To Dig or Not to Dig? That is the Question.

Sewer Scoping the Portland area isn’t the most glamorous of Environmental Services but they often turn up a few interesting surprises. Speaking of strange occurrences in your yard, here’s a true story of what may lay beneath…

A few months ago we got a call for a sewer scope by a handy customer well-versed in home deconstruction. He didn’t doubt he had the know-how to dig up his own sewer line; he just needed the digital sewer scope machine to check out the unseen. We gladly obliged.

We went along with his plan to find large holes in the line half way to the street. After watching the sewer scope video, our friend proceeded to dig up his yard to the sewer line and tear the useless thing out…

After a couple hours of back breaking work, he reached the sewer line break. Little did he know the last dip of his shovel would cause a catastrophic situation. He mustered his strength and dipped his shovel deep into the earth. It gave way. Dirt and yard caved into his trench revealing a gaping pit in the middle of his yard. What happened next will haunt him for a lifetime…

The ground was moving, rats! They dug, scraped and climbed their way out of the pit, scurrying about in panic as their roof collapsed in on them. Most took shelter back in the sewer line, running north and south, while others escaped demise through to the yard and under the house. The man yelled in panic but had no where to take shelter.

The phone rang…  It was a future case of Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. “Rat – hole – dirt – fill – help!” the voice on the line blurted out. This was a clear emergency. We rushed over to the scene with a ton of gravel, backed up our truck and filled that rat hole. A few lucky survivors got away, but we can’t speak for the others. All we know for certain is that our customer lived and a great lesson was learned.

The moral of the story, you ask? You don’t always have to dig-it-yourself! Through a process called Pipe Bursting, Environmental Works can replace your old broken sewer line without tearing up your entire yard.

Here’s how the cleaner, more surgical pipe bursting method works:

1. We start by digging two small holes at each end of the sewer line.
2. Then we run a cable from the house to the curb inside the existing sewer line.
3. The new sewer line is pulled through, then “bursts” apart the old one and viola!
4. New sewer line and house sold!

Leave the dirty work to the professionals… At Environmental Works we got it handled.