Pittsburgh Pipes

A lot of homes in established neighborhoods are still running on clay, cast iron or Orangeburg sewer lines. These materials aren’t built to last and when you add in tree roots, ground shifting and basement leaks, they start to crack, sag or collapse. 

Terry’s has been unclogging sewer lines in Pittsburgh since 1984 and we can tell you that if you need to dig into your yard for a fix, it’s best done now and not once it’s raining and snowing and cold. 

Why is summer a good time to do excavation work?

The ground is workable. Pittsburgh’s clay-heavy soil gets stubborn once it’s saturated with fall and winter moisture. Digging in dry, late-summer ground is faster, cleaner and easier on your yard and your driveway.

You beat the fall rush. Sewer line problems tend to spike once autumn storms hit and older lines get overwhelmed. 

You avoid a winter mess. A sewer line that’s struggling in summer is not going to get better once the ground freezes. If a line needs to be excavated and replaced, doing it before winter means you’re not dealing with a collapsed line and a frozen yard in January.

Landscaping has time to recover. Grass and plants disturbed by an excavation in summer still have a nice stretch of warm weather to reestablish before winter.

How do I know my sewer line has problems? 

• Slow drains in multiple fixtures at once (not just one sink)
• Gurgling sounds from toilets or drains
• Sewage odor in the yard or basement
• An unusually lush or soggy patch of grass over the sewer line’s path
• Cracks in the foundation or basement floor near plumbing runs
• Backups that happen every time it rains heavily

How do I know if I need to repair, reline or replace my sewer line?

Not every sewer line problem means tearing up the whole yard. Depending on what our team finds during an inspection, options can include:

• Trenchless pipe lining, which repairs the inside of the pipe with minimal digging
• Spot repair, for a localized crack or break
• Full excavation and replacement, when the line has deteriorated too far to save

We’ll walk your property, run a camera through the line if needed and give you honest, up-front pricing on what’s actually necessary. That’s been Terry’s approach since day one.

What happens if I do need a full dig in my yard?

We will locate and mark the line, and call in utility locates before anything gets touched. We excavate carefully, keeping disruption to your yard and driveway to a minimum. We replace the damaged section (or the full line) with modern, durable pipe. We backfill, compact and leave the site as close to how we found it as possible. We stand behind the work with our Terry’s Service Guarantee.

We’ve done this enough times across Pittsburgh’s hills and old neighborhoods to know how to get it done right without turning your property into a construction site.

If something’s been bothering you all summer, now is the time to give us a call at 412-364-9114 or reach out online for an honest assessment and straightforward pricing. We’re family-owned, we answer the phone 24/7 and we’ve been keeping Pittsburgh flowing for over 40 years.