Water and plumbing
Sewer line replacement cost
A 50 ft clay sewer line 4 ft deep with roots at the joints and 10 ft of it under a walk is about $6,820 to replace by open trench — $136 a foot, with the camera, a new cleanout and the permit. What decides the method is the camera: a belly can only be dug, a collapse cannot be lined, one break is a $2,980 spot repair. What decides the price is the ground on top: under lawn the trench is cheapest, and under 30 ft of driveway at 6 ft deep lining is — $9,500 against $10,910 dug. This prices all four methods on your line, fades the ones the camera rules out, and does clearing a clog as well.
Written and edited by Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Last reviewed 2026-09-24 · Nothing you type leaves your browser
Sewer line replacement cost calculator
The line, what the camera saw, and what is on top of it
The camera decides which methods are allowed; the length, the depth and the ground above decide what each costs. The cheapest one that fixes the line is the one chosen.
The line fixed or replaced.
Short lengths with a joint every 2 to 3 ft, and roots find every joint.
Roots in through the joints. Cleared, they come back in one to two years unless the joints are sealed.
House wall to the tap or the property line.
Under 5 ft: no shoring.
Driveway, walk or patio over the line.
Topsoil and seed.
Along the line.
The line ends at the property line.
The cheapest method that fixes roots at the joints in clay (vitrified) under 10 ft of concrete and 40 ft of lawn.
Used only to pick a regional labour rate. It stays in your browser.
Open-trench replacement, 50 ft
$6,820
$136 per foot of line · 4 ft deep · 10 ft under concrete
The camera decides the method
The cheapest method that fixes roots at the joints in clay (vitrified) under 10 ft of concrete and 40 ft of lawn. Ruled out: spot repair.
What is on top decides
10 ft of concrete is $700 to put back.
An open trench is the cheapest way to replace a line under grass: the digging is the job, and the restoration is topsoil and seed. Every foot of driveway, walk or mature planting over it adds the cost of breaking it out and putting it back, and that is where pipe bursting and lining, which only open a pit or two, overtake it.
One line, four methods
Same length, depth and ground above; faded where the camera rules the method out.
What the contractor charges for
- Camera inspection
A camera down the line from the cleanout, with the footage and a locator on the problem. The step every quote should start from.$250 - 50 ft, open-trench replacement
Excavating, laying new 4 in PVC to grade on bedding, backfill and compaction, per foot at 4 ft deep.$4,500 - Putting the surface back
10 ft of concrete: concrete or asphalt cut, broken out and replaced over a 3 ft trench, per foot. The rest: topsoil, seed or sod over the trench, per foot.$1,020 - Two-way cleanout
A two-way cleanout where the line leaves the house: access for the camera, the jetter and the next time.$700 - Permit and inspection
Sewer permit and inspection of the open pipe before backfill. Required almost everywhere.$350
What it costs
National average. A 50 ft clay (vitrified) building sewer at 4 ft, open-trench replacement, with the camera, a cleanout and the permit. Not included: trees removed, rock excavation, the city's side of the lateral, or plumbing inside the house.
The walk or driveway cut over the trench is priced properly on the sidewalk page; a toilet that backs up because of the line, on the toilet page.
Worth knowing
- The camera decides which of these is allowed. Spot repair: the damage runs the length of the line; a patch fixes one joint of many. Of what fits, open-trench replacement is cheapest at $6,820.
- A two-way cleanout where the line leaves the house ($700) is on every quote here: it is how the camera, the jetter and the next plumber get in without pulling a toilet.
On this page — 4 sections
The camera picks the method
The short version
- 50 ft clay line, roots, 10 ft under a walk: $6,820, open trench, $136 a foot.
- One break and sound pipe either side: $2,980 for a spot repair.
- A belly rules out both trenchless methods; a collapse or Orangeburg rules out lining.
- Under a driveway the order flips: $9,500 lined against $10,910 dug, at 6 ft.
Nobody can price a sewer line without seeing inside it, and the camera does more than find the problem: it decides which repairs are even possible. One break with sound pipe either side is a spot repair. Roots, cracks and small offsets along the line can be lined from the inside. A belly — a stretch that has settled and lost its fall — cannot be lined or burst, because both follow the pipe’s path, sag and all; it is dug up and relaid. A collapsed pipe cannot be lined, because a liner needs a pipe to form inside; it can be burst. Orangeburg, the fibre pipe of the 1950s, has usually flattened and is replaced whole.
| Allowed | Ruled out | |
|---|---|---|
| One break, sound either side | Spot repair, and all the others | — |
| Roots, cracks, corrosion | Trench, bursting, lining | Spot repair |
| Belly | Trench | Bursting, lining |
| Collapse | Trench, bursting | Lining |
| Orangeburg | Trench, bursting | Lining |
ASTM International, ASTM F1216, Rehabilitation of existing pipelines by the inversion and curing of a resin-impregnated tube (CIPP), and F1962 on pipe bursting · checked 2026-09-24
The ground on top sets the price
Among the methods that fit, the cheapest is decided by what has to be put back. An open trench under lawn is the cheap way to replace a line: the digging is the job and the restoration is topsoil and seed at $8 a foot. Under a driveway or a walk, every foot of concrete is broken out and poured again at about $70 a foot, and at 5 ft deep the trench has to be shored before anyone goes in. That is where pipe bursting, with a pit at each end, and lining, with no digging at all, overtake it.
| 50 ft clay, roots | Trench | Bursting | Lining |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawn, 4 ft deep | $6,200 | $8,546 | $9,500 |
| 10 ft under a walk, 4 ft | $6,820 | $8,546 | $9,500 |
| 10 ft under a walk, 6 ft | $9,670 | $9,626 | $9,500 |
| 30 ft under a driveway, 6 ft | $10,910 | $9,626 | $9,500 |
| Planted beds, 4 ft | $7,050 | $8,750 | $9,500 |
Camera, cleanout and permit in every figure. The darker figure is the cheapest in each row.
U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 29 CFR 1926.652, Requirements for protective systems in excavations · checked 2026-09-24
What the price is made of
A replacement quote has the same pieces whatever the method: the camera, before and often after; the pipe work, by the foot; the pits or the set-up the method needs; shoring once the trench is 5 ft deep; putting back what was on top; a two-way cleanout where the line leaves the house, so the next problem can be reached without pulling a toilet; and the permit, with an inspection of the open pipe before it is buried. A tap in the street adds a road cut, traffic control and the city’s own inspector.
$4,500
50 ft of new pipe, dug
$90 a foot at 4 ft
$1,020
Putting the surface back
10 ft of walk, 40 of lawn
$950
Cleanout and camera
On every quote
$4,500
A tap in the street
Road cut and patch
MaterialsEstimator, Sewer line cleaning, repair and replacement price survey · checked 2026-09-24
Before signing a quote
- The camera footage, with the damage located from the surface — and a copy for you.
- The method, and why the others were ruled out.
- The depth at both ends, and whether the trench will be shored.
- What is being put back over the trench, and to what: seed, sod, concrete.
- A cleanout at the house, on the quote.
- Who owns the line past the property line, and who pays for the street.
- The permit and the inspection before backfill.
What goes wrong
01Pricing without the camera
The method depends on what is inside, and a quote without footage is a guess at the most expensive one.
Instead — A camera first, about $250, with the footage kept.
02Lining a belly
The liner follows the sag; the water sits there and the clogs continue inside a new pipe.
Instead — Dig and relay the sag to grade.
03Spot-repairing Orangeburg
The pipe beside the patch is the same age and the same fibre.
Instead — Replace the whole line, dug or burst.
04Jetting roots forever
Roots return through the same joints in one to two years; five years of jetting costs about what a liner does.
Instead — Line the joints shut once the pattern is clear.
05Assuming trenchless is cheaper
Under lawn the trench is $6,200 and lining $9,500.
Instead — Price the methods that fit on this ground.
06Paying for the city's half
Where the city owns the lateral past the property line, it repairs that part.
Instead — Ask the city before paying for the road cut.
07No cleanout
The next clog is reached by pulling a toilet.
Instead — A two-way cleanout at the house, on the quote.
08Backfilling before the inspection
An uninspected line is an open permit and a problem when the house sells.
Instead — The inspector sees the open pipe, then the trench is filled.
- 01Get the camera down the lineFrom a cleanout, with the footage kept. It shows the problem, where it is, and what the pipe is made of.
- 02Read what it showsOne break, or damage along the line; roots, cracks, offsets, a belly or a collapse. That decides which methods are allowed.
- 03Measure the lineFrom the house wall to the tap or the property line, and how deep it runs at each end.
- 04Note what is on topFeet under driveway, walk or patio; lawn or planted beds the rest. That decides which allowed method is cheapest.
- 05Find the tapAt the property line, or in the street. A street tap is a road cut, the city's inspection and a patch.
- 06Compare what fitsThe calculator prices all four methods on the same line and fades the ones the camera rules out.
A trench under a walk or driveway ends with concrete poured back. The sidewalk page prices it by the foot, with the base and the joints.
The walk over the trench- Building sewer / lateral
- The pipe from the house wall to the city main or septic tank. Usually the owner's up to the property line, sometimes to the main.
- Camera inspection
- A camera pushed down the line from a cleanout, recording the pipe and locating the damage from the surface. The step every other decision rests on.
- Cleanout
- A capped access fitting on the line. A two-way cleanout at the house lets the camera, jetter or liner go in either direction.
- Belly
- A stretch of pipe that has settled and lost its fall. It holds water and collects solids; only relaying it to grade fixes it.
- Offset joint
- Two sections shifted against each other, leaving a step that catches paper. Small offsets can be lined; large ones are dug.
- Orangeburg
- Tar-impregnated wood-fibre pipe used from the 1940s to the 1970s. It flattens and collapses and is replaced wherever it is found.
- Open trench
- Digging the whole line, replacing the pipe on new bedding at the right slope, backfilling and restoring. Fixes anything.
- Pipe bursting
- A bursting head pulled through the old pipe from pit to pit, splitting it outward and drawing new HDPE in behind. Trenchless, but follows the old path.
- CIPP lining
- Cured-in-place pipe: a resin-soaked felt tube inverted into the old pipe and cured to form a new one inside it. Needs the old pipe to hold its shape.
- Hydro-jetting
- Water at 3,000–4,000 psi through a spinning nozzle, scouring the pipe wall and cutting roots flush.
- Shoring
- A trench box or braced sides that keep a trench from caving in. Required at 5 ft or deeper.
- Tap
- The connection of the lateral to the city main. When it is in the street, reaching it means a road cut.
Common questions
- How much does it cost to replace a sewer line?
- About $6,820 for a typical 50 ft clay line 4 ft deep with roots, 10 ft of it under a walk: open trench, new 4 in PVC, the camera, a cleanout and the permit — $136 a foot. Under lawn only it is $6,200; at 6 ft, where the trench must be shored, $9,500; a 100 ft line $11,720; with the tap in the street add the road cut, $11,320 in all.
- How much does sewer line replacement cost per foot?
- $136 a foot for the example line, everything in. Open trench runs about $90 a foot for the digging and pipe at 4 ft deep, plus 15% for every foot deeper and shoring from 5 ft; pipe bursting about $95 a foot plus two pits; lining about $140 a foot plus the set-up. A short line costs more per foot — $163 for 20 ft — because the camera, cleanout, permit and minimum do not shrink.
- Trenchless or open trench?
- Whichever is cheaper among the methods the camera allows, and that depends on what is on top. Under lawn the trench wins: $6,200 against $8,546 bursting and $9,500 lining for 50 ft. Under 30 ft of driveway at 6 ft deep it reverses: the trench is $10,910 with the concrete, lining $9,500. Trenchless is not a better pipe; it is less to put back.
- When can a sewer line not be lined?
- When the old pipe has lost its shape: a collapsed or crushed section leaves nothing for the liner to form inside, and Orangeburg that has flattened gives a flat liner. And when the problem is a belly: a liner follows the sag, so the water still sits there. Cracks, roots at the joints, corrosion and small offsets are what lining is for.
- What is pipe bursting and when does it work?
- A pit at each end and a bursting head pulled through the old line, splitting it outward and drawing new HDPE pipe in behind. It replaces lines too far gone to line — collapsed clay, Orangeburg — without a trench: $9,626 for the 50 ft collapsed line under a driveway, against $10,910 dug. It follows the old path, so a belly stays a belly.
- How much is a spot repair?
- About $2,980 when the camera shows one break and sound pipe either side: a hole over it, about 10 ft of pipe cut out and replaced, backfilled, with the camera, a cleanout and the permit. On a line with damage along its length it is a repair on one joint of many, and the next one fails beside it.
- What does a belly cost to fix?
- A belly — a sag that has lost its fall — is only fixed by digging it up and relaying the pipe at the code's eighth of an inch per foot. For the 50 ft example that is the open trench, $6,820; lining and bursting both follow the sag and are ruled out. A spot dig works if the belly is short and the rest of the line is sound.
- How much does it cost to snake or jet a sewer line?
- About $250 to snake the main line from a cleanout and $550 to hydro-jet it, plus about $250 for the camera after. The snake opens the clog; the jet scours the wall and cuts roots flush and lasts longer. Roots come back in one to two years; two or three jettings a year for five years is the price of a liner.
- Does insurance cover a sewer line?
- Standard homeowner's policies usually exclude a lateral that fails from age, roots or settling; a sewer or service-line endorsement, often a few dollars a month, covers it. Damage inside the house from a backup is a separate endorsement. Some cities and utilities sell their own lateral warranty.
- Who owns the sewer line?
- Usually the owner, from the house to the property line or the curb, and in many cities to the main itself, including the tap in the street. Where the city owns the part past the property line, it repairs that part — ask before paying for a road cut.
- How long does it take?
- A day for a spot repair or a lining job, one to three days for an open trench or a burst, plus the inspection before backfill. The house can use water between steps on a lining job; during a trench replacement the line is open and the toilets are off.
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About the author
Pablo Ruiz Quintero — Editor
Editor of MaterialsEstimator. Decides which documents count as a source, what every default value is, and where the line sits between what the reader parses and what the engines compute.
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