Camera inspection, lateral repair, and replacement
Aurora sewer lines, scoped before they are dug.
The line running from your house to the city tap is yours to keep up. We put a camera down it, find out what is actually wrong, and tell you whether it needs a spot repair, a liner, or a trench. Call (303) 883-9075.
What is buried under Aurora yards
Clay, Orangeburg, and everything after.
Aurora grew in waves, and you can read the whole history in what people have under their front lawns.
Newer Aurora, out past the eighties subdivisions, is mostly ABS or PVC and holds up far better. Those lines usually fail from something specific instead: a bad connection, a settled section, or something that never should have gone down a drain. We work all of it. Call (303) 883-9075 or send us a note, and take a look at our gallery to see how we leave a job site.
- Sewer camera inspection
- Line locating and depth
- Spot repair
- Trenchless lining
- Full lateral replacement
- Root cutting and treatment
Roots, bellies, and clay soil
Why the same line keeps backing up.
The second is the ground itself. Front Range clay soil swells when it takes on water and shrinks back when it dries, and it does that cycle every year. Pipe laid in that soil gets pushed around. Over enough seasons a run sags into a low spot, a belly, where waste stops moving and solids settle out instead of washing through. You can clean a belly and it will run fine for a while, then fill in again, because gravity is still working against that section.
If your trouble is a single branch drain or a kitchen line that clogs every few months, that is a different job. Our drain cleaning in Aurora page covers the clearing work. This page is about the main lateral, what is wrong with it, and what it takes to fix it for good.
- Root intrusion at joints
- Bellies and low spots
- Offset and dropped joints
- Collapsed sections
- Grease and scale buildup
- Recurring floor drain backups
Trenchless or open-cut
Straight talk about which one your line needs.
Trenchless gets sold hard. It is a genuinely good option on the right pipe and a waste of money on the wrong one, so we tell you which you have before you spend anything.
When trenchless works
If the old pipe still holds its shape and the run is reasonably straight, we can go in through the existing cleanout and rebuild it from the inside. Pipe bursting pulls a new line through the path of the old one while breaking the old pipe outward. Cured-in-place lining pulls a resin-soaked sleeve through and hardens it against the walls, forming a smooth pipe inside the pipe with no joints for roots to find.
That matters in Aurora because laterals here tend to run under a driveway, a mature tree, or landscaping somebody spent real money on. Keeping the yard intact is often worth as much as the pipe work.
When it does not
A liner follows the shape of whatever it is cured against. Line a belly and you get a lined belly, still sagging, still collecting solids. Orangeburg that has already gone oval is usually too far out of round to host a liner. A fully collapsed section, a badly offset joint, or a line that needs its grade corrected all want an open trench so the pipe can be re-set to fall properly.
Same goes for a lateral that has to be re-routed or brought up to current code at the tap. In those cases we will say so plainly rather than sell you a liner that puts you back here in three years.
Where your responsibility ends
The tap in the street is the property line.
In Aurora, the sewer lateral from the house out to the city main is the homeowner’s pipe, and it stays the homeowner’s pipe all the way to the tap. Aurora Water maintains the main itself. That means a failure in your yard, under your driveway, or in the strip between the sidewalk and the curb generally lands on you, which surprises a lot of folks the first time it happens.
It is also why scoping a line is worth doing before you buy an older Aurora house. A general home inspection does not put a camera in the sewer, and a lateral problem is not something you find out about politely. Spend an hour scoping it during your inspection window and you will know exactly what you are taking on. Call (303) 883-9075 and we will get you scheduled.
How a sewer call goes
Look first, dig last.
Camera and locate
We run the camera the length of the lateral and mark the trouble on the surface with a locator, so we know the spot and the depth before anyone talks about digging.
Show you the footage
You see what we see. Roots at a joint, a belly holding water, or a collapse all look different on screen, and the fix follows from which one it is.
One honest option
Spot repair, liner, or replacement, with the reasoning behind it. Wes holds the master plumber and the general contractor license, so the dig, the pipe, and the concrete or sod after all stay with one company.
Camera again
After the work we re-scope the line to confirm it is clear and falling the right way before we backfill and pack up.
Straight answers
Sewer questions we hear around Aurora.
Sewage came up in my basement floor drain. What does that mean?
The floor drain is usually the lowest opening in the house, so when the main lateral backs up that is where it shows first. It points at the main line rather than a single fixture. Stop running water, and call us at (303) 883-9075. We will clear it and then camera the line to find out why it happened, because a main backup almost always has a cause worth knowing.
How do I know whether my Aurora house has clay or Orangeburg?
A camera settles it in a few minutes. Clay shows as short sections with a visible joint every few feet, often with roots at those joints. Orangeburg looks like dark fiber and usually shows deformation, with the round shape squashing toward an oval. Age of the neighborhood is a hint, but plenty of Aurora blocks were plumbed with a mix, so we would rather look than guess.
Can you reline my Aurora sewer instead of tearing up the driveway?
Often, yes. If the pipe holds its shape and the run is workable, we access it through the cleanout and cure a liner in place, which leaves the driveway and landscaping alone. It will not fix a belly or a collapsed section, and heavily deformed Orangeburg usually cannot take a liner. We scope it first and tell you honestly which camp your line is in. Reach out and we will set it up.
Who pays for the sewer line between my house and the street?
You do. The lateral from the house to the city tap is the homeowner’s responsibility in Aurora, including the portion under the yard, the sidewalk, and out to the connection. Aurora Water takes care of the public main. If the problem turns out to be in the main rather than your lateral, we will tell you that too.
What exactly is a belly, and can it be cleaned instead of dug?
A belly is a sag in the pipe where the ground settled underneath it, common here because Front Range clay swells and shrinks with moisture. Waste stops moving through that low spot and solids drop out. Cleaning it will get things flowing again and can buy you time, but the sag is still there, so it fills in again. Correcting the grade means opening that section and re-setting the pipe.
Should I scope the sewer before buying an older Aurora home?
Yes, and it is money well spent. Standard home inspections do not include a sewer camera, and a failed lateral is one of the larger repairs a house can hand you. An hour with a camera during your inspection window tells you the pipe material, its condition, and whether roots or a belly are already at work. Call (303) 883-9075 to get on the schedule.
Why do the roots keep coming back after you cut them?
Cutting clears the pipe but leaves the joint that let the roots in, and the tree keeps growing toward that same leak. Foam treatment slows the regrowth. If you are cutting the same line every year, that is usually the point where lining or replacing the bad section stops being optional and starts being the cheaper path.
Do you handle sewer emergencies at night in Aurora?
We are open around the clock, seven days. A sewer backup does not wait for business hours and neither do we. Call (303) 883-9075 whenever it happens and we will tell you straight when we can be at your door.
Sewer trouble in Aurora?
We scope the line before we quote it, so you know what you are paying to fix and why.