Man bought a mini-excavator to replace 120ft sewer line!

Last summer, our sewer line got clogged by wet wipes. We had a plumber come and snaked it for us but he ended up bursting our line. He then proceeded to scope our line and come to find out our sewer line was really old; it was made of orangeburg. We decided that the best thing to do would be to replace it. We got several quotes from different plumbing companies. They all wanted around $30,000 to replace our 120ft sewer line. So we decided to buy a mini-ex and replace it ourselves! #thewilleyway #sewerline #miniexcavator #diy #plumber #orangeburg #oldhouse #family #husband #hardwork #digging

[@user-en5ht3yr5z]

Clean, neat work. I’m impressed!!!

[@TheWilleyWay]

Thanks!

[@wes9731]

My houses septic line was orangeburg and collapsed on us last year. Bought the house sept '22
Had to go through 2 concrete slabs that were poured ontop of eachother, then dig down. Rented a jackhammer and then mini-ex to get down to the pipe, then had a plumber do the final bit due to the strange poured concrete cleanout on the line I couldnt really process how to proceed. Plumber even said i was 90% of the way and figured I could do if I wanted but was tired from all weekend and had to get back to work and just wanted it done right. Saved tons of $$$ uncovering it myself then i re-buried it after

[@TheWilleyWay]

Wow that’s crazy! Glad you were able to get most of it done yourself and save some money. It’s definitely a LOT of hard work but totally worth it.

[@cottawalla]

Was having the old pipe lined not an option? I can't imagine it would cost anywhere near as much and be done in less than a day as only need to have access to the old pipe at each end.

[@Defme374]

It makes me happy seeing your kids helping, mine are still too young to help but they still try and love being involved. Especially if I am digging or hammering. Did you bring in any extra filler dirt? Usually after the first rains any trenches I back filled are a few inches sunken in.

[@TheWilleyWay]

Yeah they started out by just watching daddy work and then eventually started helping out :) We didn't need any extra filler dirt. We left quite a bit of dirt on top of our trench and it's still there 6 months later.

[@Orvillehuit33]

How did you backfill under the house

[@inciteman]

Congrats on completing it on your own! By the way how long did it take you to complete start to finish? Did you the lay the pipe on top of the existing soil? No gravel base? It looks like you compacted the soil over the pipe every few inches with the dirt you took out? I've never seen green PVC pipe is that 4" ?

[@TheWilleyWay]

Thanks. So I took me a leisurely 3 months, mostly hand digging. Yes I laid it on the existing soil. No gravel because it’s was hard clay. Yes I compacted it every few inches with the soil I took out. Yes it’s 4” green pvc schedule 40 to designate sewer line in our city.