Sewer Line Replacement in Aurora, CO

When patching stops making sense

• The main drain needs clearing again within weeks or a few months of the last visit
• The lowest fixture in the house, often a basement shower or floor drain, is the first to back up
• Toilets bubble or gurgle while the washing machine empties
• A sewage smell near the cleanout, or a strip of lawn that stays greener than the rest
• Camera video showing cracks, separated joints or roots at several points along the line

One broken section on otherwise sound pipe can often be repaired by itself. Replacement becomes the better spend when the damage runs from the foundation toward the street.

Aurora's sewer system and its range of housing

Aurora Water operates wastewater service for the city, and its Sand Creek Water Reclamation Facility treats wastewater from homes and businesses so it can be reused as irrigation water. The pages we reviewed do not say exactly where Aurora Water's part of a sewer connection stops and the owner's begins, or whether every neighborhood drains to Aurora Water rather than a separate district. Ask Aurora Water about your address before a replacement is priced; its customer line is 303.326.8645 during business hours and 303.739.6772 after hours.

The city covers a lot of ground, from the original Fletcher townsite and older neighborhoods in the northwest to master-planned communities out along E-470. An older house in the northwest part of town is the likelier place to find original clay or cast iron drain pipe that has cracked, scaled or let roots in at many joints. A newer house farther east usually has plastic pipe, so a failure there more often traces to settled soil, a poorly bedded section or digging for a fence or landscaping project.

What moves the price

• Length and depth of the run from the house to the public sewer
• Method: open trench where the line has lost its slope, or a trenchless option where the old path still works
• What sits on top: driveways, patios, trees and finished landscaping
• Interior pipe under the slab or basement floor that may need replacing too
• Permit and inspection through the City of Aurora

What happens after you call

You'll be connected with an independent local plumber who works in Aurora. Expect a camera inspection before any firm price, since the pipe material, depth and location of each defect decide the method. The City of Aurora Public Works Department's Building Division handles plumbing reviews and inspections, and the plumber will normally arrange the permit and schedule the inspection before the trench is closed.