Sewer line repair in Los Gatos, CA

Sewer lines in Los Gatos

Los Gatos has two kinds of housing and two kinds of sewer problem. Downtown and the streets off Los Gatos Boulevard and University Avenue have bungalows and Victorians from the 1890s to the 1930s, often with original clay or cast iron and no outside cleanout. The larger tracts — Blossom Hill, the streets around Los Gatos High, the Belwood and Belgatos areas, Monte Sereno next door — are 1950s and 60s ranch homes on quarter-acre and larger lots, which means laterals of 80 to 120 feet where a San Jose tract home has 50.

Longer pipe, more joints, more roots. The live oaks and valley oaks were on these lots before the houses; the redwoods went in with them. By the time a Blossom Hill lateral reaches the main it has passed under two or three trees that are now sixty years older and a great deal thirstier every August.

The hillside streets above Highway 9 and toward the Santa Cruz Mountains add depth and slope. A lateral that drops 30 feet on its way to the street is deep at the bottom, and an open trench on a 20 percent grade is expensive and unstable. Lining from the top pit is the normal answer.

What turns up most

• Root intrusion at clay joints, usually several joints, usually oak
• Offset joints on hillside lots where the soil has crept downhill for decades
• Cast iron with the bottom worn through on the downtown bungalows
• No cleanout on anything built before 1950, which makes every service call slower
• Laterals under pools, terraces and mature landscaping that nobody wants trenched

Options for Los Gatos homes

• Sewer line repair — a single offset or root joint, replaced through one pit
• Trenchless lining and bursting — the default on long and hillside laterals
• Full replacement — open-trench where the run is short and the yard is flat
• Camera inspection — $250–$500, and worth doing before you buy anything built before 1975
• Hydro jetting — annual root cutting on lines that aren't ready for lining yet

Pricing in Los Gatos

The typical ranges are the same as San Jose's, but the jobs run longer. A 100-foot lined lateral is toward the top of the $15,000–$30,000 trenchless range because the liner and the resin are priced by the foot. Spot repairs are $1,500–$4,000, deeper hillside pits toward the top. Lateral work normally needs a permit and an inspection; check with West Valley Sanitation District or the town about who issues lateral permits for your address, and make sure the permit is on the quote in the contractor's name. The cost page has the tables.

Buying or selling in Los Gatos

Sale prices here make a $25,000 sewer surprise feel small on paper and large in a negotiation. Buyers' agents in Los Gatos routinely ask for a camera inspection during contingency, and a seller who has the footage and a recent liner warranty in hand has one less thing to argue about. If you're listing, a $300 camera run before the open house is cheap.

Sewer line repair in Los Gatos, step by step

1. Find the access. Most ranch homes on Blossom Hill and around Belwood have an outside cleanout. Many downtown houses don't, so the first visit may include adding one.
2. Camera the whole run. On an 80- to 120-foot lateral, a camera that stops at 40 feet hasn't seen the pipe. Ask for the full length to the main, with the counter on screen.
3. Locate and mark. Each problem gets painted on the surface with its depth. On a slope, the depth near the street can be far greater than at the house.
4. Choose the method. One bad joint near the house: a spot repair. Roots along the run: lining. Crushed or oval pipe: bursting. A belly: dig that section.
5. Permit and inspection. Confirm which agency issues the permit for your address and that the contractor pulls it.
6. After video. Ask for it, and keep it with the house file.

What to check on a hillside lot

Hillside laterals above Highway 9 bring their own questions. Ask where the pits will go and whether either one sits on a slope that needs shoring. Ask whether retaining walls, terraced beds or drainage pipes cross the sewer line's path. If your lot has a subdrain or a sump pump feeding a downhill outlet, make sure it isn't tied into the sewer. And ask how the crew will get equipment to the pit; a narrow, steep driveway can change the plan from a mini excavator to hand digging.

The downtown bungalows

The older houses near Los Gatos Boulevard and University Avenue usually have shorter laterals and fewer trees, but older pipe. Original clay or cast iron, sometimes a mix, and sometimes a section that was patched decades ago with whatever was on the truck. A camera run on these houses often shows three or four materials in one line. That isn't a reason to replace the whole thing by default; it's a reason to look closely at each section and fix the one that's failing.

Common questions to ask a contractor in Los Gatos

• How long is my lateral, and how deep is it at the street?
• Which trees are closest to the line, and where are the roots entering?
• If you line it, does the liner reach the main or stop at the property line?
• What will the pits look like when you leave, and what's restored?

Nearby

Monte Sereno, the Cambrian side of Los Gatos, Campbell and the Almaden side of San Jose. Zip codes 95030, 95032 and 95033 on the mountain side. For sewer line repair, Campbell, CA homeowners face the same long-lateral questions; ask the city or West Valley Sanitation District which agency serves your address. Saratoga has its own page.