Pipe from before the war
The Census Bureau's housing estimates put about 38 percent of University City's homes at 1939 or earlier, and about seven in ten before 1960.
In a house that old, the drain stack and the pipe under the basement floor are usually cast iron, and the lateral out to the street is usually clay tile. Cast iron rusts from the inside until the rough wall catches everything that goes past. Clay lets roots in at its joints.
Both can be cleaned. Whether cleaning is enough is a question for a camera.
What the city pays
University City's Sanitary Sewer Lateral Repair Program pays the first $2,500 of an approved lateral repair. Anything above that is the owner's.
- It covers residential buildings of up to six units, which takes in two-family and four-family buildings. Commercial and industrial property is out.
- The $2,500 goes toward digging, the pipe repair, backfill, pavement, and seed and straw. Landscaping isn't covered.
- Pipe inside or under the home isn't covered.
- The city says the program is limited to available funds.
MSD owns the main. The city points out that MSD doesn't pay for repairs to the lateral or to its connection at the main. It also suggests asking your homeowner's insurer whether it offers coverage for the sewer line.
Before you apply
The city's application says the line has to be cabled or hydro-jetted first, with every effort made to clear it, and it asks for a plumber's report. The city's question-and-answer sheet adds that the video inspection is yours to arrange and pay for.
So the first steps are the ones a drain company takes anyway. Open the line, then put a camera through it.
- If the camera shows roots at a joint in a line that otherwise drains, a root cutting on a schedule may be all it needs.
- If it shows a break, the footage and the report are what the city asks for.
Questions about the program go to Public Works at 314-505-8570.
Know the gap before the dig
With $2,500 from the city, a deep repair or a long run of pipe leaves most of the cost with you. Get the camera footage first, so you know what is wrong and how much pipe is involved before any price is put in front of you.
When nobody is running water
If sewage comes up while no one in the building is using water, the blockage may be in the public sewer. MSD takes those reports at 314-768-6260 and sends a crew to check. MSD says that in heavy rain, when many buildings call at once, a crew can take from a few hours to a few days to arrive.
Compare sewer lateral programs across 29 St. Louis-area cities