I live in Saint Petersburg, Florida - suspected I had roots in my sewer line due to regular back ups. I had plumber come out to have a look, and confirmed that I did indeed have a pretty bad root problem. Using the camera, we discovered they were coming in at multiple places and that there were also breaks and separations in the line. Line line from the back of my house to the alley is approximately 50 feel, and covered by a concrete driveway. I told the plumber that I wanted to trench it myself to save money, and he told me I wouldn't save that much money doing that - then quoted me 4500 to replace the line.

The PVC is about 12.00 per 10 feet or so at Home Depot, and all the fittings I looked at were under 10 bucks. So, with all the materials costing less than 150 bucks, and me doing the digging - I'm not sure how the other 4300 bucks is justified.

If needed I'll just attempt to replace it myself. Do I need to have a licenses plumber connect to the city equipment? Also, the manhole is in the middle of the alley, will I have to dig all the way to it, or will the city hookup be at my property line? The alley is public access, so I'm not sure I can dig into it.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Mike

Mike, Yes, you can do it all yourself. Sewer replacement is not about materials but it is all manual, unskilled labor. Excavate the trench, expose existing pipe. Do NOT dig all the way to the man hole!! You stop at property line and /or when your 3"or 4" main turns into 6" lateral. You use reguler 6"x4" Flex Seal coupling (Home Depot) to connect new and existing. Do it yourself. Come back for more info if needed. Take and post photos. Let us know how you did...

Greeting from Sarasota, (My first home was on St. Pete Beach back in 55).
Soft sand, plus the fact that we don't have to bury our pipes beneath the frost line, make replacing your sewer line a viable option. When I worked in the area we run 4" for sewer lines. Back when I connected to the main the city raiser terminated in a 4" hub. We uased a Duel-Tite Gasket or we caulked it with oakum and sealed it with cement. Good luck, Tom

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Originally Posted by Milo Dolezal

Mike, Yes, you can do it all yourself. Sewer replacement is not about materials but it is all manual, unskilled labor. Excavate the trench, expose existing pipe. Do NOT dig all the way to the man hole !!!! You stop at property line and /or when your 3"or 4" main turns into 6" lateral. You use reguler 6"x4" Flex Seal coupling (Home Depot) to connect new and existing. Do it your self. Come back for more info if needed. Take and post photos. Let us know how you did...

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Thanks Milo and Tom for your help. Tom - being from Florida, do you know off hand if I am required to pull a permit for this, and I've also heard it has to be a licensed plumber connecting to the city. Any of that true?

One last thing, is it better to start from the city and work my way back to the house, or the other way around?

Thanks again for your help!

Mike

It's been a long time since I worked your area. Contact your Building Department for permit information. Good luck, Tom

I am not in FL but just about every municipality requires permit for work exceeding some small amount of money. It is their income, their "bread". In my area it is $100.00 (use to be $300.00 ) including materials...

It doesn't matter if you start from the property line inward or from your house. But, I would start from your house, and follow existing sewer all the way to the sidewalk / front property line. That way you eliminate lot of work looking for the sewer that may be 8' deep at the curb.

As a HomeOwner, you can do any work yourself, especially if it is inspected.

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Originally Posted by Milo Dolezal

I am not in FL but just about every municipality requires permit for work exceeding some small amount of money. It is their income, their "bread". In my area it is $100.00 (use to be $300.00 ) including materials....

It doesn't matter if you start from the property line inward or from your house. But, I would start from your house, and follow existing sewer all the way to the sidewalk / front property line. That way you eliminate lot of work looking for the sewer that may be 8' deep at the curb.

As a HomeOwner, you can do any work yourself, especially if it is inspected.

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Thanks Milo - I'm planning get started on this tomorrow morning. I really appreciate your help, I've never done any type of plumbing work before. You said I do not have to go all the way to the man hole, so there will be a connection coming from the city equipment to my property line that I need to hook into? I just want to be sure before I get started.

Dirtwork sounds easy, can be a little more difficult than expected. If you do it yourself, make sure you get a locate done.(call before you dig) If you start trenching and hit a main water line or gas line or electrical line or phone line or cable line etc etc, you may have some serious problems on your hands. Can be very dangerous without a locate.

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Originally Posted by mygirlsdad77

dirtwork sounds easy, can be a little more difficult than expected. If you do it yourself, make sure you get a locate done.(call before you dig) If you start trenching and hit a main water line or gas line or electrical line or phone line or cable line etc etc, you may have some serious problems on your hands. Can be very dangerous without a locate.

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Thanks, good advise. I'll get that done first.

Hope you will. You must call 48 hours in advance, prior to trenching. It cost you nothing. And it can save your life. I personally know of people that have died(hitting a gas line). And their familys have to live with that. Just want you to be safe. Yes you can do the job yourself, just make sure you take all of the precautionary steps. Like I said, dirtwork sounds simple, but there is more involved than just digging a trench and replacing the pipe.

MyGirlsDad77: great point ! Was going to leave you plus feedback - but got that "....you must spread some reputation around here...." message.

I believe their phone number is: 1-800-DIGALERT

FLMike: I think you can do it w/o any problem yourself.

First, excavate the trench and come back to us for additional advice. You will save yourself tons of money. To answer your question regarding the connection to the city sewer: As you will be digging towards the street, your 4" sewer will become 6" Clay. That will be about 6' before the property line. You will carefully remove the connecting coupling from the 6" Clay pipe and connect to it with your pipe + appropriate size Flex Seal coupling.

Now, very important point: if your trench becomes deeper than 5' than you have to shore it. This is true especially in sandy soil, like in Florida. Otherwise, you may find yourself buried inside trench and under pile of sand.

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To answer your question regarding the connection to the city sewer: As you will be digging towards the street, your 4" sewer will become 6" Clay. That will be about 6' before the property line. You will carefully remove the connecting coupling from the 6" Clay pipe and connect to it with your pipe + appropriate size Flex Seal coupling.

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And just how many sewer connections have you made in St. Pete Milo? Or are yiou giving California advice to a Florida hiomeowner? It's been 40 years since I worked the Tampa, St. Pete area but we made our city raiser connection to the hub end of a 4" piece of Terra-Cota pipe. We used a Duel-Tiite gasket or caulked in oakum sealed with cement to make the connection.

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Now, very important point: if your trench becomes deeper than 5' than you have to shore it. This is true especially in sandy soil, like in Florida. Otherwise, you may find yourself buried inside trench and under pile of sand.

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Thanks for the warning Milo, but once more you're confusing Florida with California. The last time I can remember being in a trench that I worried about was back in Wisconsin where the sewer line went deep beneath then frost line. Florida and California! =Apples versus oranges Milo! SPC versus UPC ? = No comparison! Have a good one Milo! Tom

And just how many sewer connections have you made in St. Pete Milo?

Zero

Or are yiou giving California advice to a Florida hiomeowner?

Positive. Installation practices of Municipalities are pretty much synchronized. However, he will be not digging to the street to connect to main City sewer under the asphalt . He will be connecting Straight Pipe into Straight Pipe. Only diameter of the two pipes will change. Do I have to live in FL to know how to connect 2 pipes together, Tom ? You are funny...


It's been 40 years since I worked the Tampa, St. Pete area but we made our city raiser connection to the hub end of a 4" piece of Terra-Cota pipe.

Terra Cota / Clay: same thing. Besides, the way you used to connect pipes in the 60's has been proven to be wrong. We do not do not do same mistakes today, in 2008. We learned from your mistakes.

We used a Duel-Tiite gasket or caulked in oakum sealed with cement to make the connection.

Well, that was 40 years ago. Check your calendar, Tom. It is 2008 now.

Thanks for the warning Milo, but once more you're confusing Florida with California. The last time I can remember being in a trench that I worried about was back in Wisconsin where the sewer line went deep beneath then frost line. Have a good one Milo! Tom

Your answers make less and less sense, Tom. I think you are little too much protective of your own turf. FL vs CA makes no difference here. His sewer will drop at property line. It may be 3' but it can be 8'. Trenching is matter of safety and not about protecting your familiar turf from others. Call your local OSHA office. They will tell you exactly if you need trench of not.

Florida and California!!=Apples versus oranges Milo!! SPC versus UPC ? = No comparison!

Safety is Safety no matter where you are. Are you saying OSHA doesn't require shoring in FL ? Or, forget OSHA, are you saying sandy soil will not collapse in FL but will in CA. You are wrong, Tom. Besides, your constant resistance to UPC is becoming ridiculous.

Do not scare posters. Replacing sewer line requires minimal knowledge. He can do it himself. And don't bury him alive in his own trench.

If he has any question, he can come back here for more advice.

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His sewer will drop at property line. It may be 3' but it can be 8'.

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And I'm getting weary of correcting you. You can't use California methods here in Florida if you've never worked the area.

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. He will be connecting Straight Pipe to Straight Pipe. Only diameter of pipe will change. Do I have to live in FL to know how to connect 2 pipes together, Tom ?

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Here the home owners sewer don't drop to meet the city sewer. The city 45's up with a raiser, (that's why they call it a "street raiser".

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are you saying sandy soil will not collapse in FL but will in CA. You are wrong, Tom. Besides, your constant poking of UPC is becoming ridiculous.

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No Milo! I'm not saying that. I'm saying that our trenches aren't that deep. And the reason I come down on your code is because it's restrictive, costly in time and material and, in some cases, downright silly and off the wall. And yet you not only defend your code but attempt to tell me mine. You're not the first UPC plumber I've had a problem with and until UPC falls in line with the other 90% of the nation youwon't be the last.

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Do not scare posters. Replacing sewer line requires minimal knowledge. He can do it himself. And don't bury him in trench.

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Scare posters? When did I do that? Yeah Milo! I'm old but I learn from you younger experts. Don't put me up on the shelf just yet. I was out there "beating iron" (that's caulking a poured lead joint for you younger dudes!) and putting in cast iron drainage before you were born. You young plumbers could still learn a thing or two from us old bucks instead of insulting us and putting us down.

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If he has any question, he can come back here for more advice.

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And you're going to tell him how we do it in Flordia? Milo! You're a hoot! Cheers, Tom