Drain Relining & Patch System Repair

A cracked or damaged drain doesn't always mean a trench across your garden. In many cases, the repair can be made from the inside, through the access points you already have, which keeps your lawn, driveway and floors exactly as they are.

At Plumbco, our drain relining service creates a smooth, seamless new pipe inside your existing drain using cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) technology. Where the damage is limited to one spot, our patch system repair deals with a single crack, fracture or shifted joint without the need to line the whole pipe. Both methods restore the strength of your drain, and both are priced up front, so you know where you stand before we begin. Every job has a fixed price agreed before any work starts, and we never charge call-out fees or add extra for nights and weekends. Our engineers are also licensed and fully insured, so your drain is in safe hands from the first visit.

Think your drainage needs attention? Speak to a real engineer straight away or send us a message and we'll arrange a survey.

Drain relining is a trenchless repair that fits a new pipe inside the old one. A flexible liner made from polyester or fibreglass felt is soaked in a strong resin, fed into the damaged drain and inflated so that it presses firmly against the pipe walls. The resin is then hardened with hot water, steam or UV light, which leaves a rigid, jointless pipe that resists corrosion. Because the new pipe sits inside the old one, your drain carries on working in the same place, only in far better condition.

It helps to see how this happens in practice, so here is the process our engineers follow on every drain relining job:

1. CCTV Survey: We start with a CCTV drain survey, sending a camera through the drain to find every defect, measure the pipe and confirm that relining is the right repair.
2. Pipe Preparation: Next, we clear the pipe with jetting or rodding to remove debris, blockages and roots. On pitch fibre drains, we also re-round the pipe so that it regains its circular shape.
3. Liner Installation: The resin-soaked liner is then pulled or turned inside out into the pipe through an existing manhole or inspection chamber.
4. Inflation: Air pressure inflates the liner so that it sits tightly against the old pipe and seals cracks, fractures and joints as it goes.
5. Curing: The resin is left to harden using hot water, steam or UV light, depending on the resin system, and this forms a strong new pipe.
6. Reconnection and Final Check: Any side connections feeding into the pipe are reopened with a robotic cutter, and a last CCTV survey confirms that the reline is complete and sound.

Once the liner has cured, the benefits of drain relining are easy to spot. These include:

• No Digging: All work is carried out through existing access points, so your garden, driveway, floors and paths stay untouched.
• A Long Working Life: The cured liner is a structural pipe, and it is expected to last for 50 years or more.
• Seamless Construction: With no joints, the liner removes the places where roots most often break in and pipes most often shift.
• Resistance to Corrosion and Chemicals: The hardened resin stands up well to chemical attack, scale and biological decay.
• Better Flow: The smooth inner surface can improve flow compared with the original pipe.
• A Written Guarantee: We back our work with a written guarantee, so you're protected after we've left.

Drain relining suits pipes that are cracked, fractured, damaged by roots, displaced, corroded or out of shape, which is common with pitch fibre. It works on pipes from 100mm to 600mm in diameter and above. It isn't suitable for fully collapsed pipes where the bore has been lost, or, in very rare cases, where the pipe material can't support a liner. A CCTV survey tells us for certain, and we'll explain what it shows in plain English.

Relining isn't the only no-dig option, though. When the trouble is confined to one spot, a smaller repair often makes more sense.

A patch repair is a targeted, no-dig fix for one specific defect. A short section of resin-soaked material is placed over the crack, fracture or damaged joint using a packer, which is an inflatable device that holds the patch in position. Once the resin cures, it forms a strong local repair, and the rest of the pipe is left as it was. That is the idea behind our patch system repair: fix the problem where it is and leave the sound pipe alone.

We give every patch system repair the same written guarantee as a full reline, covering the repaired section. The process is shorter than relining, but it is just as careful.

1. CCTV Location of the Defect: We map the exact position, size and type of the damage on camera.
2. Pipe Cleaning: The affected area is jetted clean so that the patch bonds securely.
3. Patch Preparation: A resin-soaked patch of the right size is prepared and loaded onto the packer.
4. Positioning and Inflation: Guided by the camera, we move the packer to the defect and inflate it, pressing the patch firmly against the pipe wall.
5. Curing and Final Check: The resin hardens into a bonded repair, and a last CCTV survey confirms that the patch is in the right place and fully sealed.

A patch system repair is usually the best fit in these situations:

• A Single Crack or Fracture: One isolated defect on an otherwise sound pipe doesn't justify relining the whole run.
• One Displaced Joint: A joint has shifted and is letting roots in or water out, while the rest of the drain is in good order.
• A Specific Root Entry Point: Roots are getting in at one place that a patch can seal.
• A More Economical Repair: Because it treats only the damaged section, a patch system repair usually costs less than a full reline.

Full drain replacement is kept for pipes that have collapsed completely or where the material has failed. It means opening a full trench, so the work takes between two and five days and causes significant disruption. The new pipe is expected to last for 60 years or more.

Whichever of the three suits your drain, the price is fixed once the survey is done, and the work comes with our written guarantee. You may still have a few questions, so we've answered the most common ones below.

If you think your drain has cracked or shifted, or a CCTV survey has already flagged damage, get in touch and we'll take a proper look. A real engineer answers the phone in under 60 seconds, day or night, and there's no call-out fee to find out what your drain needs.

Call us on 0808 303 8888 or fill in our contact form, and we'll arrange a survey anywhere across Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire.