The most important thing you can do to minimize the damage once a backup occurs is to stop the flow of water into any drain. Even though the toilet on the third floor appears to work well if the main line to the sewer if blocked it will come up out of the lowest drain. To minimize damage other sources of water such as sump pumps, gutter drains, and storm drains should not tie to a sanitary sewer but should run to a storm sewer instead. If your sanitary sewer were to become blocked and it was during a rainstorm you would be at the mercy of the weather in having the flow of water into your clogged sewer controlled with every ounce of storm water or, ground water displacing sewage in the line into your home.

If the lowest drain or, cleanout opening in your home is below the level of the street in many cases you would be a candidate for a back water valve or, check valve to be installed on your sewer line. Clean Check is a good one that can easily be maintained from ground level through a cleanout plug. The backwater valve or check valve will close when the city sewer backs up preventing the water in the city sewer from backing up into your home. Of course you will not be able to drain water until the city sewer is cleared but at least you will be able to stop your neighbors from doing onto you. I believe the city sewer backups are the worst possible experience anyone could have. Customers that I have seen having a city sewer back up into their home were literally in tears wondering where all that water was coming from. In those situations a backwater valve would have been priceless.

Some simple devices are sold that may be able to clean hair out of the bathroom sink popup area without taking anything apart like the Turbo Snake and Zip It which can be pushed down through the pop up area to catch the hair and pull it out. These will actually work in this application quite well.

What I would do is a little more complex but I feel it does a better job. I remove the popup and look down into the drain to see what is there and grab the hair out with a mechanics parts retriever tool sold in many places like Auto Zone or Advance Auto Parts for around $5. This tool is about 24” long and has a button that you push on one end that causes small metal fingers to open at the other end and when you release the button it will grab things with the metal fingers.

To get the popup stopper out on many bathroom sinks requires you to partially remove the ball rod to allow the popup stopper to unhook from the ball rod. The ball rod has a linkage attached to it that comes down from the faucet above and goes horizontally into the popup assembly below the sink. When you push and pull the button for the popup stopper on the faucet you will see this ball rod moving up and down at the rear, and pivoting at the end where it is connected to the pop up assembly. In most cases there is a nut that tightens this ball lever in place to the pop up assembly. You need to hold the popup, then unscrew this nut then pull the ball lever out about ½” to release the popup so it can be removed. Do not take the ball rod all the way out because on some there may be seals that you could lose, and once the popup is removed put the nut back on. Once the drain is cleaned you will want to run water to check the flow in the drain and if the ball rod is not in place and tight water will leak out under the sink.

With the bathroom sink popup stopper removed you have a clear view all the way down to the trap in most cases and the mechanics parts retriever can be used to remove anything that is clogging the drain all the way down to the trap. Lay a couple of paper towels on the sink to put the clumps of hair and stuff that you remove from the drain on and once you have it all removed wrap it up in the paper towel and throw it in the garbage. You are now ready to run water and see if you have fixed the problem. In many cases you will find that you have succeeded and saved a couple of hundred dollars for a plumber to clean your drain and will not have used any harsh or dangerous chemicals.

If you have succeeded in unclogging the bathroom sink, loosen the ball rod nut, and hold the popup stopper with the hole aligned properly to catch the ball rod. Slowly lower the popup straight down into the drain until it hits the ball rod, then pull the ball rod out slightly to allow the pop up to drop into place on the ball rod and reinsert the ball rod making sure the pop up is locked in on the ball rod and tighten the nut. Check the pop up stopper for operation and the ball rod for any signs of leakage.

Hopefully this has prevented needing a plumber to unclog your bathroom sink and saved you money. Any questions or, comments are welcome below.

When you look in the phonebook, or on-line for sewer-cleaners or, plumbers you will be faced by a large amount of listings and ads ranging from a single line and phone number to multiple page color ads. The listings will include everyone from small one-man shows that are local, to large corporations that may even have international operations, and franchises. What they may offer can include everything from a handyman that cleans drains, sewer and drain cleaning companies, and plumbers that also clean drains. Who is best to call has no real clear answer but is more dependent on your needs.

Large corporations and franchises tend to have much higher rates because they tend to have higher overhead costs heavy with large corporate staffs, large amounts of advertising, large amounts of techs on the road to make sure all the calls receive service and in some cases high franchise fees. But, for the larger fees you are pretty sure of a fast response with the ability to call them for service wherever you are located. Which can be a benefit if you are a property manager with service needed in multiple states.

A small local company tends to have less overhead, smaller ads and more word of mouth advertising, so their rates are often lower but you may also have to wait for service if they are tied up on jobs.

Handymen tend to not charge as high a rate yet they may not be all that good at any one task seeing as they cover a wide array of work. They tend to be a “Jack of All, Master of None.” One problem with handymen is in the event of a collapsed line or worn out pipe in many areas they would not be allowed to make repairs.

Sewer and drain cleaning companies are generally very good at cleaning drains and are prepared to go to the next level if repairs are needed. However most sewer and drain companies tend to be the large corporations or, franchise operations which brings in the higher price rates which they will not give over the phone and the only way you can get the price is to have the tech in your home delivering the price in a smooth pitch.

Plumbers vary in what they do. Some plumbing companies really want nothing to do with drains, yet if you called them a plumber would come out with a hand snake play around dump some drain cleaning chemicals in the drain charge you and say they can’t do it. Yet other plumbing companies have plumbers that really are equipped and good at drain cleaning.

As you can see there is no real one best answer but is more dependent on your needs and who best meets them.

Pop-Up Type Bathtub Drain

Probably the worst type of drain for catching hair is the pop-up style of drain stopper. There is nothing to stop the hair from leaving the tub and getting into the drain and there is lots of stuff in the drain for it to catch on. The first thing to do is grab hold of the pop-up stopper and lift it out of the drain. It is hinged and bends at the hinges to allow removal and reinsertion into the drain. After removing the pop-up take the 2 screws out of the overflow plate and lever up high on the side of the tub under the spout. With some wiggling and pulling the plate and its attached linkage should pull out of the overflow tube. On the bottom of the linkage there is a wire shaped like a spring and it is almost certain that there will be a large amount of hair wrapped on this. Using the hooked wire or, the mechanics parts retriever, check to see if you can remove any more hair caught in the tub shoe which runs from the tub drain to the tee. Then check down the overflow to the p-trap below. Once you are certain all the hair has been removed reinsert the pop-up stopper into position. It should go in and land in the closed position. After the pop-up stopper is in place reinsert the linkage into the overflow and screw the plate and lever back into position.

Grid Type Bathtub Drain

The grid type bathtub drain is probably the least likely bathtub drain to have a clog. The grid stops a large amount of the hair from going down the drain keeping it right on top of the grid where it can be picked up after using the tub. Some hair may make it through the grid where it then usually accumulates on the screw that secures the grid in place and on the crossbars that the screw threads into. Simply remove the screw securing the grid in place and clean the hair from the cross bars and screw using needle nose pliers, the hooked wire, or, the mechanics parts retriever. Also take the 2 screws out of the overflow plate and lever up high on the side of the tub under the spout. With some wiggling and pulling the plate and its attached linkage should pull out of the overflow tube. On the bottom of the linkage is a barrel shaped piece, this barrel is what blocks the flow of water coming out of the tub. Seldom is this barrel shaped piece a problem but clean it if needed. While the overflow is open check the drain down through the overflow to the p-trap using the hook shaped wire or the mechanics parts retriever to see if there is any hair that is further down in the drain. Once you are certain all the hair that was in the drain has been removed reinstall the parts you have removed back into place.

Lift and Turn, Toe Tap, and Flip Lever Bathtub Drains

The lift and turn, toe tap, and flip lever bathtub drains are just about as notorious for being hair catchers as the pop-up type. Once again there is nothing to stop the hair from leaving the tub. Just like the drains above the stopper will need to be removed to clean the hair out from the drain. With lift and turn drains they are removed by either partially closing the stopper and turning it to unscrew the drain or, removing the knurled knob from the top of the stopper and then unscrewing the screw underneath. Toe tap stoppers remove by just gripping the stopper and unscrewing it. Flip lever stoppers are usually just a push in friction fit device so pulling them out is usually a matter of pulling along with some twisting and rocking. Once the stopper has been removed the hair will be usually caught on the crossbar underneath the stopper where it can be removed with needle nose pliers, the hook shaped wire or, the mechanics parts retriever. Also take the 1 or 2 screws out of the overflow plate and lever up high on the side of the tub under the spout and remove the plate. Check down the overflow tube to the p-trap using the hook shaped wire or, mechanics parts retriever to see if there is any hair further in the drain. Once you are certain all the hair has been removed reattach the overflow plate and stopper back on place.

Cable Controlled Bathtub Drains (Not Pictured)

These drains have a lot of variables as to how they disassemble, but, in most cases the pop-up will just lift out of place. Underneath the stopper there will be a grid with a guide for the stopper and some type of linkage that lowers or raises the pop-up. Lift the stopper out and remove the hair using needle nose pliers, the hook shaped wire or, mechanics parts retriever. Methods used to get into the overflow to remove hair from further in the drain will vary depending on the manufacturer and I would recommend consulting the manufacturer’s instructions to avoid breaking anything.

Additional Information

Most of the bathtub waste and overflow drains are in the configurations shown in the drawings on this web page. However, there are a small percentage of waste and overflows in use that may drain out to the rear horizontally or, may drain straight down from the tub drain, if you have one of these drains some adaptation of the above procedures will be required.

Once you have cleaned the hair out of the drain and reassembled the parts back into their original configuration you are ready to test the drain. Run water into the tub and make sure the stopper is working correctly and the drain is draining properly again. A rule of thumb for a tub drain is that it must keep up with the flow of water from the shower. If you can run the shower and not accumulate water in the tub it is draining okay. If the water continues to build or is completely stopped up after attempting these steps your best bet is to call in a drain cleaning professional to clean the drain line. By following these steps you have cleaned the drain from the tub to the p-trap and cleaning the balance of the drain after the trap is best left to the pro with his professional grade equipment. In many cases you will find success in following these steps and you will save money.

Do any of the drain cleaning products and drain maintenance products actually work?

Truth be told the success of drain cleaning products and drain maintenance products is very limited. The drain cleaning products may succeed in opening a small hole through a clog or strip the soap scum and conditioner build up off a hair clog the clear drain is temporary or, slightly better at best when it comes to results. The only tried and true way to clean a drain is with a mechanical cleaning using a snake or, jetter to clean the drain and restore it to its original diameter. Almost every job I go to for a clogged drain has an empty bottle of “please help me, plumber in a bottle” close by. Sometimes there are several different brands. This is where it gets scary. The chemical bases of these drain cleaners fall into several different chemical families and may react violently with each other or, release toxic fumes. A stopped up drain is not the place to play amateur chemist.

A popular “Home Remedy” is vinegar and baking soda, which many people swear is effective, pouring baking soda down the drain followed by vinegar. Any person with a slight knowledge of chemistry can realize the ineffectiveness of the foamy chemical reaction that occurs. Vinegar contains Acetic Acid and baking soda is an alkaline, when combined a foamy chemical reaction occurs that neutralizes the 2 chemicals essentially doing nothing except foam.

The chemical drain openers sold in stores vary between Caustic and Acid depending on the brand selected. Caustic liquid & gel drain cleaners containing Sodium Hypochlorite (bleach) are probably the most common type. Sodium Hydroxide (lye) and Potassium Hydroxide (caustic potash) are used in crystal drain cleaners. Some come in 2 part mixes where aluminum powder or chips are added to the caustic causing a foaming reaction which generates heat. Sometimes this heat has melted plastic pipes.

The next drain opener is the strong acid type, usually containing Sulfuric Acid around 95% pure. Some areas prohibit the sale to anyone other than licensed plumbers but it is quite common to se the guy at the hardware store say that as a sales tool testifying to it’s effectiveness as he sells it to a homeowner. This is a dangerous acid that used improperly can erupt out of a drain, cause the water caught in the drain to boil. If Sulfuric Acid is used in combination with caustic drain cleaners can cause a violent chemical reaction and in the case of bleach based drain cleaners cause the release of Chlorine Gas.

Both the Caustic and Acid based drain cleaners are corrosive and may damage metal pipes, drain trim finishes and even the snake the plumber eventually uses after a lack of success with the chemicals. I have frequently snaked a line in which these chemicals were used only to see my snake rust very badly an hour after use. The bleach has ruined the coloring of shirts and the acid has eaten holes in them. I don’t even ask any more what was used. Most people lie to you even though the empty bottle is there and you can smell the drain cleaner as well as feel its slipperiness on your gloved hands. I treat every drain the same where I assume the worst chemicals are present.

If any Drain products are to be used I would recommend the bacteria and enzyme treatments. Some are actually supposed to open a clogged drain within a couple of hours. Do they work? I don’t know. But, I will say at least they are not as dangerous as the caustic and acid drain cleaners. It’s your money spend it how you want.

There are also some air burst drain cleaners where an aerosol can, charges behind a diaphragm with air pressure and then the diaphragm ruptures allowing the air pressure charge to blast down the drain to jar the clog loose. This is not going to do anything more than a plunger would do at quite a bit higher cost. I would not recommend using either an air burst unit or, a plunger after caustics or, acids have been used. It may cause the chemicals to splash on you.

Do I recommend Drain Cleaners? No! Skip contributing to the industry and use what will work. A plumber with a snake will get your drain clean and offer you a guarantee as well. Frequently the drain works better after snaking than the customer ever recalls it draining before.

In a sewer which has large roots at every joint or broken joints it is often best to replace the line, especially if the cleanings are required frequently like yearly or every couple of years. On sewer lines that that have small amounts of root intrusion into the line and drain cleanings are less frequently required there is an alternative. A yearly application of Root-X into the line can kill the roots entering the pipe before they grow large enough to break the pipe and damage it. It then will take a year before the grown of new roots can intrude into the pipe sufficiently to cause a concern and require a reapplication of Root-X.

Root-X is a two part foaming chemical containing the aquatic herbicide Dichlobenil. The two parts ar mixed together immediately before application and foam up in contact with water. The foam completely fills the pipe and comes in contact with roots even at the top of the pipe. Root-X will only kill the roots that have entered the pipe and will not hurt the tree. Root-X treatment dosages are 2 lbs. for 4″ pipe up to 50′ in length and 4 lbs. for a 4″ pipe up to 100′ in length. The Root-X foam must remain in contact with the roots for 4 – 6 hours to be effective and will wash away with water usage.

The best time of year to apply Root-X is naturally in the seasons where the tree is active. It is also best to apply it within one hour of the roots being snaked from the line. After the golden hour the tree forms a protective coating on the cut root to treat the injury to the root. It is best then to wait 6 – 8 weeks for the protective coating to disapate before applying the Root-X treatment. Follow up with additional Root-X treatments on a yearly basis to help retard further root intrusions into the line. This treatment may postpone replacement of the sewer line. Ask your plumbing professional for Root-X.

Once the location of the clog has been determined the next thing to do is select the proper drain snaking equipment to clear the clog from the line and how long it needs to be. There are a variety of machines used and the cable length they need to reach to clear the clog is important. A cable too short may not reach the clog and a cable too long if fed out too far will get tangled and knotted in a septic tank or, city sewer line. Equipment selected may be a “sectional” or, a “drum” machine. Rental equipment selection may be very limited usually only provided with minimum sized blades and in questionable condition due to abuse by inexperienced users.

A Sectional Machine has a power-head which is set up near the cleanout and

the sections of cable are fed through the machine and added on as needed then after the drain is cleared the cable is backed out and sections are removed as they come out. This would be the top choice if you are going up on a roof to snake through a vent.

Drum Machines have a drum mounted on a hand truck which usually contain between 75 – 150′ of cable coiled inside the drum. The drum spins and the turning cable is fed out of the machine into the line. This would be my choice for almost everywhere except taking on the roof.

Either machine would have a cutter blade fastened on to the end of the cable. This cutter should be large enough to scrape the outside walls of the drain pipe to scrape all deposits from the inside wall of the pipe and cut roots that are coming into the pipe. Special gloves called “ugly gloves” are often used, to hold the cable while feeding it in and out of the pipe. These ugly gloves are rubber gloves coated with hard plastic grit that allows the cable to turn in the gloved hands without sticking to the rubber yet allow you to grip the turning cable to push and pull it in the line.

The turning cable is like a giant spring that has a tremendous amount of torque applied to it by the machine and you must hold it in your hands to guide it into the line. If you fail to control the torque of the spring it can turn into a pretzel instantly, and yes it may severely injure you. This is very likely to occur when you hit a strong root and the cable stops turning. You need to know just how much to let it build and be ready to snap the cable back and free for just a moment to allow it to unwind and plunge it back into the root while it is spinning fast. If the rental machine cable is in bad shape where it has been kinked previously it will easily wind up into a pretzel once again when pressured.

Okay, are you really getting what I’m saying here? Drain cleaning is serious business and it takes about a full year before a drain cleaner gets really good at what he does. The skills needed involve diagnosis to determine the best way to approach the clogged line, skills to safely and effectively operate the equipment, and the ability to detect problems with the line that require repair…

A DIYer seldom has the knowledge and skills required to do a good job and if they avoid the possibility of serious injury at best they may punch a small hole through a clog as rental equipment is seldom provided with maximum blade sizes. Most often the DIYer tries unsuccessfully for a day or two then gives up and takes the best option. Your best option is to first call in a drain cleaning pro. Call a plumber and your drain can be clear within a couple of hours from when the call is placed.

Before a sewer line can be relined it must be cleaned & inspected with a video camera to perform a sewer inspection and  determine that it is in fact a viable candidate for relining. The line must have proper pitch maintained without any bellies, or misaligned joints. The liner follows the contour & path of the original line and will not correct these defects.  The line may have small breaks where pieces of the pipe have broken or fallen out exposing soil but the pipe must maintain it’s original shape and not be collapsing yet. Very short and shallow belly, or, small misalignment may be of no consequence but that is best determined by the experience of the relining contractor as this is a judgment call.

The lining may be shot through any opening in the pipe that that allows good access for the liner to reach the problem area. The liner may even be shot into the line via a cleanout. Cutting into the pipe may also be done. Best access will be determined again by the relining contractor.

The relining material is essentially a woven fiberglass hose with a thin plastic

film on the outside. A calculated amount of fiberglass resin and hardener is mixed then poured inside the liner. the contractor then makes sure that the entire length of the woven fiberglass is fully “wet” with the mixed resin.  The liner is then shot into the the sewer line using a gun that inverts the liner so the resin coated weave ends up on the outside where it bonds to the old pipe and the thin plastic film becomes the slick inside surface of the new pipe. The gun uses compressed air to propel the liner into the pipe and the whole process is very similar to turning a sock inside out.

A calibration tube similar to a balloon is also shot inside the liner which is then pressurized with either compressed air or water heated by a portable boiler. The pressurized calibration tube holds the fiberglass liner out against the existing sewer line until the fiberglass liner cures into a hard new fiberglass one piece pipe within the old pipe. Using the hot water method speeds the curing process. Once the line has cured the calibration tube is removed.

If there are any tie-ins that need to be reestablished a small device with a

cutting burr is inserted into the pipe to cut out openings allowing flows from the other line to flow into the newly relined pipe. At this point the work on the line is done, a quick video inspection to check the line,  and the relined sewer is ready for use.

While the relining process sounds very easy in this description I assure you that what I have written is an oversimplification. The sewer line must be cleaned very well prior to relining, and the process requires a careful choreography that even highly experienced crews stop to talk about just before the resin is mixed. The job has a very high pucker factor that comes in as soon as the hardener is added to the resin. At that point the clock is ticking with a count down to the time at which the resin used to impregnate the liner hardens. If the liner hardens before you have completed pressurizing the balloon line you are in trouble.

There are a few different relining processes from different manufacturers used. This article is intended as an overview of the process and is not a full description of every different manufacturers process.

I hope this article gives you a good understanding of the sewer line relining process, the steps involved in the relining process, and the limitations of the relining process.  The net result is a new one piece pipe within the old pipe that does not leak and is impervious to root intrusion.

If you are having problems with your sewer line or your septic tank you may have to call a plumber to figure out what could be wrong with your drain lines. There are many tools that the plumber can use to find out what is wrong with the sewer line including drain cleaning machines, sewer inspection camera’s and something called a pipe bursting machine.

The pipe bursting machine is one of the best options for the replacement of an existing  sewer line and this process that plumbers using this machine is called pipe bursting. A  licensed plumbing contractor can use this method to excavate and expose the old pipe which is connected to the septic tank or the city sewer system.

The starting  point would typically be in the street where the plumber would locate the sewer lateral (the sewer line from the house to the city sewer line in the street) that connects to the city sewer or your septic tank like we mentioned above.

The other hole  would be either just outside the foundation where the line exits the house, or, in the basement just before the line exits the house. A strong steel wire rope cable is pulled through the sewer lateral between those two points. A cone shaped bursting head is attached to the cable along with the new polyethylene pipe which is attached behind the cone shaped bursting head.  At the other end a hydraulic puller is placed which takes hold of the cable and pulls it with great force in a series of short strokes. Typically speeds are in the area of 10 – 15′ per hour. The cone shaped bursting head goes through the old sewer line expanding it over the cone until the old pipe bursts creating room for the new High Density Polyethylene Pipe (HDPE) to be pulled through the ground where the old pipe was. Lengths of the HDPE pipe are joined together using a plastic welding process that creates a new seamless one piece sewer line with no joints that can leak or, be penetrated by roots. Once the line is pulled through between the two holes the connection to the house and the city sewer is reestablished and the line has been replaced.

There are some limitations to using the pipe bursting process:

The first is the line has to be in good enough condition for the cable to be pulled through the line.

Pipe Bursting will not fix a sag, or, belly. The bursting head and new pipe follows the path of the old pipe.

Rocks, ledge and some other conditions may jam the bursting head preventing it from passing and still require excavation to complete the job.

Some bend configurations may not allow pipe bursting as the bursting head may exit the pipe and get stuck requiring excavation.

The responsibility of repairing your sewer lateral (the line from your house to the city line in the street) varies in different areas. In most locations by my experience the city’s responsibility is limited to the line running down the middle of the street. However, I have seen some places where they cover to the curb, sidewalk, or the edge of the street right of way. A check with your local authorities is a good idea to see what they cover. Some places also offer assistance if you have low income. It pays to get all the information you can from them. You at least need to know where your responsibilities end.

The first step is to have the line cleared if possible with a snake or, a jetter if needed. Then have the line video inspected to determine the full extent of the problems with the line.  I would strongly recommend that you are present and witness the video inspection. Ask questions if you don’t understand what you are seeing. The line should be round, dry, joints should be smooth, and all turns should sweep nicely. It should look like a water fun ride at an amusement park. There is really not much to it and you should know when there is something wrong. It is a matter of what you see is what you got. You will know when something is wrong. You may not know what it is but you will know it’s not right. The camera operator should be able to explain what is wrong and the explanation should make sense.

Now the nitty gritty details. Cameras for sewer inspections are expensive pieces of equipment used in a harsh environment and the person operating that camera usually has considerable experience in the field. After the drain-cleaner experienced problems cleaning your line the camera may have been offered free. Nothing is free! Them using the camera had an expected pay off of doing the repair work. They cannot be expected to provide you with enough details on the problem to supply enough information to allow a competitor to bid on the job. Recouping the cost of the camera inspection will be built into the price of the job, as I said, “Nothing is Free!”

Repairs or replacement of a sewer line is not inexpensive. It is a large job requiring, licensing, excavation equipment, safety equipment such as trench boxes, permits & inspections, and sometime highly specialized knowledge and equipment. Costs vary widely in different ares but no matter where you live it is something that getting multiple bids on could save you thousands of dollars. much the same as shopping at several car dealerships before buying a car.

Another possibility is to pay for the camera inspection and get all the information a contractor would need to supply a bid on the job. Then make that information available to several contractors and solicit bids. You don’t have a lot of time on this your line will be failing again soon, so time is of the essence. To solicit bids you will need a full video recording of the line from your house to the city sewer line. Either a VHS video cassette, Mpeg file or DVD is used for this. My preference would be the Mpeg file or, DVD which I will explain in a minute. You will also need the location of the line marked both the physical location and the depth. From your house to the connection in the street. The camera has a secondary function as a transmitter for locating the line. All changes in direction should be marked as well along with some intermediate points on long straight runs. Marking should be done with flags, and or, paint on grass and dirt surfaces, and paint on pavement and sidewalks. If flags only are used for marking on the lawn great care should be taken that they are not moved or, removed.

So many people and companies have entered the electronic age that you may be able to submit the video converted to an Mpeg file, along with photo files saved as a Jpeg files, via E-Mail to several companies soliciting bids for the work. The photos should show the work area and all things near the line that may affect the excavation work. Sidewalks, driveways, HVAC units on a slab, trees, shrubs, patio’s, retaining walls, fences, and sheds are just a few of the obstacles commonly encountered.  A written description of the the line depth along the way and any other pertinent details should be included. This will give them enough information ahead of time that they should have the proposal pretty well worked up then come out for a site visit to recheck the information provided and see if anything needs changing before giving you their bid. This can save everybody involved a considerable amount of time.

You may expect bids to come back often with several options ranging from a spot repair, to excavation and line replacement, pipe bursting and pipe relining. You may also expect methods proposed by different companies to be different. You will have to sift through these proposals and bid prices to decide which is best for you then give the go ahead to the winning bid.