About this site

What this site covers

Most people hear the words "cured-in-place" or "pipe bursting" for the first time while standing in a wet basement or garage with a technician holding a camera monitor. This site exists so that conversation is not the first time you hear them. The pages here explain the trenchless methods used on residential and light commercial sewer lines in Chicago: camera inspection, CIPP lining, pipe bursting, sectional point repair and, where a line truly cannot be saved, replacement.

Local context matters. Midwestern cities have some of the oldest sewer laterals in the country: clay tile and cast iron dating to the early 1900s in the older neighborhoods, Orangeburg in postwar suburbs, and basements with floor drains that back up first when the lateral fails. Frost depth, freeze-thaw movement, heavy clay soils, and large hardwood trees along the parkway all attack the joints. Many homes also have combined sewers or footing drains tied to the sanitary line, so a failing lateral shows up as a basement backup after rain.

How the contractor here was vetted

American Trenchless Technologies, Inc. is listed as the CIPP Verified installer for Chicago and Cook County. Verification through curedinplacepipe.net means a current license, the lining equipment and training to do the work rather than subcontract it, and completed jobs that can be referenced. Insurance and workers' compensation certificates are yours to ask for at quote time, and a good contractor hands them over without being asked twice.

What to expect from a good installer

• A camera goes on the line first, and you are shown the footage, not a summary of it.
• The written scope matches what you saw: the method, the length, the branch connections to reinstate, who pulls the permit, what restoration includes.
• The work is done in the promised window, usually one day for a lined residential lateral, and you receive a post-repair video. Keep it.
• The warranty is in writing and says who honors it, for how long, and what voids it.

Editorial rules

No dollar figures, because a number without a camera inspection behind it is fiction. Local claims are hedged on purpose; soil, housing age and permit practice vary from block to block. Facts that get repeated get checked: liners are rated around fifty years by their manufacturers, not "lifetime"; a collapsed or bellied line needs bursting or replacement, not a liner; every branch connection has to be reinstated after lining.

Estimates are free. Call now: (877) 895-4088.