Sewer Line Repair in Troy, KS

Sewer Line Repair in Troy is a small-town job in the best sense: fewer than a thousand people, a few hundred homes and a lot of houses that have been patched and updated by hand over the years. Troy was platted in 1855, its first house went up in 1856, and it was incorporated as a city in 1860. It started as a stop on the wagon route that ran west from St. Joseph toward Oregon and California. Today it is the county seat of Doniphan County, on the Kansas side of the river from St. Joseph, and we come across to work on drain and sewer lines here.

Is your home on the town sewer?

Before anything else, it is worth being honest about this. Sewer line repair applies to homes that send wastewater to a public sewer system. Plenty of houses in rural Doniphan County outside town limits run to a private septic tank instead, and septic work is a different trade that we do not do. If you are not sure which you have, your utility bill or city hall can tell you. If you are inside Troy and pay a sewer charge, you are in the right place.

The usual suspects in a Troy lateral

In a town of this age, the line from the house to the street was often replaced in pieces. Laterals in a town this age commonly include a few materials:

• Clay tile joined every few feet, where roots from yard trees find their way into the joints
• Cast iron that has scaled up inside until the opening shrinks
• Fiber pipe (Orangeburg) from the mid-twentieth century, which can soften and flatten out of round
• PVC sections from newer repairs, sometimes glued to old pipe with a rubber coupling

A camera inspection shows which of these you have and where the transition points are, because transitions are where trouble tends to start.

Up on the hill

Troy sits at about 1,089 feet, higher than the river towns to the east. Slope matters in a sewer line: a lateral needs steady fall toward the main to carry solids. A line with a belly, a low spot where water sits, will keep catching paper and grease no matter how often it is cleaned. We measure that on camera and tell you whether cleaning will hold or whether the section needs to be relaid.

Making the trip worth it

Because we come from St. Joseph, we plan a Troy visit to get as much done as possible in one trip. That usually means arriving with a camera, a locator and a jetter, so that if the problem is roots we can clear them on the same day, and if it is a broken pipe we can mark its exact location and depth on the ground for the estimate. When repair work is needed, the written quote lays out spot repair, lining and replacement side by side where each is realistic.

Near the square and under the street

Troy's business district has a brick street. If your sewer connects to the main under a street, or a repair would mean opening pavement or sidewalk, that part involves the city. We will not cut into public right-of-way without the city's say-so, and we let you know early if your job is likely to reach that far.

Common complaints

Typical complaints in an older town are slow drains, a toilet that bubbles when the washer drains, or a smell in the basement. Each of these can point to a partial blockage in the lateral. A single clog cleared once is not much to worry about. Repeat clogs every few months usually mean roots or a damaged section, and that is the point where a camera inspection pays for itself.

Call (816) 680-4869 to set up a visit or

Get a Free Estimate

for a free written estimate.