When it comes to rehabilitating your plumbing pipes, you have two choices. You can have your original pipes ripped out and replaced with new pipes, or you can have your existing pipes lined with epoxy. Both methods have their pros and cons. With new pipes, you’ll get brand new pipes and their entire useful life, which is usually somewhere between 40 and 70 years. With epoxy pipelining, you’ll get a new pipe liner or a pipe coating and a useful life of between 35 and 50 years. Let’s take a look at epoxy pipelining and traditional pipe replacements and discuss the associated costs.
Epoxy Pipelining Versus Traditional Pipe Replacement Costs
When you want to replace or rehabilitate your plumbing pipes, your first concern is probably the cost of the endeavor. Therefore, you’ll probably get quotes from a master plumber and an epoxy pipelining company, like NuFlow Midwest.
Costs Associated with a Traditional Pipe Replacement
In general, traditional pipe replacements cost between $4 and $15 per linear foot. This means that if you wanted to repipe a thousand linear feet, you could expect it to cost somewhere between $4,000, and $15,000.
- Pipe Inspection – Pipe inspections can tell you how old your pipes are, their condition and how much life is left in them. This is useful if you’re trying to determine if you need to repipe your building. These can cost anywhere from $250 to $1,200 or more.
- Labor to Install the New Pipes – Plumbers typically charge anywhere from $45 to more than $200 per hour for the labor to install your pipes.
- The Cost of the New Pipes – Depending on the material, you’ll pay between $2 and $12 per linear foot for new pipes.
- Performing Slab Repairs – Slab repairs after a plumber has cut through your concrete slab in order to replace the pipes under it cost about $6 per cubic foot. Total slab replacements tend to range from $3,600 to more than $8,000
- Disposing of the Old Pipes – The cost for this can vary from being included in the quoted price to being a separate fee. In order to find out the cost of the disposal, you’ll need to ask your plumber.
- Repairing Drywall Damage – The average cost to repair drywall is $573 but can range in price from $200 to more than $1,000. Per square foot, drywallers typically charge between $60 and $80.
- Repairing Landscaping Damage – If you need a sewer pipe replacement that is located under the soil, the excavation is typically included in the cost of the repair. However, that can cost between $40 and $200 per cubic yard of dirt removed from the trench. While the plumber will also typically put the dirt back, he or she won’t relandscape your yard, and you can expect to pay between $300 and more than $16,000 to repair your landscaping.
When you request an estimate for a pipe replacement with a master plumber, he or she typically includes the labor costs, material costs and any extra fees, like pipe disposal and excavation, if excavation is needed. They do not include the cost of repairing drywall, landscaping or slabs. In fact, you’ll have to hire additional contractors to have those repairs performed.
Costs Associated with Epoxy Pipelining
By contrast, lining your pipes with epoxy costs between $80 and $250 per linear foot. This means that if you wanted to line 1,000 feet of pipe, it’d cost between $8,000 and $25,000 dollars, and there wouldn’t be any hidden costs associated with that work. This is because trenchless epoxy pipelining doesn’t have extra costs for excavation, drywall repairs, landscaping repairs or slab leak repairs, and your existing pipes don’t need to be taken to the landfill.
How Is Epoxy Pipelining More Cost Effective Than a Traditional Pipe Replacement?
At face value, it looks like a traditional pipe replacement could be less expensive than epoxy pipelining. After all, the cost of replacing a thousand feet of pipe would run you $15,000 in our example, and lining the same footage of pipe would cost you $25,000, which is a $10,000 dollar savings.
However, it’s important to note that the $15,000 traditional pipe replacement doesn’t include any repairs after the work has been performed, and hiring additional contractors can quickly remove those $ 10,000 savings.
For example, if your building had a sewer pipe replaced, and you need to repair a large section of landscaping and grass, that could cost you $16,000. If you need drywall replaced or repaired after your pipe replacement, that saved $10,000 would only cover between 10 and 50 linear feet.
When all of these additional costs are included in the price of traditionally replacing your plumbing pipes, it can quickly become more expensive than simply having epoxy pipeliners installed.
How Does Epoxy Pipelining Lead to Long-Term Savings?
When you choose to rehabilitate your plumbing pipes with epoxy pipeliners, you’ll enjoy long-term savings. This is because epoxy pipeliners are extremely durable. They are rated to last between 35 and 50 years, which is comparable to the average lifespan of new plumbing materials. Not to mention, in accelerated laboratory testing, epoxy pipeliners were determined to have a potential useful life of up to 80 years.
Installing pipeliners can also save you on future repairs. This is because the liner acts like a new pipe, meaning water flows through the hardened liner and doesn’t touch your existing pipe. Because the liner prevents water from reaching your host pipe, the internal diameter of the pipe doesn’t continue to experience corrosion. If you have your sewer pipe lined, the pipelining prevent tree root from infiltrating the pipe. When both of these factors are taken into consideration, you’ll continue to save money over the life of the lined pipe through the reduced need for repairs and maintenance.
Does Epoxy Pipelining Have Transparent Pricing?
When you request a quote for epoxy pipelining, you don’t have to worry about hidden costs. That’s because all the costs are listed in the estimate so that you know the exact cost of the installation. At NuFlow, we offer transparent pricing because we know that you don’t want to be surprised by a bill that’s thousands of dollars higher than you expected.
Does Epoxy Pipelining Offer Customizable Solutions?
Epoxy pipelining does offer customizable solutions. This is because we determine the types of repairs and the types of liners to be used beforehand. We also take the time to locate all of your existing cleanouts and determine if any cleanouts need to be added. If we do need to add access points, we’ll install a door so that it’s accessible in the future.
We also offer hybrid solutions to save you even more money. Our pipelining technicians understand that some pipes may simply be too weak or worn to withstand the pipeliner cleaning process. When this happens, we work with master plumbers to replace those extremely weak pipes. Once those pipes are replaced, we line the system.
Can You Get Expert Consultations from NuFlow, Serving Chicago?
If you’re trying to decide between epoxy pipelining and a traditional plumbing pipe replacement, we can help. Our pipelining technicians can speak with you, listen to your needs and your budget, and help you determine a cost-effective solution for rehabilitating your old plumbing pipes. One example of this might be to line your oldest or worst pipes now and line the rest later.
If you’re looking for a detailed quote that includes a camera inspection, we’d love to talk to you about our building pipe assessment. This assessment let us and you know what’s behind your walls. This is because it includes a camera inspection with recorded video, a detailed report of everything that was found during the video inspection, a determination on if epoxy pipelining is right for your building, and a detailed cost for lining your plumbing pipes.
Affordably Lining Your Plumbing Pipes with NuFlow, Serving Chicago
At NuFlow, we can help you decide if pipelining is right for your building’s plumbing system, budget, and needs. Overall pipelining can be performed on almost any type of pipe in any condition, and when all the costs are factored into the job, it’s often less expensive and less disruptive than replacing your entire plumbing system. We also offer 10-year warranties on your epoxy pipelining installation.
To speak with us about lining your pipes and to determine the right course of action for your plumbing system, contact us today.