No-dig pipe repair on the Lower North Shore.
Cracked or root-damaged pipe repaired in place in Killara — a new liner cured inside the old pipe, so an established garden never has to come up.
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Killara was laid out as a gentlemen’s suburb — large blocks, large gardens — and a century of unchecked canopy now sits over Federation drainage across 4.87 square kilometres. The cost of putting back a mature Killara garden after a trench routinely exceeds the cost of the pipe repair several times over. That single fact settles the comparison on most properties here.
Substantial root masses in Federation-era pipe under gardens planted when the houses were built. On the estate blocks the run is long and almost all of it sits under planting.
Because putting the garden back costs more than fixing the pipe. This is the part of a drainage repair people do not price until an excavator is already on site.
Gardens planted when the houses were built, with Swain Gardens and gully reserves running through the suburb. Reinstatement is a landscaping project rather than a line item.
A liner goes in through an opening that already exists. Nothing above the pipe has to move.
Hilly ground at about 120 metres, with gully reserves falling west towards the Lane Cove valley. Long private runs under established planting.
Killara sits in the Ku-ring-gai Council, postcode 2071.
Local figures sourced from: Ku-ring-gai Urban Forest Strategy — Ku-ring-gai Council · ABS 2021 Census QuickStats — Killara (NSW) · Killara, New South Wales — Wikipedia
Federation-era earthenware in short mortared lengths, over a century in service, with the gardens above it exactly as old.
No trench, no spoil, and nothing above the pipe disturbed. The whole job runs through an existing access point.
The line is inspected end to end so the damage is located and measured. Nothing is quoted from the surface.
Roots are cut out and the pipe wall is jetted back to bare material — a liner will not bond to a coated pipe.
A resin-saturated liner is drawn into position through an existing access point and inflated against the host pipe.
The resin hardens in hours rather than days, forming a new pipe inside the old one with no joints for roots to re-enter.
Any branch lines are cut back open robotically, and a final camera pass confirms the result.
Not every damaged pipe should be relined, and we will say so. These are the cases where it genuinely wins here.
Reinstatement dwarfs the repair.
The whole length is under something worth keeping.
Stacks lined without opening the building.
Relining costs more per metre than excavation. It is usually cheaper overall, and this is why:
| Dig and replace | Relining | |
|---|---|---|
| Excavation | Trench the full length, remove and replace the pipe, backfill | None — the work runs through an existing access point |
| What comes up | Lawn, garden, paving, driveway or slab above the line | Nothing |
| Time on site | Days on a long or deep run | Usually one day for a typical run |
| Reinstatement | Priced separately and often the larger half of the bill | Not applicable |
| Result | New pipe, with joints | A jointless liner inside the host pipe |
| Design life | Depends on material and bedding | 50 years on a correctly installed liner |
The per-metre comparison is the one that misleads. Excavation quotes routinely exclude spoil removal and reinstatement, which is where a dig job gets expensive — and on some properties the reinstatement is simply not possible at any price.
These are typical ranges across the Sydney market — not Voyager’s price list, but a realistic yardstick to judge any quote against, including ours.
| Pipe relining, per lineal metre | $450 – $800 |
| Pipe relining, typical whole job | $4,000 – $10,000 |
| Patch repair, single damaged section | $1,500 – $3,000 |
| Junction reinstatement | $300 – $600 |
| Excavate and replace, per metre | $300 – $600 |
| Driveway reinstatement after a dig job, per sqm | $100 – $200 |
| CCTV drain inspection | $250 – $550 |
| Cutting tree roots from a line | $400 – $1,200 |
Voyager prices by the job, not by the hour, so the number you approve is the number you pay. A camera survey happens before any figure is given — a quote for relining that has not looked down the pipe is a guess.
Most Killara properties that ring about relining need a camera first. We will tell you straight — including when clearing the line is the whole job.
A correctly installed liner carries a 50-year design life, and it cures in hours rather than days — so the property is back in normal use the same week rather than the same month.
A 50-year liner means the garden above it is not being opened again in this generation, which on planting of this age is the relevant horizon.
Roots come back through joints. A liner has none.
Voyager covers the whole Lower North Shore. These are the closest to Killara:
No. That is the whole point of it. The liner is drawn in through an existing access point — usually an inspection opening or shaft already on the property — and cured in place against the old pipe. It means a century-old estate garden is untouched — no trench across it and no spoil carried back through it.
Across the Sydney market, relining runs about $450–$800 per lineal metre, with a typical whole job landing between $4,000 and $10,000 and a single-section patch around $1,500–$3,000. Those are market ranges rather than Voyager’s price list. Reinstatement, and it dominates everything else here. Putting back a mature Killara garden routinely costs several times what the pipe repair does.
Per metre, no — excavation is cheaper per metre. Overall it usually is. The dig figure rarely includes putting the garden back, and on established planting that is routinely the larger half of the job. On some properties the reinstatement is not possible at any price, which settles it entirely.
A correctly installed liner carries a 50-year design life. It outlasts what it replaced because it has no joints along its length — and joints are where roots get in, where ground movement opens a gap, and where old earthenware fails first. Which means the garden above it is not being opened again in ten years.
A typical residential run is a single day on site, and the resin cures in hours rather than days. The camera survey happens first, either on the same visit or beforehand — nothing about a relining job should be quoted from the surface.
Most can, but not all — and we will say so rather than sell you something that will not work. A pipe that has collapsed completely, or lost so much of its shape that there is nothing left to line against, needs replacing. In Killara the host pipe is usually a good candidate: substantial root masses in Federation-era pipe under gardens planted when the houses were built. On the estate blocks the run is long and almost all of it sits under planting.
Because of what sits on top. Killara was laid out as a gentlemen’s suburb with large blocks and large gardens, and a century of planting now covers Federation-era drainage. Digging the pipe up is straightforward; putting back a mature garden is not, and that is usually the bigger number by a wide margin.
Through that section, yes. Roots enter at joints and cracks; a liner is continuous and seals them, so the entry point is gone. Roots can still find a different fault further along an old line, which is why the survey covers the whole run rather than only the section that failed.
Camera survey first, a fixed price agreed before the work starts, and no excavation.
Voyager Plumbing · NSW Contractor Licence 476657C
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Page reviewed and updated 20 August 2026
