Excavation Services, Pipe Bursting, CIPP Lining, and Sewer Camera Inspection
Full Nelson repairs and replaces underground water lines, sewer lines, and septic systems using trenchless pipe bursting, cured-in-place pipe lining, traditional excavation, and sewer camera inspection. Our excavation crew handles the underground work that keeps your home’s water and waste systems functioning.
Sewer Camera Inspection
Before any underground repair begins, Full Nelson runs a waterproof camera through the line to see what is happening inside the pipe. The camera feeds real-time video to a monitor, showing the pipe’s interior condition, the exact location and nature of the problem, and the pipe material. Camera inspection removes guesswork. You see the footage alongside our technician, and we explain what the camera reveals before recommending any work.
When our technicians auger a main sewer line, they can feel rough spots in the pipe that suggest damage, or pull back tree roots and mud on the cable. But the only way to confirm the cause of a backup is to look inside the line with a camera. Once we know what is wrong, we can recommend the right repair method rather than defaulting to the most expensive option.
Camera inspection identifies:
- Tree root infiltration through joints and cracks
- Pipe offset where joints have separated and no longer align
- Belly in the line where a section has sagged, holding water and waste
- Line collapse where the pipe has caved in completely
- Corrosion and material deterioration in older cast iron or clay tile pipes
- Material clogs from non-flushable items lodged in the line
Trenchless Pipe Bursting
Pipe bursting replaces a buried sewer line or water line without trenching the entire length of the pipe. Two access holes are dug at each end of the line. A bursting head attached to the new pipe is pulled through the old pipe using hydraulic force. The old pipe fractures outward into the surrounding soil as the new pipe takes its place in the same path.
This method eliminates the need to tear up driveways, sidewalks, decks, landscaping, and patios that sit above the buried line. For homeowners who have invested in their yards and hardscaping, pipe bursting avoids the restoration costs that come with traditional open-trench excavation.
Pipe bursting works well when:
- The existing pipe path is relatively straight
- The pipe diameter stays consistent along the run
- Access points can be established at both ends
- The surrounding soil can accommodate the outward displacement of the old pipe fragments
Not every situation is a candidate for trenchless methods. Full Nelson evaluates each job with a camera inspection before recommending pipe bursting over traditional excavation.
CIPP Lining (Cured-In-Place Pipe)
CIPP lining repairs a damaged pipe from the inside without removing it. A flexible liner saturated with epoxy resin is inserted into the existing pipe and inflated against the pipe walls. The resin cures and hardens, creating a new pipe inside the old one. The result is a smooth, jointless pipe-within-a-pipe that seals cracks, bridges small offsets, and eliminates the entry points that tree roots use to infiltrate the line.
CIPP lining is effective for:
- Pipes with multiple cracks or joint failures along the run
- Lines with early-stage root infiltration at joints
- Pipes that are structurally intact but deteriorating on the interior surface
- Situations where the pipe path runs under structures that make excavation impractical
CIPP lining is not suitable for pipes that have fully collapsed or have severe bellies. A camera inspection determines whether the existing pipe can support a liner.
Traditional Excavation
Some situations require open-trench excavation. When a pipe has fully collapsed, when the line path needs to be rerouted, or when soil conditions make trenchless methods impractical, traditional excavation is the most reliable approach. Full Nelson’s excavation crew digs to the damaged section, removes the failed pipe, and installs new pipe at the correct grade. We backfill, compact, and restore the surface after the work is complete.
Traditional excavation is also used for new line installations where no existing pipe is in place, such as extending a sewer line to a new addition or installing a new water service line from the meter to the house.
Signs You May Need Excavation Work
Underground pipe problems produce symptoms inside the house and in the yard. The existing /trenchless-excavation/ page on the Full Nelson site lists these warning signs, which are worth preserving:
- Multiple drains in the house backing up simultaneously
- Floor drains gurgle or back up when water is used elsewhere in the house
- Sewage, tissue, or other debris backing up in the lowest level of your home
- Sinkholes or soft, wet spots in the yard
- Unusually lush or green patches of grass above the sewer line path
- Persistent sewage odors indoors or near the foundation
Any of these symptoms warrants a camera inspection to determine the condition of the underground lines.
Why Full Nelson
- Family, Women, and Veteran owned since 2003
- Licensed, insured plumbers and excavation technicians
- Sewer camera inspection before and after every repair
- Pipe bursting, CIPP lining, and traditional excavation capabilities
- Up-front pricing before work begins
- 24/7 emergency service for sewer backups and line failures