Skip to content
SewerLine Repair Atlanta
Call Now (470) 600-0694

Camera inspection · Trenchless repair · Replacement · Atlanta

Atlanta sewer line repair,starting with what is really in the pipe

Roots in a century-old clay lateral, a sag where an old trench settled, a flattened fibre pipe under a post-war ranch: sewer problems in Atlanta take many forms, and the fix depends on which one you have. One call connects you with an independent local contractor who can inspect the line, explain what the camera shows and talk through the repair.

Call Now(470) 600-0694

Free referral call. You speak with the contractor directly on the same call.

  • Camera inspection first
  • Root removal and jetting
  • Lining and pipe bursting
  • Full lateral replacement
  • Camera-first diagnosisSee inside the line before any digging is discussed.
  • Every repair methodClearing, lining, bursting, spot repair and replacement.
  • Independent local contractorsAsk for their Georgia plumbing license and check it.
  • Atlanta-specific adviceOld clay laterals, big trees and two sewer utilities.

Key facts: Home

  • When several drains slow at once or a toilet gurgles as another fixture drains, the problem is usually in the shared sewer lateral, not one fixture.
  • Many intown Atlanta houses still drain through clay laterals laid in the early 1900s, which let roots in at their joints [1].
  • Atlanta's public sewers were rebuilt in many places under federal consent decrees; private laterals were not part of that work [2].
  • A camera inspection shows the pipe's material, the location of each defect and which repair methods can work.
  • Any digging in Georgia must be preceded by a free Georgia 811 utility locate [3].

Symptom finder

What is your sewer line doing?

Start with what you are seeing. Each tile opens a page that explains the likely causes and what usually happens next.

  • Sewage in the basement

    Wastewater rising through a floor drain or lower shower means the main line is blocked.

    Read more

  • Slow drains everywhere

    Several fixtures slowing at once points to the shared lateral, often roots or a sag.

    Read more

  • Roots keep coming back

    A line cleared every few months usually has roots entering at old clay joints.

    Read more

  • Smell in the yard

    A sewage odour outdoors can mean a cracked lateral, a loose cleanout cap or a vent.

    Read more

  • Told you need to dig

    Compare lining, pipe bursting and excavation before you agree to a trench.

    Read more

  • Buying an older house

    A camera inspection shows the lateral a normal home inspection does not see.

    Read more

Services

Sewer services you can be connected with

Each page explains how the work is done, what it can and cannot fix, and what to ask before it starts.

Not sure? Call(470) 600-0694
  • Large oak tree in a front yard with a sewer cleanout pipe visible near its roots

    Root Intrusion Removal

    Tree roots in a clay lateral are Atlanta's most common sewer problem. Cutting them clears the line; sealing the joints keeps them out.

    Explore service
  • Basement floor drain with dirty water pooled around it on a concrete floor

    Sewer Backup Cleanup

    Sewage coming up through a floor drain or tub needs the line cleared, the cause found and the affected area cleaned safely.

    Explore service
  • Technician feeding a sewer inspection camera cable into a white cleanout pipe in a yard

    Sewer Camera Inspection

    A waterproof camera pushed through the cleanout shows roots, cracks, sags and collapses before anyone digs.

    Explore service
  • Long open trench across a front yard with new white PVC sewer pipe bedded in gravel

    Sewer Line Replacement

    When a lateral is collapsed, badly sagged or made of failing fibre pipe, a new line from house to main is the lasting fix.

    Explore service
  • Small access pit beside a lawn with a liner hose entering a sewer pipe

    Trenchless Sewer Repair

    Rehabilitate or replace a buried sewer line through small access pits instead of a trench across the yard.

    Explore service
  • Technician feeding a high-pressure jetting hose from a reel into an outdoor sewer cleanout

    Hydro Jetting

    High-pressure water scours grease, sludge and fine roots from the pipe wall, cleaning a sewer line rather than just punching a hole through a clog.

    Explore service
  • Black HDPE pipe laid out across a lawn beside a small excavation pit

    Pipe Bursting Replacement

    Replace a broken or deformed lateral along its old path by pulling a new pipe through it, with a pit at each end instead of a trench.

    Explore service
  • Inside view of a smooth new resin liner in a sewer pipe lit by a camera light

    Sewer Pipe Lining (CIPP)

    A resin liner cured inside the old pipe seals every cracked joint from the inside, through a cleanout and a small pit.

    Explore service

If sewage is coming into the house

Stop using water everywhere in the house. Each flush, shower or load of laundry adds to the backup. Keep children and pets away from the affected area and avoid touching the water: sewage carries germs that can cause stomach illness and skin infections [4].

  1. Stop flushing, showering and running appliances
  2. Keep people and pets out of the affected room
  3. Switch off power to the area only if you can reach the panel without stepping in water
  4. Photograph the damage before cleaning up

Diagnosis

Why the camera comes before the shovel

A sewer lateral is buried, decades old and invisible from inside the house. The same symptom, a line that backs up every spring, can come from roots at one joint, a sag in the middle of the yard or a collapse at the street, and each calls for a different repair.

A camera inspection sends a small waterproof camera through the line from a cleanout. It records the pipe material, every joint and defect, and the distance to each one. A locator then marks the exact spot and depth on the ground above. With that footage, the repair conversation is about evidence rather than guesswork.

Contractor and homeowner looking at sewer camera footage on a monitor in a driveway

How lines fail

Old clay, cast iron and a city full of trees

Much of intown Atlanta was built between the 1880s and the 1940s, when house sewers were clay pipe laid in short sections, with cast iron under the house. Clay lasts, but its old joints loosen and let roots in [1]. Some post-war houses have bituminized fibre pipe, which softens and deforms with age [5].

Atlanta also has one of the densest urban tree canopies of any large American city [6]. Mature oaks and maples send roots toward every leaking joint. Add dense red clay subsoil and sloping lots, and root intrusion, sags and cracked joints become the city's everyday sewer problems.

Old clay sewer pipe section with fine tree roots growing out of its joint

Before and after

What a sewer repair changes

A root-choked clay lateral, and the same line after it was cleaned and lined from the inside.

Before and after: roots inside a clay pipe, then a smooth new liner in the same pipeBeforeAfter
Illustrative image. Every repair depends on the condition of the line.

Before and after

Common sewer repairs, side by side

Typical jobs on Atlanta laterals, shown before and after. Illustrative images.

  • Before and after: cracked clay pipe interior, then a seamless resin liner
    BeforeAfter

    Lining a cracked clay line

    A liner seals every joint from inside without a trench.

  • Before and after: flattened fibre pipe, then a round new plastic pipe
    BeforeAfter

    Bursting a deformed fibre pipe

    A new pipe pulled along the old path through two small pits.

  • Before and after: bare lawn by a foundation, then a new capped sewer cleanout
    BeforeAfter

    Adding an exterior cleanout

    Outside access makes every future inspection and clearing easier.

  • Before and after: an open repair pit in a lawn, then the same lawn restored
    BeforeAfter

    Spot repair and restored lawn

    One excavation at a single defect, backfilled and reseeded.

  • Before and after: pipe interior choked with roots, then the same pipe cleared
    BeforeAfter

    Root cutting

    Roots cleared from a clay lateral to restore flow.

  • Before and after: grease-coated pipe wall, then a clean pipe after jetting
    BeforeAfter

    Hydro jetting grease

    High-pressure water scours a grease-lined pipe back to its wall.

Illustrative images. Every job depends on the property and the damage.

The call

How it works when you call

  1. 1

    Describe the problem

    Tell us which drains are affected, whether sewage is coming up, and roughly how old the house is.

  2. 2

    Get connected

    Your call is connected to an independent local contractor who works on sewer lines in your area, and you speak with them on that same call.

  3. 3

    Agree the next step

    On the call, the contractor explains how they would approach it, usually clearing and a camera inspection, and you agree a time together.

  4. 4

    See the evidence

    Ask to see the camera footage and to have each recommendation tied to what it shows.

  5. 5

    Decide on the repair

    Any repair, schedule and paperwork are agreed directly between you and the contractor.

Service areas

Atlanta neighborhoods with their own sewer stories

Housing age, pipe material, trees and even the sewer utility differ across the city. These pages explain what is local about each area.

All service areas
  • Mid-century brick ranch house with a carport on a quiet street with tall pinesService area

    Brookhaven

    A DeKalb County city with its own sewer story: county-run public sewers, historic estates and a large stock of 1950s–1970s houses.

    Learn more
  • Large brick house set back on a sloping wooded lot with tall hardwood treesService area

    Buckhead

    Large wooded lots, long laterals running toward creek valleys, and houses from 1920s estates to post-war ranches and new builds.

    Learn more
  • Brick post-war ranch house and an older bungalow on a sloping street with tall pinesService area

    East Atlanta

    Streetcar-era houses near the old McPherson Park subdivision and a post-war core where fibre pipe and early laterals turn up.

    Learn more
  • Row of one-storey Victorian cottages with front porches facing a tree-lined streetService area

    Grant Park

    Victorian cottages and bungalows around Atlanta's oldest city park, with laterals from the 1880s onward and big trees on every block.

    Learn more
  • Painted Victorian house with a wraparound porch and tall trees on a curving intown streetService area

    Inman Park & Candler Park

    Atlanta's first planned suburb and its bungalow neighbour: Victorian and early-1900s houses on the oldest private laterals in the city.

    Learn more
  • Craftsman bungalow beside a newer two-storey infill house on a tree-lined streetService area

    Kirkwood

    A former town turned bungalow neighborhood, with century-old laterals beside 1990s and later infill on DeKalb County land inside the city.

    Learn more
  • Craftsman bungalows with deep front porches under tall oak trees on a quiet intown streetService area

    Virginia-Highland & Morningside

    Streetcar-era bungalows and 1920s–30s cottages on old clay laterals, under some of the city's biggest hardwoods.

    Learn more
  • Two-storey Queen Anne house with a turret and wide porch on a West End streetService area

    West End

    Queen Anne, Folk Victorian and bungalow houses in the city's earliest locally protected historic district, on laterals from the 1890s onward.

    Learn more

Decision aid

Which repair fits which problem

Common sewer line findings and the repair approach usually considered
What the camera showsUsually consideredWhy
Grease or sludge coating the pipeHydro jettingCleans the pipe wall back to its full size
Roots at a few jointsRoot removal, then monitoringRestores flow; regrowth is expected
Roots at many joints, round pipePipe liningSeals every joint without a trench
Deformed fibre or collapsed pipePipe bursting or replacementLost shape rules out lining
A sag holding waterExcavation at the low pointOnly digging can rebuild the slope
Several failures along the runSewer line replacementToo many problems to patch

Local specifics

Sewer lines in Atlanta: what is different here

Atlanta's older neighborhoods were partly built on combined sewers, which carry both rainwater and wastewater and can overflow in heavy storms [7]. Under federal consent decrees, the city separated parts of that system, built storage tunnels and repaired sanitary sewers, finishing the combined-sewer work by its 2009 deadline and receiving an extension to 2027 for remaining sanitary sewer repairs [2]. That work was on the public side. The private lateral from each house to the public sewer is generally the property owner's responsibility, and in many intown neighborhoods it is still the original pipe.

Which utility runs the public sewer depends on where you live. Inside the City of Atlanta, including neighborhoods in DeKalb County such as Kirkwood and East Atlanta, it is the city's Department of Watershed Management. In Brookhaven and other DeKalb County areas outside the city, it is DeKalb County, which has been under its own sewer consent decree since 2011 [8]. If a problem turns out to be on the public side, that is who to call.

Before any repair that involves digging, utility lines must be marked. Georgia 811 is the free statewide locate service, and the contractor doing the digging normally submits the request in advance [3].

Guides

Guides for the sewer problems people call about

Plain-English explanations with safe checks and sources, written to help you understand the problem before anyone arrives.

All guides
  • Unfinished basement with a floor drain surrounded by murky water and a washing machine nearbyGuide

    Sewer backup in the basement

    Why sewage comes up through a basement floor drain first, what to do in the first hour and how to stop it happening again.

    Read the guide
  • Backyard lawn with a white sewer cleanout pipe sticking up near a flower bedGuide

    Sewer smell in the yard

    A sewage odour outdoors can come from a broken lateral, a missing cleanout cap, a vent or the public sewer. Here is how to narrow it down.

    Read the guide
  • Sunken, waterlogged strip of lawn running from a house toward the streetGuide

    Signs of a broken sewer line

    Slow drains everywhere, gurgling, a smell outside or a soggy strip of lawn: the warning signs that point to the lateral, not a fixture.

    Read the guide
  • Large oak tree beside a front walk with exposed surface roots near a lawnGuide

    Tree roots in the sewer line

    How roots get into old clay laterals, the signs they are there, and why cutting them is only half the answer.

    Read the guide
  • Side-by-side view of a small access pit and a long open trench in two front yardsGuide

    Trenchless vs excavation

    Lining, bursting or digging: how each method works, what it can and cannot fix, and how to choose based on your camera footage.

    Read the guide

FAQ

Sewer line questions from Atlanta homeowners

Still have a question?

A two-minute call usually answers it.

Call Now(470) 600-0694

How do I know if my main sewer line is the problem?

If several drains slow at once, toilets gurgle when other fixtures drain, or water rises in the lowest drain, the shared lateral is the likely cause. A camera inspection confirms it.

Who is responsible for the sewer line from my house to the street in Atlanta?

The private lateral is generally the property owner's responsibility. The public sewer is run by the City of Atlanta's Department of Watershed Management, or by DeKalb County in areas such as Brookhaven.

Can a sewer line be repaired without digging up my yard?

Often. Pipe lining and pipe bursting work through small access points. They cannot fix a sag, which still needs digging at the low spot.

Why do Atlanta sewer lines get so many tree roots?

Many older houses have clay laterals with joints every few feet, under one of the densest urban tree canopies in the country. Roots enter through loosened joints.

What will a camera inspection of my sewer reveal?

The pipe material, roots, cracks, offset joints, sags and collapses, with the distance to each one, so the contractor can mark the spot and depth above ground.

Is this site a plumbing company?

No. It is a call-in referral service. Your call is connected to an independent local contractor who speaks with you on that call and does the work.

Open trench in a residential yard with a new white sewer pipe laid on gravel

Talk to a sewer contractor about your line

Call and describe what your drains are doing. Your call goes straight to an independent sewer contractor in your area who can explain on that call how they would inspect and repair your sewer line.

Call now(470) 600-0694

Sources and citations

  1. [1]Wikipedia — Vitrified clay pipe
  2. [2]U.S. EPA — Atlanta sewer consent decree modification (May 2012 news release)
  3. [3]Georgia 811 — How it works
  4. [4]Virginia Department of Health — Sewage backup fact sheet
  5. [5]Wikipedia — Orangeburg pipe
  6. [6]Wikipedia — Atlanta tree canopy
  7. [7]U.S. EPA — Combined sewer overflows
  8. [8]U.S. EPA — DeKalb County sewer consent decree (December 2010 news release)

Keep reading

Related services and guides

Call Now(470) 600-0694