Sewer line repair and replacement
Your sewer lateral is the pipe carrying waste from your house to the city main under the street. When it fails you get backups into the lowest fixtures in the house, and it is not a problem that improves on its own.
The question everyone asks first: who's responsible? In most Metro Vancouver municipalities, the homeowner owns and maintains the lateral from the house to the property line, and in some cases all the way to the main. The city owns the main itself. Practice varies by municipality, so we confirm your specific situation before quoting — but the short version is that this is usually your pipe and your bill.
Signs the lateral is failing
Multiple fixtures backing up at once — the definitive sign · Sewage smell in the yard or basement · Gurgling toilets when other fixtures drain · Repeated main-line blockages · Unusually lush or sunken patch of lawn along the sewer run · Slow drains throughout the house · Rodents (a broken lateral is an entry point)
Why they fail here
Root intrusion — the most common cause in Vancouver. Mature trees, older clay pipe with mortared joints, and a reliable water source inside the pipe. Age and material — pre-1960 homes often have vitrified clay or cast iron. Clay cracks; cast iron corrodes and scales. Ground movement — settlement creates bellies and offsets, especially in fill areas. Crushing — heavy loads over shallow lines, or construction traffic. Bellies — a sagged section holding standing water where solids collect.
How we find out what's wrong
Camera inspection with a sonde, which gives us the exact position and depth of the failure. That matters enormously here: knowing the break is 6 metres out at 1.8 metres deep, under the lawn rather than the driveway, is often the difference between a $6,000 job and a $20,000 one. Camera inspection
The options
Spot repair. One failed section, sound pipe either side. Excavate at the located point, replace that length. Cheapest by a distance where it applies.
Trenchless replacement. Pipe bursting or lining, replacing the line along its existing path without a full trench. Preserves driveways, patios and mature landscaping. Not suitable for every line — a badly collapsed pipe or severe offsets can rule it out. Trenchless sewer repair
Full open-trench replacement. Traditional excavation. Sometimes the only option, sometimes the cheaper one on a short shallow run with nothing valuable on top.
We'll tell you which apply to your line and price the ones that do. If trenchless isn't viable we'll explain why rather than just quoting a trench.
What it costs
Trenchless replacement $8,000–$20,000 · Full open-trench replacement $10,000–$25,000
Moving the number: length, depth, access, what's on the surface, whether a city connection permit and street work are involved, and whether the municipality requires restoration to a specific standard.
Permits and the city
Sewer work requires a municipal permit and an inspection. Where the connection at the main is involved, the city may have to be present or do that portion themselves. We handle permits, scheduling and inspections as part of the job — this is not paperwork you should be chasing.
