban environments, companies have started taking advantage of trenchless technology for all pipe restoration projects.
Popular Rehabilitation Methods Include:
Cleaning and Root Cutting: These are standard operations that resolve clogs and blockages which build up over time in sewage pipes and other lines. The preferred method is to use a powerful jet of water, like the kind used in HydroScrub® Jetting, to clear away buildups—but chemical solutions are sometimes used as well.
Chemical Grouting: This is a technique for making spot repairs that involves using high-pressure devices to inject grout directly into small damaged areas, where it expands to create a seal.
Pipe Liners: This advanced rehabilitation method is like getting new pipes without all the extra steps. Instead of taking away the damaged sections, plumbers use special tools to insert a sleeve into the damaged area and then perform various techniques to secure the sleeve and provide a rigid seal of protection. The result is almost as if a new line has been inserted into the existing section. This can be accomplished by several means, such as cured-in-place liner techniques, fold and formed liner installation, and slip liner techniques.
The best strategy depends on the state of your pipes and the unique circumstances of your situation. Sometimes, rehabilitation solutions aren't an option, and you have to opt for other non-invasive techniques like pipe bursting and replacement.
How Do You Know If You Need Rehabilitation?
Water should always flow into your home easily, and sewage should always leave without any problems. When there's a problem with your home's water and sewage, whatever the cause, you typically don't have to wait long to find out. Your house will be vocal and obvious when it comes to alerting you. Most of the symptoms of poor plumbing are not subtle at all.
What Are The Common Signs?
Gurgling and other strange noises coming from the toilet
Lack of water in your toilet
Sudden poor water pressure
Slow drainage
Frequent clogging
Noticeable sewage backups
Sewer odors in your bathroom, yard, or other areas
Strange isolated flooding in your yard
Higher utility bills
Areas of lush green grass on isolated parts of your property
What Are The Causes?
The causes for damage can vary from simple clogs to natural disasters. In order to avoid many of the common problems, make sure to schedule regular maintenance and only ever flush human waste, water, and toilet paper down your drains. (Flushable wipes will still cause problems.)
Common Causes in Dallas Include:
Poor maintenance
Buildup of debris, grease, sludge, oil, and other substances
Damage from tree roots
Movement of earth from tremors and nearby construction
Aging
Poor layout, design, or installation
City system backups
Why Do You Need Pipe Rehabilitation?
Did you know that most of the plumbing infrastructure in Dallas and the rest of the U.S. began to reach the end of its prime nearly 20 years ago? Even as recently as two years ago, it was expected that we would need a nearly $300 billion investment over 20 years to fix our aging water and sewage infrastructure.
The city is only responsible for repairing all the lines that run up to your property. Anything inside of property lines is the responsibility of Dallas' homeowners. That means that if you live in one of Dallas' older communities, you might currently be using plumbing that's well beyond its prime. If you're not sure about the state of your system, be sure to watch out for all the warning signs that you might need service, because minor rehabilitation now will be less costly and disruptive than major repairs and replacement in the future.
Do You Need Plumbing Help in Dallas?
If you're not sure about the status of your home's plumbing system, you can always get help from the friendly, experienced service professionals at Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Dallas. We can perform a full camera inspection of your home and tell you if you're in the clear, or if you may need some service to avoid huge headaches down the line.
Give us a call at 214-838-8232, or use our online form to request an appointment.