Sewer Repair in Howell, Michigan

When a sewer line fails, every drain in the house is affected at once, and the stress comes from not knowing what is actually wrong underground. Our approach is to find the real failure first — a crack, an offset joint, a collapse, corrosion, a sag, or root intrusion — with a camera inspection, and then fix that specific problem rather than just clearing the line for a few days.

Signs your sewer line needs repair, not just a cleaning

A cleaning clears a blockage. A repair is needed when the pipe itself has a defect. These signs point toward the second:

• Backups that affect more than one fixture at the same time, or that return within weeks of a cleaning
• Gurgling from toilets or floor drains when a washing machine or tub empties
• Sewer odor inside the home or along the line's path in the yard
• A wet, soft, sunken, or unusually green strip of lawn following the pipe route
• Camera footage showing cracks, separated joints, a bellied section holding water, or roots

How we diagnose the problem

We start by matching the symptoms to a likely location, then run a camera down the line, ideally from a cleanout so we can see toward the house and toward the street. The footage shows the pipe material, the condition, and where the defect is. A locator then marks the exact position and depth from the surface, so any excavation is limited to the failure instead of the whole run. On a rain-related backup we try to inspect during or just after wet weather, because groundwater seeping in at a joint is only visible when the soil is saturated.

Repair options

Spot repair. A single cracked section or offset joint is dug up and replaced, or sealed with a short internal liner, without disturbing the rest of the line. This is the least invasive fix when the surrounding pipe is sound.

Cured-in-place lining, or CIPP. A resin liner is inserted into the existing pipe and cured hard, creating a new jointless pipe inside the old one. It works when the host pipe still holds its shape, such as cracked clay, corroded cast iron, or a line with root intrusion at the joints, and it needs only small access points. It cannot correct a bad slope.

Pipe bursting. A bursting head is pulled through the old line, fracturing it outward while pulling in a new seamless HDPE pipe. This handles pipe that is broken or too weak to line, such as Orangeburg, and keeps the yard mostly intact. Our trenchless sewer repair page covers both trenchless methods in detail.

Open-trench replacement. The line is excavated and replaced with new PVC on a proper stone bed. This is the right call when the pipe has collapsed, lost its grade and needs re-sloping, or when the failure is at the connection to the city main. See sewer line replacement.

What sewer repair costs in Livingston County

These are 2026 planning ranges for the Howell area, not quotes. The camera findings and a locate are what turn them into a real number. Our sewer repair cost guide breaks down what drives each figure.

Sewer lines in this part of Michigan

Most sewer repairs in Livingston County involve one of a few pipe materials, and the material changes the recommendation:

• Clay tile (homes through the 1960s) is durable but joined every few feet, which makes it a magnet for roots. If the grade is intact, lining is often the best long-term fix. Our guide on clay tile sewer pipe goes deeper.
• Orangeburg (roughly 1945 to 1972) is compressed tar paper that deforms and delaminates with age. It cannot be spot-repaired or lined reliably; pipe bursting or replacement is the answer. See Orangeburg pipe in Michigan.
• Cast iron corrodes from the inside and develops a rough, scaled interior that catches debris.
• PVC (1980s onward) rarely fails on its own; problems are usually a crushed section or a settled joint.

Two local factors also matter. The frost line here runs about 42 inches, so laterals sit deep and excavation is larger than homeowners expect. And in the lake-area subdivisions the high water table pushes groundwater into any pipe that has opened up at a joint, which is why a rain-only backup so often turns out to be a repair rather than a clog.

What to expect on a repair

After the inspection you get the camera footage, the options that fit your line, and written pricing before any work starts. Repairs that touch the buried line are permitted through the city or township and inspected before backfill. We restore the work area — backfill, grade, and reseed or replace sod — and replace any concrete or asphalt that had to be cut.

Related services and reading

Sewer camera inspection · Hydro jetting · Emergency sewer service · Tree roots in your sewer line · Trenchless vs. traditional sewer repair

Sewer repair FAQs