Sewer Line Repair and Replacement in Northern Utah

Is a broken sewer line behind your backups?

If your drains back up again soon after they are cleared, or the yard smells like sewage, the pipe itself may be cracked, sagging or broken, and a camera inspection will show it. Your sewer line is the buried pipe that carries everything from your drains out toward the street. When that pipe is damaged, cleaning it only buys time. This page covers finding the damage and repairing or replacing the pipe, from one bad joint to a full new line, with trenchless options where possible. If the line is sound and only clogged, drain cleaning or hydro jetting is the right fix instead. All of it is part of our plumbing services.

Warning signs of a damaged sewer line

Backups that return after every cleaning

A main line that needs clearing over and over usually has something wrong with the pipe: a break, a joint that has shifted, or a low spot that catches waste.

Sewage smells outside or in the basement

A cracked pipe lets sewer gas escape into the soil. You may notice it in the yard, along the foundation or rising from a basement floor drain.

Soggy or extra-green patches in the yard

Wastewater leaking from a broken line waters and feeds the grass above it. A strip of lawn that stays wet or unusually green in dry weather is a clue worth checking.

Sinking soil or cracks over the line

When a pipe leaks for a long time, soil washes away around it. The ground can settle in a rough line running from the house toward the street, and a driveway or walk above it can crack.

Common causes of sewer line damage

Roots that break into pipe joints

Roots grow toward the moisture at joints in older clay and cast iron pipe. Small roots can be cleared out. Larger ones pry joints apart, crack the pipe and keep growing back through the gap.

Old pipe at the end of its life

Cast iron rusts and scales from the inside, and clay joints loosen with age. Older homes in established neighborhoods often still have these original pipes under the yard.

Freeze-thaw and shifting ground

Our freeze-thaw cycles move the soil every winter and spring. Over the years that movement can crack a pipe or create a belly, which is a sag where water and waste sit instead of flowing.

Digging and heavy loads above the line

Fence posts, new landscaping, a driveway project or heavy equipment parked over the line can crush or crack a pipe that was fine the day before.

What to expect when we repair a sewer line

We set a time during business hours and start by asking what you have seen: which drains back up, how often, and whether anything changed in the yard. Then we look inside the pipe before we talk about any digging.

Sewer camera inspection

We feed a waterproof camera on a flexible cable into the line through a cleanout, the capped pipe that gives access to your drain. On the screen we can see breaks, roots, sags, offset joints and collapsed sections, and we can tell roughly where each one sits in the yard. You are welcome to watch with us, so you see the same thing we see. This inspection is also how we tell a damaged line from one that just needs cleaning.

Choosing the repair

Next we explain your options and give you the price before any work starts. A single crack or one bad joint can often get a spot repair: we dig down at that point and replace the damaged section. When the pipe is failing along its length, a full replacement is the lasting fix. Where the line is a good candidate, trenchless methods repair or replace the pipe through small access holes rather than one long trench, which leaves more of your lawn, driveway and landscaping in place. Not every line qualifies, and we will tell you plainly when digging is the better choice.

After the repair we run water through the line and confirm it drains the way it should. Repairs come with a warranty on parts and labor. Financing is available through our lending partners; see financing for details.

The plumbing side of your home is also covered by our VIP Maintenance Plan. It costs $240 a year and includes one 2-hour visit a year covering an 88-point HVAC and plumbing inspection, a 1-inch filter replacement and a written report. Plan members get 10% off repairs and priority scheduling.

Sewer line repair across Northern Utah

We repair and replace sewer lines from our Brigham City base across three areas.

Box Elder County. Brigham City, Corinne, Tremonton, Perry, Willard and Mantua. Older homes here may still drain through clay or cast iron, the pipes most likely to crack and let roots in.

Cache Valley. Smithfield, North Logan, Logan, Nibley and Hyrum. Hard winters freeze the ground deep, so a line showing trouble in fall is better repaired before the ground locks up.

Weber and Davis County. North Ogden, Ogden, South Ogden and Layton. Established neighborhoods have aging sewer pipe, while newer subdivisions more often see sags or damage from construction and landscaping.

Related services

If the camera shows a sound pipe coated with grease or scale, hydro jetting scrubs it clean. Single clogs in sinks, tubs and toilets are handled by drain cleaning. For leaks and broken fixtures inside the house, see plumbing repair.

Schedule a sewer line inspection

Call (435) 730-2536 Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 6 PM, or schedule online. Your Comfort Heating & Air is licensed and insured. If sewage is backing up into the house, stop running water until we have looked at the line.