Sewer Line Replacement Cost Calculator

About $6,455 nationally for an open-trench replacement at 3–5 ft deep with grass-yard restoration, permit and camera inspection included — Angi's national anchor is a $4,587 average (typical $1,335–$9,508), and Advanced Trenchless Solutions quotes $4,000–$6,000 for full open-trench jobs. Deep lines, cast iron, or a driveway over the trench push the same job past $8,714.

Per foot, no — lining and bursting run $60–$250/ft versus $50–$250/ft for open trench (Angi, 2026). Trenchless wins on what it doesn't destroy. On a 50 ft line under grass, open trench still prices lower ($6,455 vs $8,155 for lining). Under a concrete driveway the order flips: lining lands near $8,155 against $9,055 to dig and repour.

Lining (CIPP) needs an intact host pipe — a belly (sag that holds water), a missing section, or a collapsed line gives the liner nothing to form against, and a regrade requires digging regardless. Bursting needs a launch pit, a receive pit, and soil that will deform — dense rock, a high water table, or a corridor crowded with other utilities sends crews back to the excavator.

Yes, essentially everywhere — the lateral connects to a public main, so cities want the tie-in inspected. Municipal fees run roughly $25 in small towns to $170+ in larger cities, and cutting a street or sidewalk adds a right-of-way permit plus pavement-restoration fees (Los Angeles, for example, charges $8.24–$19.44 per sq ft of street surface disturbed, 2025 schedule). Most licensed plumbers pull the permit; the cost lands in your quote either way.

Open trench: 2–4 days of digging and laying for a typical residential run — this model's 50-ft default prices at $6,455, so think in terms of roughly $1,614–$2,152 per working day of crew, equipment and restoration — plus the city's inspection appointment. Pipe bursting: 1–2 days. CIPP lining: the liner is installed in hours but cures in place for most of a day, then the connections are re-opened robotically and the city cameras the result. Add days, not weeks, if the path crosses a street and needs traffic control.

A spot repair makes sense when the camera shows one isolated break in otherwise sound pipe — around $3,030 for a 20 ft sectional replacement with one access point, at the scale of a repair, not a replacement. Replace when the line is near end-of-life: cast iron scaling shut, clay with multiple cracked joints and root intrusion, or Orangeburg (tar-paper pipe) that's deforming everywhere. Paying for three sectional repairs on a doomed line costs more than one replacement.

Usually not the pipe itself — gradual deterioration, root intrusion and age are maintenance, per most policies. What insurers do often cover is sudden damage the backup caused (ripped-out flooring, walls) once the line fails. A Sewer/Water Line endorsement or a service-line rider (typically $30–$80/yr) is the coverage that actually pays for the dig: against this model's $6,455 replacement, even the top of that premium range is a rounding error — worth pricing before, not after, the camera shows roots.

Engineering or reroute design, rock excavation and dewatering, environmental remediation if the line leaks near a well or waterway, temporary sewer bypass for occupied buildings, and full landscaping beyond restoring the trench surface. Structural slab work under a home, and moling under mature trees you want kept, also quote separately.