Trenchless vs traditional sewer repair: which is cheaper?

The two approaches

When a lateral needs replacing you’ll be offered one of two approaches, and the "cheaper" one depends entirely on what’s on top of your pipe.

Open-cut: cheap per foot, costly to rebuild

Traditional open-cut digs a trench along the whole line: $50–$125 per foot for the pipe work. Cheapest per foot — but then the trench has to be backfilled and the surface rebuilt. New sod, a repoured driveway apron, a rebuilt patio: that restoration can equal the pipe work on a line under hardscape.

Trenchless: two pits, no trench

Trenchless avoids the trench with two small access pits. CIPP lining ($80–$250/ft) cures a resin sleeve into a new pipe inside the old one — good when the host pipe is intact enough to line. Pipe bursting ($60–$200/ft) pulls a new pipe through while fracturing the old one outward — used when the line is collapsed or needs upsizing.

Which is cheaper for you

The rule of thumb: on an open lawn with a shallow, straight run, open-cut is often cheapest all-in. Under a driveway, patio, mature trees, or the street, trenchless usually wins once you count the restoration — and it’s far less disruptive either way.

One prerequisite decides everything: a camera inspection. It confirms the failure, the depth, and whether the line can be lined or must be burst — so you don’t pay to excavate the wrong stretch of yard.

Use the tool: Repair cost calculator →