Trenchless Pipe Installation in Greenville

We open a small entry pit at one end of the run and an exit pit at the other. A horizontal directional drill steers a pilot hole between them along the planned depth and grade, the hole is reamed to the finished pipe size, and the new pipe is pulled back through in one continuous piece. Nothing between the two pits is touched. For a line that already exists and has failed, pipe bursting pulls the new pipe through the old one's path, and cured-in-place lining rebuilds a cracked sewer from the inside with no pit beyond a cleanout.

The full walkthrough of each method, with the cost drivers, lives on our regional trenchless pipe installation page and in the cost and process guide. This page is about what the work looks like inside Greenville.

Water line replacement is the most common trenchless call we get inside Greenville, and the reason is age. A galvanized service line installed in the 1950s or 60s corrodes shut from the inside; the house loses pressure a little every year, then a pinhole opens and the water bill jumps. The tell is a soft green stripe across a dry front lawn in August, or a meter that keeps turning with every fixture off. Our water leak detection crew can confirm it before anything is dug.

The trenchless fix bores a new line from the meter at the curb to the house, ties in at both ends, and abandons the old service in place. The driveway, the city sidewalk, and the tree roots between the two are never opened. Most Greenville residential water services are finished in a day. The same bore installs a brand-new service for an addition, a detached garage, a pool house, or a lot being split — see water line installation for new services and water line replacement for swaps. For what a replacement runs across the state, our South Carolina water line replacement cost guide breaks it down by length and material.

A gas service line is bored the same way a water line is: a pilot hole from the meter to the house or to the appliance pad, reamed and pulled with the right pipe for gas service. Greenville homeowners call for three things — a new line to a generator, pool heater, outdoor kitchen, or detached shop; a natural gas line replacement where an older steel service is corroding; and a relocated service when a driveway or addition is going where the old line runs. All three go in trenchless, without a cut through the drive or the lawn.

Every gas line we install is pressure-tested before it goes into service, and a camera inspection of any adjacent sewer or drain line is part of the pre-bore locate so a new gas run never crosses something it shouldn't. Scheduling with the utility for the meter-side connection is part of the job. The gas line installation page covers scope and pipe options, and our trenchless gas line replacement guide walks through what happens to the old line.

The sewer lateral under a North Main or Augusta Road home is usually the original one. Clay pipe cracks at the joints and lets roots in; cast iron scales until a camera can barely pass. Both sit under the driveway or the front walk, and often under a tree the neighborhood would notice losing. Digging a trench there is the expensive way to fix a pipe.

• Cured-in-place lining — a resin liner fed through the cleanout and cured into a new pipe inside the old one, for laterals that are cracked or root-intruded but still hold their shape.
• Pipe bursting — a bursting head splits the failed clay or iron line while pulling new jointless HDPE through the same path, for pipe that is past lining.
• New bored lateral — a fresh gravity line on grade from the house to the tap, for additions, new construction on infill lots, and homes leaving an old septic system.

A camera run comes first on every sewer job so the quote covers what the pipe actually needs. For how laterals fail across the region, read our Upstate trenchless sewer line guide.