Sewer & Drain · Nashville, TN
Sewer Line Replacement in Nashville
A new lateral from the foundation to the city connection, dug or trenchless, permitted and inspected before it is covered.
Estimate request
Tell us which drain is backing up
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Sewer Line Replacement in Nashville, Tennessee
A new lateral from the foundation to the city connection, dug or trenchless, permitted and inspected before it is covered.
For sewer line 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 sewer line replacement work includes
- Metro Codes plumbing permit pulled in Davidson County
- Tennessee 811 ticket called in before the dig
- Route and depth confirmed with the camera and locator
- New PVC laid on compacted bedding at a steady fall
- Two-way cleanout set near the foundation
- Connection made to the existing tap or the main
- Inspection passed before any backfill goes in
- Trench backfilled in lifts and the surface restored
How Sewer Line Replacement goes, from cleanout to final pass
In Davidson County, replacing a building sewer is plumbing work permitted through Metro Codes, and the inspector wants to see the new pipe, its bedding and its connections before any soil goes back. We schedule around that inspection, since a line covered before approval may have to be dug back up. Franklin, Murfreesboro and the counties around Davidson each run their own permit offices, and we pull those permits as well.
Fall is the thing a new sewer line has to get right. A 4-inch building sewer generally needs at least an eighth of an inch of drop per foot, and a quarter inch is better where the depth allows. With too little, solids settle out and the line starts clogging; we check the grade on every length as it is laid.
The new line is PVC sewer pipe laid on a bed of compacted stone or sand, so it can’t sink into a belly the way the old pipe did. In Middle Tennessee clay the bedding does as much work as the pipe, because ground that swells and shrinks with the seasons will shift an unsupported line within a few years.
The street end of the job is where the surprises live. The old connection at the main may be cracked, may be clay pushed into a newer main, or may not be where the records put it. Metro has a policy for the part of the service line inside the public right-of-way, and we check how it applies with Metro Water Services before that end is opened.
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 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 moreOrangeburg Pipe Replacement
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.
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
Sewer Line Replacement: what people ask first
Do I need a permit to replace my sewer line in Nashville?
Yes. In Davidson County, replacing a building sewer takes a plumbing permit from Metro Codes, and the new line has to pass inspection before it is backfilled. We pull the permit and meet the inspector on site. Elsewhere around Nashville the permit comes from whichever city or county has jurisdiction, and we handle that the same way.
Does Metro Water fix the part of my sewer line under the street?
Sometimes. Metro’s code makes the owner responsible for the whole service line, structure to public main, but Metro Water Services has a sewer line policy covering the stretch inside the public right-of-way or easement, and the owner has to expose the line at that boundary first. Ask Metro Water before any work under the street so you know which part is yours.
What kind of pipe is used for a new sewer line?
PVC, in nearly all residential work done with a trench. It is light, doesn’t corrode, and comes in long lengths, which means far fewer joints than the old clay or cast iron had. Trenchless replacement uses HDPE instead, fused into one continuous length. Whichever goes in, how it is bedded and sloped decides how long it lasts.
What happens to my yard when a sewer line is replaced?
With an open trench, a strip of lawn the length of the line is dug up, and the soil goes back in compacted layers once the pipe passes inspection. The trench line usually settles a little over the first few rains and needs topsoil and seed. Trenchless replacement disturbs only the pits at each end, which is why we price both where both are possible.
Free estimate
Book sewer line 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.