Pipe lining is a trenchless technology that can extend the useful life of your pipes and stop pinhole leaks and leaks at the joints and seams. It’s even been known to restore severely corroded pipes. However, if the liner and pipe are not prepared correctly, the liner may experience a loss of adhesion, which would significantly reduce its expected lifespan and function.
Common Problems with Epoxy Pipe Lining
CIPP stands for Cure-in-Place pipe. During this pipe restoration technique, a PIPP (Pull-in-Place Pipe 
liner) is pulled through the pipe, inflated and left to cure inside the pipe. This is a very effective method of correcting common plumbing problems, including pinhole leaks and severely corroded pipes, but it only works well if the pipe and liner are properly prepared prior to the insertion. If the process is not done correctly, it can lead to significant plumbing problems in the future.
- Improper Pipe Assessment Prior to Installing the Liner
- Improper Preparation of the Existing Pipe
- Improper Installation Technique
- Pipe Lining Adhesion Failure
Hazards of Improper Installation and Pipe Lining Adhesion
Pipe lining adhesion refers to the process where the epoxy or glue on the pipe liner adheres to the existing pipe. If the epoxy solution is mixed wrong or the liner isn’t thoroughly saturated, the pipe liner can fail to adhere to the existing pipe. This can lead to the pipe liner slipping out of place or wrinkles, bulges and tears appearing in the liner, which can significantly reduce the lifespan of the liner and contribute to further deterioration of the existing pipe.
Ensuring Proper Installation and Pipe Liner Adhesion with Nu Flow
Here at Nu Flow, our pipe lining experts have immediate access to the professional plumbers at Althoff Industries. This gives us an advantage when we assess your pipes to determine if a CIPP liner would be the right choice for your plumbing system. If our pipe lining experts perform a camera inspection of your pipes and have questions about their ability to hold a pipe liner, they immediately ask for an assessment from the licensed, experienced plumbers at Althoff. The Althoff plumbers can then look at your pipes or our camera inspection footage to determine if a pipe liner or a complete replacement is needed. This helps ensure that you are getting the best possible plumbing solution for your building.
CIPP Lining Process
If your pipes are good candidates for the lining process, our pipe lining experts will clean and prepare the pipe for installation. Next, we prepare the liner. Our liners are covered by white felt, which helps us make sure that the epoxy has been applied correctly.
We start by laying the liner across a mat. Next, we open one end of the pipe liner and pour 100 percent epoxy into the liner. We then use heavy rollers to evenly spread the epoxy. This turns the white felt blue, letting us know that the epoxy has thoroughly saturated the CIPP liner.
Once the liner has been thoroughly saturated with epoxy, we score the ends of the liner with vertical and crisscrossed lines and a crisscross pattern in the middle. This helps ensure proper pipe lining adhesion to the existing pipe.
Next, we prepare the liner for insertion and use a special machine to pull the pipe through your existing pipe. Once the pipe liner is in place, we use a black inflatable bladder to inflate the liner and press it against the sides of your existing plumbing pipe. The bladder is then deflated and removed.
The pipe liner takes about four hours to fully cure, and once it’s cured, it is just as strong as a ‘regular’ plumbing pipe. In fact, if the existing pipe were to completely crumble away from the liner, the liner would still operate normally as if it were the original pipe.
To learn more about how CIPP lining can help restore the integrity and longevity of your plumbing pipes, call us at 815-790-9000.