What is Orangeburg Pipe? Everything You Need to Know

If your property was constructed between the 1940s and the 1970s, it may contain Orangeburg pipe as part of the sewer system. Unfortunately, Orangeburg pipe has a very limited lifespan, and it’s causing problems now for many San Diego homeowners. Here’s everything you should know about this type of sewage piping, so you can determine if it’s a ticking time bomb for your house and fix it with a more long-lasting solution.

What Is Orangeburg Pipe?

Orangeburg pipe took its name from its maker, the Orangeburg Manufacturing Company. This company produced a high volume of Orangeburg pipe starting around the time of World War II and ending in the mid 1970s as part of the US housing boom.

Orangeburg pipe is made of bituminous fiber, or wood fiber mixed with liquified coal tar pitch and a water-resistant adhesive. Orangeburg pipe was popular for many decades because it was affordable, readily available during wartime metal shortages, lightweight, and easy for plumbers to cut. At the time, it was considered a technological advance, but now we of course have much better alternatives.

What Types of Sewage and Plumbing Problems Are Caused by Orangeburg Pipe?

The general problem with Orangeburg pipe is that it has a maximum lifespan of approximately 50 years. In fact, in many cases, its lifespan is significantly less — about 30 years. Even if your home was built at the end of the Orangeburg pipe period, it’s still long overdue to have problems. You may already have the following issues with your sewer system, or these problems may be waiting to rear an ugly head soon.

Infiltration by tree and shrubbery roots

With the deterioration of Orangeburg pipe comes deformation. The pipe no longer maintains its circular cross section and starts to cave in. This makes it easier for the roots from trees, shrubbery, and other large plantings to infiltrate the pipe. The more these roots push on the pipe, the worse the damage gets.

Extensive root damage can lead to leaks, blockages (see below), and sinkholes in the yard. And, naturally, root infiltration in your pipes isn’t good for the trees or plants either. Aside from aesthetics, you don’t want to have a tree start leaning or dying and need to be taken down (or come down in a storm) because of root problems.

Slow-moving drains

Obstructions from shrub and tree roots are a common problem with Orangeburg pipe. Once these roots take over the pipe’s interior, there’s limited space for sewage to flow, so drains start moving at a glacial pace. You have a slow drain if a sink or shower still has water in it long after you’ve used it.

The inevitable deformation of Orangeburg pipe, with or without root invasion, can also account for slow-moving drains. With these blockages, drain cleaning isn’t really effective. It may remove some of the blockage, but you’ll notice it’s back again soon, which is a strain on your bank account.

It seems like these issues always show up at the least opportune times, too — when you’re in the middle of a big work project or hosting company in your home. It’s unnerving to wonder if your drain is not going to work when guests arrive or when you have the least amount of time to devote to it.

Toilets that frequently back up

Sinks and tubs aren’t the only fixtures that run poorly when you have Orangeburg pipe in the sewer system. Toilets are also affected. You may observe:

  • Incomplete flushing, even after plunging
  • Gurgling or similar noises when you flush the toilet
  • Toilet water backing up into the shower because there’s nowhere for it to drain

Obviously, toilet problems can range from a nuisance to a household crisis. You don’t want to wait until you have wastewater in your bathtub before taking action.

Unpleasant odors in the home

As a result of slow-moving waste and sewage backups, sewer gas may be released into the home instead of the sewer system. Sewer odors often smell like rotten eggs due to their high sulfur content. You might just get a whiff of sewer gas when you’re near the toilet, sink, or tub. Or the entire bathroom may smell malodorous.

Long-term exposure to hydrogen sulfide, the technical term for sewer gas, can pose health risks, including:

  • Headaches
  • Nausea
  • Balance problems
  • Tremors
  • Convulsions
  • Irritation of the skin and eyes
  • Loss of consciousness
  • Death

Obviously, you want to avoid these health hazards for you and other occupants of the home. Many people would not consider bad odors in the bathroom to be an emergency, but it could be! Better safe than sorry. Always call a plumber immediately if you think hydrogen sulfide is escaping into your home environment. Meanwhile, avoid using that room and keep it well ventilated by opening a window.

Complete collapse of the sewer line

If the deteriorating Orangeburg pipe goes unremedied for long enough, you could experience complete collapse of your entire sewer line. This is a true plumbing emergency as you will be unable to use any bathrooms in your home or the kitchen sink. Homeowner policies rarely — if ever — cover damage that results from sewer line collapse, especially if you ignored the warning signs previously.

Can You Tell if Orangeburg Pipe Was Used on Your Property?

There are several ways to know if your home has Orangeburg pipe as part of its sewer anatomy:

  • You may have been told long ago by previous owners or a real estate agent that the property contains this type of pipe, although now it’s considered a red light on pre-sale home inspections.
  • Your neighbors whose houses were built at the same time of yours have had problems with Orangeburg pipe.
  • It’s mentioned in construction documents for your property, either with the architect, developer, engineers, or city.
  • You experience the classic signs listed above indicating the presence of Orangeburg pipe.

If you’re not sure, the experts at Brinks Services can help you find out if Orangeburg pipe is the culprit in your sewer troubles. In many cases, we don’t even need to do any digging to make this determination. Instead, we can use camera imaging to look at your sewer pipe and make an evaluation. This is much less invasive than digging up your old sewer pipe to have a look at it.

Can You Have Sewer Line Problems if You Don’t Have Orangeburg Pipe?

Of course, you can still have sewer line problems even if your property doesn’t have Orangeburg pipe, which we may discover when conducting an inspection with our camera. In addition to the issues discussed already, you may have these signs of sewer malfunction:

  • Wet spots or ponding water in your yard, even without any recent rainfall
  • Bright green grass or other vibrant plants growing over your sewer line path and being fertilized by escaping waste
  • Outdoor sewer odors (or neighbors complaining of such)
  • Recent infestation of rodents or cockroaches
  • Cracks in your slab, pavement, or patio hardscaping
  • Changing water levels in your toilet
  • Excessively high water bills compared to past history or your neighbors
  • Buildup of mold or mildew around your home
  • Wet or warm spots under your carpeting
  • Buckling wood floors or cracks in your interior tile floors
  • The sound of water dripping or running when no one is using the water

What causes sewer pipe problems besides using Orangeburg pipe? Sometimes, other types of pipe are simply old and worn. Sewer piping can also become clogged by cooking grease, feminine hygiene products, or other items that shouldn’t be put down the drain.

Other types of sewer lines may be invaded by tree or shrub roots, just like Orangeburg pipe, or they may have shifted under the weight of heavy vehicles, such as landscaping equipment. In San Diego, earthquakes are another possibility when it comes to displaced or collapsed sewer pipes.

What Is the Best Way to Replace Orangeburg Pipe or a Bad Sewer Line?

If you have Orangeburg pipe on your property, or if you have another type of sewer pipe that is failing, pipe replacement is the only real solution. Clearing your drains repeatedly may buy you time. But, in the interim, your sewer problems are getting worse, potentially leading to a catastrophic collapse.

You’re better off putting your money into replacing your sewer pipe at the start of it malfunctioning. If your property is on the market or you plan to list it, you will have to take care of this and or disclose this before selling as no one wants to buy a property with known sewer problems. Orangeburg pipe doesn’t meet current code requirements, which is a hassle for everyone involved.

Fortunately, just like your sewer pipe can be inspected without digging, it can usually be replaced without digging also. This is known as trenchless sewer line repair.

After obtaining images with a special camera that can be inserted into your sewer line, we insert a pipe liner inside the old sewer pipe. The liner is then cured in place, forming a pipe within a pipe.

As you can probably imagine, the more fully collapsed an Orangeburg sewer pipe is, the harder it would be to use a pipelining system. There are cases where the old sewer pipe is too far gone to use trenchless sewer line repair. That’s a big reason we always recommend addressing sewer problems as soon as possible.

Once we get camera images of your sewer pipe, we have a better idea of how long it’s likely to last. This lets you plan for its replacement in the near term while being as gentle on your sewage system as you can be in the meantime. If the sewer pipe is on its very last legs, we’ll know that, too, helping you prevent a disastrous full collapse.

What Are the Benefits of Trenchless Sewer Repair?

The best part of using trenchless sewer repair is that it is minimally invasive to your property. In most cases, the sewer line needs to be replaced outside. While normally, this would entail disruptive digging with large machinery and the loss of your established landscaping (which you would have to pay to replace), this is not the case with pipelining processes. There’s little to no digging, if you have the proper clean-out access points, so you don’t have to worry about your yard or hardscaping, including patios, terraces, and walkways. If the problem is beneath your home, there’s no destruction of your flooring or walls to fix the pipe. This all saves you money and headaches.

You will appreciate the many other benefits of trenchless sewer line repair:

  • It lasts much longer than other options, up to 125 years.
  • Your repair or replacement job goes much faster than traditional methods that involve days of digging, so you get back to regular life faster.
  • There’s no concern about digging near utility lines for gas or electricity.
  • There’s no opening of walls or ceilings with asbestos worries.
  • The new pipe will be much more resistant to corrosion and invasion from tree and shrub roots, so you don’t have to wonder if those problems will return.
  • There are no giant holes in your yard during the repair, which makes it safer if you have children or pets.
  • There’s no mess left behind, which means you won’t have to look at torn-up sections of your yard or loss of curb appeal (essential if you’re selling or renting).

Call Brinks Services Today to Replace Your Orangeburg Pipe

We can’t emphasize enough that it’s essential to replace your Orangeburg pipe right away if it’s causing sewer problems or on the verge of collapse. We bring years of experience to your repair job, and we know how to customize plumbing solutions to your particular sewer line concerns.

Our reliability, professionalism, and high-quality workmanship have won us multiple awards from our satisfied San Diego customers. While many of our clients are homeowners, we also service businesses, apartment complexes, industrial buildings, and municipal facilities.

Call Brinks Services at 619-677-6388 to set up an appointment to check out your sewer line for Orangeburg pipe. Or simply send us a message using our easy online contact form so we can get started on your job as soon as possible.