Sewer Line Repair in Philadelphia, PA
Backups, broken laterals and roots in the line. Found with a camera, dug only where the damage is, and put back right.
The pipe between your house and the street
Your sewer lateral carries everything from the house to the city sewer main under the street. When it cracks, sags or fills with roots, every drain in the building feels it. We find the problem, show it to you, and fix it.
The photo at the top of this page is one of ours: an open trench, new pipe going in, and the old line out of the way. That is what this work looks like when it is done properly.
In Philadelphia, that pipe is yours
The Philadelphia Water Department maintains the mains under the street. The sewer lateral that connects your property to the main is the property owner’s responsibility, all the way out to the connection. That surprises a lot of homeowners. It also means the choice of who repairs it is yours, so get the diagnosis first, see the camera footage, and decide with real information.
Signs the sewer line is the problem
- Several drains slow down at the same time
- The toilet gurgles when the washer drains
- Water or sewage comes up through the basement floor drain
- A sewage smell in the basement that will not go away
- Clogs that come back a few weeks after being cleared
- A soft or sunken spot between the house and the curb
From camera to backfill
Camera inspection
We run a camera down the line to see the break, the roots or the sag, and exactly where it is.
Clear the line
If roots or buildup are the problem, we clear them first so the house is usable again.
Repair or replace
A broken section gets cut out and replaced. A line that has failed end to end gets replaced.
Close it up clean
The trench is backfilled, the site is cleaned up, and you get a plain rundown of what was done.
Why Philadelphia laterals fail
Many lines in the older neighborhoods are original cast iron or terra cotta. Joints loosen, street tree roots find the gaps, and the ground shifts under a century of traffic. None of that shows from the basement until the backups start.
For landlords and property managers, we write up what we found in plain notes you can forward to owners or tenants. For homeowners, we walk you through the footage so you know what you are paying to fix.
Sewer Line Repair across Philadelphia and nearby towns
From our shop in Port Richmond we cover the whole city and the towns just past the line.
Other plumbing work we do
Sewer Line Repair questions
Will you have to dig up my whole sidewalk?
Not usually. The camera shows where the damage is, so the opening goes where the problem is.
What causes sewer lines to break?
Age, roots, shifting soil and old joints. Cast iron corrodes from the inside and terra cotta cracks at the joints.
Can you come out at night for a sewer backup?
Yes. AlbPlumbing is open 24 hours. If we are on another call, leave a message and urgent calls are returned as soon as we can.
Water where it should not be?
Call now. We are open 24 hours, and if we miss you, we call back.