Fix the pipe. Keep the garden.
The North Shore is full of homes built well before anyone thought about what tree roots do to earthenware. Federation cottages in Chatswood, deep-set terraces in Crows Nest, the big garden blocks through Pymble and Wahroonga: a lot of them are still running on the original vitrified clay sewer line. Those pipes crack. Roots find the crack. And then you have a blockage that keeps coming back no matter how many times it gets cleared.
Available 24/7 across the North Shore · No callout fee on eligible jobs
Relining fixes the pipe itself, from the inside, without excavating it.
Pipe relining, known in the trade as cured-in-place pipe or CIPP, forms a new pipe inside the old one without digging it up. The damaged line is cleaned out, an epoxy resin-saturated liner is either pulled through or turned in by inversion, and it cures hard against the existing pipe wall. What you end up with is a continuous, jointless pipe inside the old one: no joints for roots to get back into.
It’s a trenchless repair, which is the whole point: the pipe gets fixed without the excavation that normally costs more than the pipe work. Where only a short length is damaged, a patch liner covers that section rather than the full run. Where the line has branches, the junctions are reinstated by cutting them back open once the liner has cured.
The practical difference from a traditional dig-and-replace:
Whether relining is the right call depends on the pipe. If a line has collapsed completely, or the fall is wrong, relining may not be appropriate on its own: a CCTV drain inspection is how that gets established before anyone quotes.
How the two approaches actually compare:
| Pipe relining | Dig and replace | |
|---|---|---|
| Excavation | Little to none: done through existing access points | Trenches through whatever sits above the pipe |
| Time on site | Usually a day for a single section | Often several days, plus reinstatement afterwards |
| Gardens, paving, driveways | Left alone | Dug through, then repaired or re-laid at extra cost |
| The result | A structural new pipe inside the old one, engineered to a 50-year design life | A brand-new pipe |
| Where it wins | Cracked, root-damaged or leaking lines that still hold their shape | Fully collapsed or badly back-fallen sections |
Neither is always right, which is why the camera inspection comes first.
Describe what’s happening and we’ll tell you straight, including when the simple fix is the whole job.
A camera goes down the line so the actual condition is on screen before anything is quoted. You see what we see.
Voyager prices by the job, not by the hour. The recommended repair and the price are explained and agreed before work starts, so the number doesn’t move while a plumber is on site.
The line is cleared and cleaned, usually with high-pressure water jetting, so the liner bonds properly. Roots are cut back to the pipe wall.
The liner is positioned across the damaged section and left to cure hard against the host pipe: a matter of hours, not days, on most jobs.
The finished line is re-inspected so there’s a record of the repair, not just an assurance.
Relining is priced on the diameter of the pipe and the length of the damaged run, plus a setup charge that covers getting the equipment on site, cleaning the line and preparing it to take a liner. A 100mm sewer runs $450-$800 per lineal metre; a 150mm line runs $550-$1,000. Most residential jobs land between $4,000 and $10,000 all-in. Long lines, multiple junctions or difficult access push past that band.
| What’s being priced | Indicative range |
|---|---|
| Sewer relining, 100mm, per lineal metre | $450-$800 |
| Sewer relining, 150mm, per lineal metre | $550-$1,000 |
| Setup and establishment | $2,000-$4,000 |
| Reinstating a branch junction | $300-$600 each |
| Typical full residential job | $4,000-$10,000 |
These are indicative ranges to judge a quote against, not a quote. Every job is priced fixed and in writing after a camera inspection.
Relining is priced per job, based on the length of the damaged section, the diameter of the pipe, how the line is accessed and what the camera finds. That’s why the inspection comes first: a fixed price is only meaningful if the problem has actually been established.
What you can expect either way: a free quote, a fixed price agreed before work begins, no callout fee on eligible jobs, and a lifetime labour warranty. Eligible $0 callouts and warranty-backed labour are subject to Voyager’s current terms and eligibility requirements.
Modern liners are engineered to a 50-year design life, and the liner is designed to outlast the original pipe. Because it’s continuous, there are no joints along the relined section for roots to re-enter, which is usually what fails first in an old clay line.
Most relining jobs are done through existing access points. Some lines need a small access excavation depending on layout and pipe condition. If that applies to your property, it’s identified at the inspection stage and included in the quote, not sprung on you later.
Not always. A liner needs a host pipe to form against. Where a section has fully collapsed, that part may need replacing before the rest can be relined. The camera inspection is what tells us.
Many residential jobs are completed within a day. Longer runs, difficult access or multiple damaged sections can extend that. You’ll be given a realistic timeframe with the quote.
Yes. Voyager works with strata managers and owners across the North Shore. Relining is often the preferable option in a unit block precisely because it limits digging on common property and cuts down the disruption for residents.
It depends on what’s above the pipe. Where a line runs under a driveway, paving, an established garden or a structure, the excavation and reinstatement is frequently the largest cost in a dig-and-replace job: reinstating a concrete driveway alone typically adds $100-$200 per square metre on top of the pipe work, and relining avoids most of it. Where a pipe is shallow and in open lawn, the gap narrows. The quote will set both out where both are viable.
Free quote, a fixed price agreed before the work starts, and someone on the end of the phone at any hour.
Voyager Plumbing · NSW Contractor Licence 476657C
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Page reviewed and updated 2 October 2026
