Sewer Line Repair in Northampton County, PA

• Coverage across the county: Bethlehem, Easton, Nazareth, Bangor, Hellertown, Bath, Wind Gap, Palmer Township, Forks Township and Wilson.
• Crews run US 22, I-78, Route 33 and Route 191 between the Lehigh Valley cities and the slate belt.
• Tell us your municipality when booking; permits come from the city, borough or township, not the county.

• Root cutting and repair in clay tile laterals under older city streets
• Camera inspections before buying a pre-war rowhouse or twin
• Cast iron drain replacement inside older basements
• Lateral replacement with a new cleanout at the curb
• Testing an existing lateral before reconnecting it to new plumbing

• HomeGuide's published national average for replacing a residential sewer line is $6,000, and most jobs run $2,000 to $10,000.
• HomeGuide lists a camera inspection at $125 to $500. On a lateral running under a sidewalk and city street, that inspection decides whether lining or digging is the cheaper route.
• Trenchless pricing per linear foot, per HomeGuide: $60 to $200 for pipe bursting and $90 to $250 for cured-in-place lining.
• Local fees are small next to the work. The City of Bethlehem fee schedule lists a residential sanitary sewer permit at $50, plus the $4.50 state training fee.
• Method: national ranges from HomeGuide, adjusted for local factors such as depth, rowhouse access, street cuts and municipal permits.

• Step 1, responsibility: under Bethlehem Codified Ordinance Article 921.02(m), the owner maintains and repairs the building drain and lateral.
• Step 2, permit: the City of Bethlehem's Article 1702 fee schedule sets a one- or two-family sanitary sewer permit (new, replacement or repair) at $50, and adds $4.50 to every permit for the state-imposed training fee.
• Step 3, testing: Article 921 lets an existing lateral connect to new building sewers only after the City Plumbing Inspector finds, through examination and testing, that it conforms; the permit holder supplies the equipment and labor.
• Step 4, re-inspection: after the first re-inspection, the City of Bethlehem lists a $75 fee for each additional visit, so have the trench ready before calling.
• Outside Bethlehem, check with your borough or township; each adopts its own sewer ordinance and fees.

• Census ACS data put Northampton County's housing stock at 129,448 units with a median year built of 1971, and 40.7% were built before 1960.
• Older homes in the neighborhoods near downtown Bethlehem, College Hill in Easton and the boroughs along the Lehigh River often still have clay tile laterals and cast iron drains.
• Tree roots from mature street trees along older blocks find the joints in clay pipe; Bethlehem's ordinance names them specifically.
• Frost reaches shallow pipe in hard winters, and freeze and thaw cycles can move joints in short laterals near the house.
• Slate and shale bedrock near Bangor and Pen Argyl can make deep trenches slower and more expensive to dig. Rowhouses and twins with shared walls add another wrinkle: a lateral may run under a neighbor's yard or join another line before the street, so confirm the route on camera before anyone digs.

Bethlehem · Easton · Nazareth · Bangor · Hellertown · Bath · Wind Gap · Palmer Township · Forks Township