Full Lateral Replacement
Sewer Line Replacement in Roswell, GA
When a sewer lateral is collapsed, sagging or failing along its length, it gets replaced by open trench or trenchless pipe bursting, from the house to the Fulton County main.
- Free estimates
- Scope based on camera footage
- Permit steps explained up front
Replacement at a Glance
Replacement is planned work, so the estimate costs nothing.
Sewer Line Replacement
When Repair Stops Making Sense
Sewer line replacement means removing or abandoning the old lateral and installing new pipe from the house to the public main. It is the right call when the camera shows failure along most of the line rather than in one spot: a collapsed section plus several cracked joints, a long belly, Orangeburg pipe gone oval, or clay pipe with roots at nearly every joint.
At that point, patching one defect just moves the next backup a few feet down the line. Replacing the whole lateral resets the clock for decades.
In Roswell, the new line ties into a sewer main owned and operated by Fulton County, and that connection point is where most of the paperwork on a replacement lives. If there is a chance the old pipe can be saved, compare lining the existing pipe first.
Methods
Open Trench or Pipe Bursting?
Both install brand-new pipe. They differ in how much ground gets opened and what they can correct.
| Open trench | Pipe bursting | |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Dig along the route, remove the old pipe, lay new pipe on bedding | A bursting head splits the old pipe while pulling new HDPE through the same path |
| Digging | Full-length trench | A pit at each end |
| Corrects sags and bad slope | Yes, the new pipe is bedded to grade | Only partly. The new pipe follows the old path |
| Best for | Bellied lines, route changes, open lawn | Straight runs under driveways, trees and hardscape |
| Watch for | Red clay backfill settles for months | Nearby utilities and very shallow lines |
Many Roswell lots end up with a mix: bursting under the driveway and front walk, plus a short open section where the line has sagged. Either way, a final camera inspection confirms the new line is clean and running at grade.
Permits, the Main and the Street
Fulton County controls connections to its sewer system. Its published requirements for lateral connections note that a County lateral connection permit does not replace the approval needed from the city or a state agency to work inside the right-of-way. In Roswell, that means a replacement reaching the street involves both the County and the City of Roswell.
The County's current sewer design checklist calls for a 6-inch lateral from the main to the first cleanout at a minimum 1 percent slope, with the cleanout at the edge of the right-of-way or County easement on the owner's side. The same checklist asks that no structure sit within about 5 feet of a cleanout, which is worth remembering before a new deck or retaining wall goes in.
Inside the property line, the building sewer follows Georgia's state minimum plumbing code, adapted from the IPC. Its slope table calls for at least 1/8 inch of fall per foot on 3 to 6 inch pipe. A line that never met that slope is one of the clearest reasons to replace rather than line.
Before any excavation starts, Georgia 811 has to mark the buried gas, power and communication lines on the property.
Told Your Line Needs Replacing?
Get a second look at the footage and a free estimate for both methods.
Timeline
How a Replacement Project Runs
- 1
Camera and locate
Map the old line, its depth and the tie-in point.
- 2
Quote and permits
Free estimate, then County and City approvals where needed.
- 3
Replace
Trench or burst, then connect new pipe at both ends.
- 4
Inspect and restore
Inspection, final camera run, backfill and surface repair.
Most residential replacements take one to three days on site, plus permit lead time. Drains can often be used again the evening the new pipe is connected, but water use in the house stops while the old line is open.
Cost
What Goes Into a Replacement Quote
The pipe itself is rarely the biggest line on the quote. These factors usually are.
Standard homeowners policies generally do not cover a lateral that failed from age, roots or settling. Service line coverage, sold separately in Georgia, sometimes does, so check before you assume.
Want a replacement estimate built on your camera footage? Call (770) 214-4545.
Materials
Choosing the New Pipe
For open trench work, the usual choice is PVC sewer pipe, either SDR 35 or heavier Schedule 40, set on stone bedding and backfilled in layers. Fulton County's own construction notes call for crushed #57 stone bedding under PVC wastewater pipe, and the same approach holds up well in Roswell clay. For pipe bursting, the new line is usually HDPE, fused into one continuous length with no joints for roots to find.
Whatever pipe goes in, the best protection against the next failure is good bedding and correct slope. Red clay holds water and shifts as it wets and dries. A pipe laid on stone and graded properly tolerates that far better than one dropped into a bare clay trench.
We also replace laterals in nearby East Cobb, where the sewer system belongs to Cobb County rather than Fulton County and the permit steps differ.
Questions
Sewer Replacement Questions
When the camera shows damage along most of the lateral, or a sag that holds water, a new lateral usually costs less over time than a string of repairs. One or two defects on an otherwise sound pipe point to a targeted sewer repair or a liner instead.
Mostly. It needs an entry pit and an exit pit but nothing in between, which usually spares driveways, trees and walkways.
No. The County's lateral flyer places repairs within the right-of-way on the owner, and the County collects its fee before its own crew or an approved contractor does that work.
A properly bedded PVC or HDPE sewer line is expected to last many decades. Neither material corrodes the way cast iron does, and fused HDPE has no joints for roots to exploit.
With trenching, yes, along the route, then backfilled. With bursting, only two pits. Either way, grass and surface repair should be part of the quote from the start.
Yes, but nobody can run water or flush while the old line is disconnected. Most projects keep that window to part of one day.
Sources for This Page
Permit and right-of-way language comes from Fulton County's requirements for lateral connections to existing sewer lines and its sewer design checklist. Pipe bedding comes from the County's water and sewer construction notes. Minimum drain slope references the IPC slope table as adapted in Georgia's state minimum plumbing code.
Written by the Roswell 24/7 Plumbing team and checked against the sources above. Last reviewed October 1, 2026.
Old Sewer Line Beyond Saving?
Get a free replacement estimate based on real camera footage of your line.
Call (770) 214-4545