The 3 Stages of Sewer Main Failure

Stage 1: Minimal Damage

Stage 1 covers the beginning of mainline damage and is the easiest stage to repair. At this stage, you should have only dealt with one or two backups. Your pipes might have small cracks or joints out of alignment by less than an inch. But your pipes run straight from your house to the street and don’t have any low spots slowing water flow.

Any trenchless repair will do the job here. The most common option is adding a resin liner to the inside of your pipes. It’s inexpensive compared to other repairs and needs the least amount of digging. Depending on your situation, you might choose to go with a pipe burst instead. A description of that process is in the next stage.

Stage 2: Severe Damage

Once you've experienced a few backups, you've probably entered stage 2. Now the cracks are getting bigger and roots are starting to find the leaking water. Or your pipes might have shifted by more than an inch. Your pipes might have a few low spots collecting water and waste, but there haven’t been any full cave-ins yet.

Most stage 2 situations can still use any trenchless option. You might have to combine it with a small digging operation to repair a low spot, however. A common solution here is a pipe burst. A team would pull a new, wider pipe through the old one, bursting the walls and replacing the line. You get a solid line with minimal damage to your yard.

Stage 3: Complete Failure

By this point, you’ve reached total mainline failure. You're likely dealing with multiple backups a year now. Or even worse, your home could have gone completely out of service.

Your pipes might have caved in or roots might have filled entire sections. There might be places with deep low spots, known as bellies. They would be collecting a large amount of water and waste. That buildup would slow or stop the flow of water completely.

At stage 3 there are no trenchless options. Excavation is your only choice now. A team would dig a trench and replace the entire line with a new one.