Are you thinking about lining the pipes of your commercial, large residential or industrial building in Chicago? If you are, you should know that nearly every building is a good candidate for pipelining. Of course, we’ve put together a few common questions that we receive every day about epoxy pipelining.
1. Is it possible to line my potable water pipes with an epoxy pipe lining?
It is absolutely possible to line your potable water pipes with epoxy lining, regardless of the material. Since potable water pipes are often much smaller than drain lines, we use a liquid epoxy, which is red. This red epoxy is also approved by the city of Chicago for lining potable water pipes because it does not leech anything into the water. In fact, your water may even be cleaner since it can’t leach chemicals or metals from your original pipes once the coating is installed.
The liquid epoxy is blown into your potable water lines, using pressurized air. As the epoxy moves through the pipe, it coats the entire interior diameter. Once the epoxy has been placed, it can take about 24 hours to fully cure. Once it’s cured, we perform a camera inspection to ensure the coating has completely covered the original pipe material cialis generico prezzo.
2. Is it possible to line drain and sewer lines if the pipe is severely cracked or missing sections?
It is possible to line sewer pipes and drain lines that are cracked or missing sections. This is because a felt liner is used to line larger pipe diameters. The felt liner is cut to the exact length of the pipe to be lined. Then, it is soaked in a 2-part epoxy mixture. Once the line has been properly prepared and thoroughly saturated, it is inserted into the sewer or drain line. An air bladder is used to press the liner against the sides of the host pipe, which means it fills the gaps created by large cracks and missing sections. It takes about 24 hours for the liner to fully cure. Once it’s cured, we perform a camera inspection to ensure the liner is properly placed and fully adhered to the sides of the host pipe. Once the lined pipe passes the inspection, we return it to service.
3. Will epoxy pipelining eliminate future sewer line clogs?
Epoxy liners are very smooth surfaces. Once they are installed and cured, they function just like a brand new pipe. However, the smoothness of the surface doesn’t guarantee that you’ll never experience another sewer or drain line clog. If oil, grease, eggshells and other forbidden items are poured down your drains and flushed down the toilets in your building, you could experience another clog. We recommend that you distribute information about the items that should never be put down drains or flushed down toilets, and maintain your regular drain cleaning schedule. We recommend yearly hydrojetting for sewer and drain lines.
4. Can I rehabilitate every pipe in my Chicago building with epoxy pipelining?
You can rehabilitate and restore every pipe in your building with pipelining. This includes potable water lines, drain lines, vent stands and vertical risers. If you feel like your entire building needs to have its pipes lined, please give us a call. We have licensed and experienced pipe liners and plumbers that can perform complete building pipe assessments in order to determine if you actually need to have your entire plumbing system lined.
5. Is epoxy pipelining recommended for historic buildings?
Many historic building owners choose pipelining to rehabilitate their older plumbing pipes and drain and sewer lines. This is because ripping out large sections of pipe could damage historic finishes and plaster that may be difficult or impossible to replace. Pipelining is much less invasive. All we need are access points to the pipes that need to be lined. If there are no access points, we create them and install access doors. This means that there are no holes in your plaster and very few, if any finishes need removed. This is much less damaging, costly and time-consuming when restoring plumbing pipes in historic buildings.
6. Can I still hydrojet my drain pipes and sewer line if I have epoxy pipelining?
You can hydrojet your drain and sewer lines if you’ve had epoxy pipe linings installed. In fact, we recommend hydrojetting for restored plumbing pipes because it’s just pressurized water with no added chemicals or detergents. The pressurized water removes clogs and completely cleans the insides of your pipes without damaging them and with no risk to the environment or natural water supplies.
7. Will my plumbing pipes experience any further corrosion after getting pipelining?
Your plumbing pipes will not experience any more internal corrosion or pinhole leaks after you have an epoxy pipe liner installed. This is because the water being sent to your taps and down your drains flows through the liner and never touches the host pipe. This virtually eliminates future corrosion and host pipe deterioration.
8. If I have to expand my plumbing system in the future, can I cut the lined pipes?
If you have to expand your plumbing system in the future or install new fittings and/or valves, you can cut through the lined pipes and attached the new fittings. However, you cannot weld or apply heat to a lined pipe. It could damage the liner. Instead, we recommend cutting through the pipes with a mechanical pipe cutter and attaching only mechanical fittings to the ends of the lined pipes.
9. How can future Chicago plumbers identify lined pipes?
After every completed pipe lining project, we place stickers on the pipes that were lined at the access points. This means that any future plumbers, maintenance men and building owners will be able to open the access door and view the sticker that says the pipe has been lined.
10. Does epoxy pipelining come with a warranty?
All of our pipe lining services come with a 10-year warranty. If you ever have a problem with the liner, you can call us. We will come out and inspect the lined pipe to determine if it was a pipe liner failure. If it was, we will perform the correction for free. In some instances, we may be able to work with you to create an extended warranty beyond ten years.
11. How do I contact NuFlow to ask questions about epoxy pipelining for my Chicago building?
If you are interested in having your pipes lined with epoxy, give us a call at 815-790-9000. We line all types of building pipes, including copper, galvanized steel, PVC and CPVC in large and small residential and commercial buildings as well as historic buildings and even government buildings.