Sewer Line Repair in Macomb County, MI

A camera inspection runs $150–$300. Clearing roots or a clog runs $250–$600. Lining the pipe from the inside (trenchless) runs $3,000–$6,000. Digging up and replacing the pipe runs $5,000–$10,000+. Always get the camera inspection first — it is the only way to know which repair you actually need.

Most Macomb County homes were built between the 1940s and 1970s, when clay pipe was the standard sewer material. Clay lasts about 50–70 years. Warren, Roseville, Eastpointe, and St. Clair Shores have some of the highest concentrations of old clay sewer pipes in Metro Detroit — and the big maple and oak trees on those streets push roots into the pipe joints, causing repeated backups.

Trenchless repair (CIPP lining) builds a new pipe inside your old one using a resin liner — no digging up the yard. It costs $3,000–$6,000 for most Macomb County homes and works when the old clay pipe is cracked or leaking at the joints but still holding its shape. It does not work on collapsed or badly sagging pipe. A camera inspection tells you if your pipe qualifies.

Yes. Sewer repair and replacement requires a plumbing permit under the Michigan Plumbing Code, and the work must be done by a Michigan LARA-licensed plumber. Your city — Warren, Sterling Heights, Clinton Township, Roseville, and the rest — issues the permit ($100–$225) and usually inspects the work before the hole is filled back in. Never hire anyone who offers to skip the permit: unpermitted sewer work can void insurance claims and becomes a problem when you sell.

Watch for: several drains backing up at the same time, toilets gurgling when the sink or tub drains, sewage smell in the basement or yard, a stripe of extra-green grass over the pipe path, soft spots or small sinkholes in the yard, and basement backups after heavy rain. If your main line has been snaked more than once in two years, get a camera inspection — the pipe itself is the problem.

Trenchless lining ($3,000–$6,000) wins when the old pipe still holds its shape — it saves your lawn, driveway, and sidewalk and takes 1–2 days. Digging ($5,000–$10,000+) is required when the pipe has collapsed, shifted apart at the joints, or sags in the middle. Many of the oldest clay lines in Warren and Eastpointe are past the point where lining works. Only a camera inspection can tell you which side of that line your pipe is on.

Not by default. Standard Michigan homeowners policies exclude sewage backup damage. To be covered you need a sewer backup rider — an add-on that costs roughly $40–$150 per year and covers about $5,000–$25,000 of interior cleanup. The pipe in the ground is almost never covered by any policy. If you have an old clay line and no backup rider, call your insurance agent this week.

Orangeburg is sewer pipe made of compressed wood pulp and tar, used from the 1940s to the mid-1950s when better materials were rationed for WWII. Parts of Eastpointe, Roseville, and southeast Warren built in 1945–1956 have it. It soaks up ground moisture, squashes into an oval, and collapses — it cannot be lined and always requires full excavation. If your home is from that era and the sewer line has never been replaced, get a camera inspection.