For years a homeowners association spent countless dollars addressing issues of their deteriorating cast iron plumbing system. They turned to Bill Howe Plumbing, a NuFlow Certified Contractor, to execute a $2 million restoration project of the entire plumbing infrastructure. The team at Bill Howe Plumbing restored over 12,000 feet of 1 1/2- to 8-inch cast iron pipes with NuFlow’s NuDrain cured-in-place-pipe lining with minimal disturbance to the residents.

Built in 1975, the condominium complex located in the heart of a San Diego beach community was battling persistent issues from their aging plumbing system. The homeowners association of the 502-unit complex had costs piling up from sewage remediation within units, frequent drain cleaning, pipe repairs, and lost revenue from Airbnb rentals for homeowners. In response to these challenges, the Board of Directors made the decision to invest $2 million in a comprehensive pipe restoration project with Bill Howe Plumbing, a NuFlow Certified Contractor.

The complexity of the project was compounded by limited accessibility to the piping and workspaces due to the large number of units, security perimeter fences, and gates leading to narrow hallways and sidewalks. Due to the compact surroundings and the intricate pipe network, the team opted to use NuDrain CIPP with pull-in-place installation for the entirety of the project because it gave them an advantage over inversion. According to Mark Ames, lining operations manager at Bill Howe Plumbing, “Pull-in-place was the only option. It allowed us to get the residents back into service immediately without the need for reinstatements. Inversion would have required too many excavations, and the job site didn’t allow for large equipment. Many of the clean-outs were located inside the units, so large inversion equipment wouldn’t fit. With pull-in-place we had virtually no extended downtime for the residents.”

The installation of the liners involved accessing all 165 ground floor units and a significant portion of the second floor units, enabling the integration of the liner into the common sewer mains and stacks. Over the course of a 20-month schedule, a total of 12,277 linear feet of NuFlow pull-in-place liner was installed, including over 7,000 feet of 1 1/2- and 2-inch liner, almost 3,000 feet of 6- and 8-inch liner, and 2,000 feet of 3- and 4-inch liner. Ames explained, “We lined every pipe located underground from the city main to each building on the property. And we lined everything between the first and second floors in every unit, including kitchen and lavatory drains.”

The outcome of the project has brought immense satisfaction to the HOA. Following years of service calls and costly remediation charges, incidents of backups caused by piping failures have been reduced to near zero. Consequently, the HOA can now allocate its reserve funds towards enhancing amenities, thus increasing property values for homeowners.

Visit NuFlow at the WWETT Show, booth 6327, for live demos of its 2-inch, wye and tee full system rehab, and Cold Cure UV pipelining technologies on Thursday, Jan. 25 and Friday, Jan. 26 at 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 2:30 p.m.

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