sand pump for 2000 gallon pool

Urgent help needed - Descale cast iron main line

Rogerio asks:

I live in a 60 year old home and i am having problems with main/sewer line (cast iron) back up. I had a camera inspection done and there is a lot of scale build up. The total line is about 70 feet. My plumber recommended descaling using a picote machine which seems to be a good advice. Problem is he wants 5.5k to do it. Is this a reasonable price or a rip-off?

James Henry replies:

70 feet is nothing. I would dig it up and replace it with PVC, it will cost a fraction of that price.

Rogerio replies:

I was quoted 13k to escavate and replace

James Henry replies:

I just noticed your your location so your frost line is probably pretty deep.

Reach4 replies:

Greenwich CT is a premium-priced area, so I think the PVC would cost more than 5.5 k. Come to think of it, I would think it might come to quite a bit in Billings due to the deeper frost line.

Rogerio replies:

Yeah things in this town are NYC price. I can probably negotiate the 5.5k down a little but after checking a few other companies the option to dig and replace have been 12-18k. So the descaling option seemed to make sense but 5.5k seems quite a lot

James Henry replies:

Not if I do it myself.

Rogerio replies:

End up getting two more quotes. 1.5k which for me sounds about right. The other 700 which looks too cheap. The 700 quote originally suggest hydrojet which I don’t think can get rid of the bad scale. So when he call me back I told him i wanted to use the picote machine and then he told me he has the machine and that it was even cheaper than hydrojet.

Rogerio asks:

Does this looks like a crack or a joint? Descaling was done today and the plumber showed me this section of the pipe. He said it should be fine but in the long run would be better to line the pipe with Cure in Place Liner