Sewer & Drain · Nashville, TN
Orangeburg Pipe Replacement in Nashville
Tar-paper sewer pipe laid from the late 1940s into the early 1970s that has flattened into an oval, replaced with a line that keeps its shape.
Estimate request
Tell us which drain is backing up
Sent straight to us, day or night. We respond immediately.
Orangeburg Pipe Replacement in Nashville, Tennessee
Tar-paper sewer pipe laid from the late 1940s into the early 1970s that has flattened into an oval, replaced with a line that keeps its shape.
For orangeburg pipe replacement, Nashville's Sewer and Drain works across Middle Tennessee — licensed, insured, with the price in writing before the work starts. Drain and sewer crews who clear the stoppage first, then put a camera down the line and show you what caused it.
Why homeowners call
Signs that bring people to us for this
- Sewage coming up a floor drain
- Every drain in the house slow at once
- Gurgling toilet when the washer drains
- Sewer smell in the yard or basement
- A soggy, sunken strip over the sewer line
- Roots back in the line every year
- Sump pump running and running
What is included
What our orangeburg pipe replacement work includes
- Material confirmed on camera by its look and profile
- Deformation and blistering noted along the whole run
- Lateral replaced by pipe bursting or open trench
- New pipe tied to the house drain at the foundation
- Connection at the main checked for the same material
- Utility locates in place before the first pit
- Old pipe fragments cleared from any open section
- New line filmed from end to end
How Orangeburg Pipe Replacement goes, from cleanout to final pass
Orangeburg is pipe made of wood fiber pressed with coal-tar pitch, laid in many American sewer laterals from roughly the 1940s into the early 1970s. Under the weight of the soil it slowly loses its round shape, sagging into an oval and blistering on the inside, and roots push through its walls and joints with little resistance.
Nashville grew quickly after the war, and the ranch houses from the 1950s and 60s are where Orangeburg turns up. Not every house of that age has it; many got clay or cast iron instead. The camera settles the question fast, because Orangeburg looks black and fibrous, often flaking, and the image squeezes into an oval wherever the pipe has deformed.
Lining Orangeburg rarely makes sense. A liner hardens in whatever shape it was cured in, so an oval stays an oval, only with a smaller opening. Bursting handles it well, since the old pipe gives way easily ahead of the head, and new HDPE goes in at full round size.
Replacing it usually means the whole lateral, because the material ages the same way along its length. Where the camera shows the oval in only one section, a partial replacement may hold for a while, but the rest of the pipe is the same age and was made the same way, and we will tell you that when we show you the video.
Also available
Other sewer, drain and septic work
Sewer Line Repair
Bellies, offset joints, root intrusion and collapsed sections repaired after the camera has shown where and how deep they are.
Learn moreSewer Line Replacement
A new lateral from the foundation to the city connection, dug or trenchless, permitted and inspected before it is covered.
Learn moreCast Iron Pipe Replacement
Scaled, cracked and channel-rotted cast iron under the slab or in the crawl space replaced with PVC before it lets go.
Learn moreSewer Excavation
Open-trench repair where trenchless will not work, with Tennessee 811 locates first and the yard put back after.
Learn moreService area
Sewer and drain calls we take across Middle Tennessee
Our trucks reach Nashville and 100 more towns in 12 counties, and we take sewer and septic calls anywhere within about an hour of the city.
FAQ
Orangeburg Pipe Replacement: what people ask first
How do I know if my house has Orangeburg sewer pipe?
Age is the first clue, since a house built between the late 1940s and the early 1970s may have it. The camera confirms it by showing a black, fibrous pipe wall, often blistered or flaking, and a round opening pressed into an oval. At an exposed cleanout or an open trench it looks like a thick tube of tar paper, nothing like clay or metal.
Does Orangeburg pipe have to be replaced right away?
Not always on the day it is found, but plan on it. Orangeburg that is still mostly round and passing water may hold for a while. Pipe that has gone oval or is letting roots in will block repeatedly and can collapse outright, and then the replacement becomes an emergency dig. Most owners replace it on their own timeline instead of waiting for that.
Can Orangeburg pipe be cleaned with a hydro jetter?
Only gently, and often it shouldn’t be jetted at all. The wall is wood fiber and pitch, and high-pressure water can tear blisters loose or punch through softened sections. When a line we suspect is Orangeburg backs up, we clear it with a cable at low speed or a reduced-pressure jet and then film it, and usually the finding is that it needs replacing.
Is Orangeburg pipe a problem when buying a house?
It should be on your list. A lateral made of it is near or past the end of its life, and replacing it is a real expense a buyer can raise with the seller before closing. Ask for a sewer scope on any house built in the 1950s or 60s, since the video shows both the pipe material and its condition.
Free estimate
Book orangeburg pipe replacement with our crew
Call or write to Nashville's Sewer and Drain with what the drains are doing; we clear the line first and price any repair from the camera footage.