No-dig pipe relining
across Randwick

A resin-soaked liner is drawn through the existing drain, inflated so it presses against the pipe wall along the whole run, then cured until it sets hard. What results is a continuous pipe formed inside the old one with no joints along the lined section. Since joints are where roots enter and where corrosion opens gaps, removing them is the point. The old pipe stays put and becomes the mould.

Because of what the alternative does to everybody else. Replacing a shared stack or the line under a common courtyard means excavation through common property and taking the building's drainage out of service while it happens. That is not a inconvenience for one household, it is twelve flats without a working toilet, and in a building full of shift workers and students there is no convenient week for it. Relining goes in through existing access and the line is out of service for hours rather than days.

Usually, and it is the most common thing we line here. Cast iron corrodes inwards, so the rust scale builds on the bore while the outside still looks sound. Provided there is enough wall left to press a liner against, lining restores a smooth full-diameter bore and stops the scaling process. What rules it out is a section that has actually collapsed, or one so far gone there is nothing to form against. The camera settles it.

The shared stack is generally common property, so it is the owners corporation's decision and its cost. That is worth knowing early, because it means the person with the blocked toilet cannot simply book the work. In a self-managed block the practical path is footage and a written scope the committee can actually vote on, which is what we provide rather than a verbal opinion.

For a sectional patch, usually a few hours. For a full stack, most of a working day. We give you the window before anything starts so it can be put on the noticeboard, because in a block the difference between a planned outage people knew about and a surprise one is most of the complaint. Compare that with excavation, which is days and a fenced courtyard.

In a building of this age, often. An original stack was installed once for the whole structure and has aged uniformly. If it has blocked twice in a year in different flats, the pattern is the pipe rather than what anyone is flushing. Lining it on a planned date is considerably cheaper and less disruptive than doing it in an emergency, when it will be a Sunday and half the owners are unreachable.

A sectional patch over one failed joint runs about $900 to $2,200. A full stack or a run to the boundary is usually $3,500 to $7,000 depending on length, diameter and bends. A camera inspection is $250 to $450 and comes off the reline if you proceed. For an owners corporation we provide the footage and a written scope at no extra cost, because a committee cannot approve what it has not seen.