Trenchless

Trenchless Sewer Repair Explained: Lining vs Pipe Bursting

By Indianapolis Sewer Line Repair · September 5, 2026 · 7 min read

Trenchless is one word for two very different jobs. Cured-in-place pipe lining leaves the old pipe where it is and builds a new one inside it. Pipe bursting destroys the old pipe and drags a new one through the hole. They cost about the same, they both save the yard, and they are not interchangeable. The camera decides.

How lining works

1. The lateral is jetted clean so the wall is bare — roots cut out, scale knocked off, grease gone.
2. A felt or fiberglass liner is measured to the run and saturated with a two-part epoxy resin.
3. The liner is inverted or pulled into the pipe from the cleanout (or from inside the basement if there is no cleanout), then inflated with air or water so it presses against the old pipe wall.
4. It is cured with hot water, steam or a UV light train — one to four hours depending on the resin.
5. A robotic cutter reopens any branch connections (a basement floor drain tee, a second stack) that the liner covered.
6. A camera run confirms the result. Ask for the after video.

The result is a smooth, jointless pipe about a quarter inch smaller in diameter than the original, bonded to the inside of the clay. Roots have no joint to enter. Manufacturers rate CIPP liners for about 50 years; that is a design life, not a warranty.

How pipe bursting works

1. A pit is dug at the house end and another at the main, or at a point where the new pipe can be joined to sound pipe.
2. A steel cable is threaded through the old pipe.
3. A hydraulic puller in the exit pit draws a conical bursting head through the old pipe. The head splits the clay or cast iron outward into the surrounding soil.
4. A new HDPE pipe, fused into one continuous length, follows directly behind the head.
5. The new pipe is connected at both ends, inspected, and the pits are backfilled.

The result is a brand-new pipe of the same diameter or one size up, on the same route.

Which one your pipe needs

The one thing neither fixes is grade. A sag stays a sag. Those sections are dug and re-laid, and the rest of the line is lined. Hybrid jobs like that are common north of 38th Street.

Why Indianapolis went trenchless

The neighborhoods with the oldest clay — Meridian-Kessler, Butler-Tarkington, Broad Ripple, Irvington — are also the ones with the biggest trees. Pin oaks, silver maples and sycamores planted between the sidewalk and the curb in the 1920s now have root plates that reach the house. An open trench from the basement wall to the main goes straight through them. The tree often doesn't survive the cut.

Lining needs a pit at the cleanout, or nothing at all if the work can start from the basement. The tree doesn't notice. That, more than the lawn, is why lining became the default in those neighborhoods. On those blocks, trenchless pipe lining Indianapolis-wide has one more advantage: lining under a street tree can also avoid a street cut and its permit.

What each costs

Lining: $6,000–$15,000 for a typical lateral, priced per foot plus setup, plus $300–$600 per branch reinstated. Bursting: $8,000–$20,000, higher because of the two pits and, usually, a small cut at the main. Both are above open trench per foot and below it as a total job once concrete, pavement or a tree is in the way. The cost page has the numbers next to each other.

Where each one goes wrong

Lining a pipe that wasn't clean. Resin bonds to the pipe wall, not to scale or grease. A rushed jetting job means a liner that delaminates at that spot in year three.

Lining over a belly. The liner follows the pipe, so the sag stays and now it can't be spot-repaired without cutting the liner.

Bursting near other utilities. The head displaces soil outward. A gas or water service within a foot of the old sewer can be damaged. Indiana 811 marks and a careful locate come first, always.

Bursting Orangeburg. Sometimes fine, sometimes the fiber pipe just tears and wraps the head. It depends on how far gone it is.

The benefits of trenchless pipe repair, and the trade-offs

The benefits are real, but they are not free.

What you gain

• The yard, the walk and the drive mostly stay put. One or two pits replace a trench.
• Mature trees keep their roots.
• Work under the street can often skip a pavement cut.
• The job is usually done in a day, and the drains are back on that evening.
• A liner leaves no joints for roots to find.

What you give up

• Per foot, it costs more than laying pipe in an open trench.
• Neither method fixes a sag in the line.
• A liner makes the pipe slightly smaller inside.
• Bursting needs room for two pits and careful locates of nearby utilities.
• If the connection at the main is bad, it may still need its own dig.

What the day looks like

For lining, expect a crew at the cleanout or in the basement in the morning. The line is jetted and scoped first. The liner is wetted out with resin on site, pulled or inverted in, and cured. Then the branch tees are reopened and the camera runs again. Water use stops for most of the day.

For bursting, the pits come first. The cable is threaded, the head is pulled through, and the new pipe follows behind it. The ends are connected, the tap is inspected, and the pits are backfilled. Bursting can run into a second day when the inspection at the main is scheduled separately.

Questions to ask before you choose

1. Which method do you recommend for my pipe, and why not the other one?
2. Does the work include the connection at the main?
3. How many branch connections will be reopened, and at what price each?
4. Where will the pits go, and what will be restored on top?
5. Will I get a camera video before and after?
6. What does the written warranty cover, and what voids it?

Permits

Both methods are lateral work. In the Citizens Energy Group service area, sewer lateral work needs a permit and an inspection of the connection, and Citizens sets requirements for the contractors who do it — check the current rules with Citizens before work starts. The contractor who does the work pulls the permit; ask for the permit number. Don't assume "no trench, no permit."

The trenchless service page has the method table for your pipe, and every job starts with a camera inspection — that is where the lining-or-bursting question gets answered.

Common questions

Can lining and bursting be used on the same line?

Yes, though it is less common than lining paired with a dig. A contractor might burst a broken stretch near the house and line the round section toward the street. Most often the mix is a short open dig for a sag or a collapse, with a liner for the rest.

Will trenchless work damage my lawn at all?

A little. Expect a pit or two, some tracks from equipment, and a patch of seed where each pit was. That is a lot less than a trench from the house to the street, and it usually grows back in one season.

Can I use the drains while a liner cures?

No. The liner has to cure without water running through it, so the drains stay off until the crew says otherwise. On most jobs that is a few hours. Plan laundry, showers and dishes around it, and keep a bucket of water handy for flushing if needed.