You’re worried about a huge plumbing bill because a pipe under your yard has just burst and you have a veritable lake growing by the hour. There’s no way to stop that leak until a plumber comes in, tears up your yard and finds it before replacing the pipe!
At least, that’s how it used to happen. Even if the leak was stopped, your yard was destroyed, requiring you to re-seed or re-sod and plant new flowers. Well, no more! A plumber can use directional drilling to find and stop that leak without ruining your yard.
What is Horizontal Directional Drilling?
In layman’s terms, this is a method of seeking and finding that leak without digging an unsightly trench in your yard. Using this form of drilling, your plumber can also install new pipes. He uses a drilling rig that launches from the surface of your yard.
Result: that leak is found and repaired. All that remains when he is done is a small hole where the drill went into the ground. Once he turns the water back on, your life returns to normal and he goes on to his next job.
How This Form of Drilling Protects Your Yard
You’re worried about the ruin that a large trench will do to your yard. If you’ve been through this routine before, you know how the old method of digging to find a burst pipe left you with an unsightly trench. Your plumber probably did everything he could to restore your yard to its previous appearance, but let’s face it—that dug-up lawn and garden are not going to repair themselves.
Directional drilling allows your plumber to avoid digging that trench, so your landscaping won’t be ruined. Using this drilling technique, your plumber can find and replace that broken pipe much more quickly as well.
Horizontal Directional Drilling—the Process
Here’s the process, just in case you’re wondering. The plumber digs one small hole, probably just under your home’s water meter. That hole maybe goes about two feet below the plumbing under your house. This hole becomes the destination target for the directional drilling he’s about to begin.
Going from the other side of your house, the driller bores underground (from the city’s water connection) and toward the water meter in or near your house. That borehole should run alongside the ruined pipe. That pipe is extracted and the new pipe is installed. Once this is done, the driller is extracted and the hole is covered.
Repair That Burst Pipe at a Fraction of the Cost
If you’re worried that this new form of plumbing repair is going to require an equity loan, think again. When plumbers have to dig a long, deep trench, this takes several hours, which adds to your final repair bill. Using horizontal directional drilling, the work is completed much faster and your repair bill will be about three-fourths of the cost, depending on which plumber you call.
Before your underground pipes burst, make sure you know what your plumber can do to make needed repairs. It’s going to happen—Murphy’s Law dictates that, so be prepared with a little knowledge and the name of a good Toronto plumber.
