Camera diagnosis first
Nothing is quoted until we have seen the line. The defect type, its depth and its position decide the repair — and whether a repair is even the right answer yet.
Drain & Sewer · Northern Virginia
The pipe between your house and the county’s main is yours.
Quick answer
Your sewer lateral carries waste from the house out to the public sewer main, and in Fairfax County it belongs to you. The county states plainly that the building lateral is considered part of the home, that its maintenance, repair and replacement are the property owner’s responsibility under Section 504.1 of the Virginia Property Maintenance Code, and that the county maintains the public sewer in the street or easement. LeMaster Plumber repairs and replaces laterals across Northern Virginia — by open excavation or trenchlessly, depending on what the camera shows.
Almost nobody thinks about their sewer lateral until it stops working, and by then the conversation is usually happening in a basement with a wet floor. It is a single 4-inch pipe, often clay or cast iron, buried under a yard, carrying everything the house produces — and it is entirely the homeowner’s to maintain. The good news is that a failing lateral gives plenty of warning if you know what to look for.
Nothing is quoted until we have seen the line. The defect type, its depth and its position decide the repair — and whether a repair is even the right answer yet.
A single cracked or offset section replaced where the rest of the line is sound. The smallest fix that actually solves the problem is usually the right one.
End-to-end replacement where the line has reached the end of its life, by open excavation or trenchlessly depending on what the site allows.
Clearing roots buys time; sealing or replacing the joint they are entering through is what stops them coming back.
We pull the county plumbing permit that private-property lateral work requires, and the repair is inspected before we call it done.
Excavations are backfilled and the area left tidy. We tell you upfront what the surface will look like afterwards.
Being clear about the edges of a job is how you avoid a surprise halfway through it:
We video the lateral end to end, identify every defect, and locate the position and depth of the ones that matter on the surface.
Spot repair, trenchless rehabilitation or full replacement. The line decides. We will show you the footage and explain why.
A repair or replacement on private property requires a county plumbing permit; work reaching the public street needs a state permit too. We handle it.
Open the smallest area the repair needs, or work through access pits where a trenchless method suits the line.
We re-camera the finished line so you can see the result, backfill, and the work is inspected by the Building Inspections Branch.
Why LeMaster Plumber
You approve the price before we start — no surprises and no pressure. You’ll always know the cost before any work begins.
Every job is backed by proper training, the right permits, and a workmanship guarantee.
We show up on time, protect your space, and leave the job cleaner than we found it.
We quote every job upfront and you approve the price before any work begins. What we cannot do honestly is put a number on this page without seeing your situation — so here is what actually moves it:
Depth drives excavation cost faster than length does. A deep lateral is a materially bigger job than a shallow one of the same length.
Lawn is straightforward. A driveway, patio, walkway or mature tree over the line changes both the method and the price.
Replacing one failed section is a fraction of replacing the run. The camera is what tells us which you need.
Different equipment, different site disruption, different cost. Neither is always cheaper — it depends on the line and what sits above it.
A county plumbing permit is required on private property; reaching the public street adds a state permit.
The tie-in at the house and at the public main can be routine or can need work of its own.
Some homes have no usable access point, and creating one is part of the job.
The responsibility line is not a matter of opinion. Fairfax County states that a sanitary sewer lateral is the pipe carrying waste from the home to the public sanitary sewer main, that it is located on private property, that the building lateral is considered part of the home, and that maintenance, repair and replacement are the property owner’s responsibility, enforceable under Section 504.1 of the Virginia Property Maintenance Code — while the county is responsible for maintaining the public sewer in the street or easement (Fairfax County, Sanitary Sewer House Lateral).
An easement crossing your yard does not change that. The main inside the easement is the county’s; the lateral connecting your house to it is not. Laterals are typically 4 inches in diameter and public mains 8 inches and larger, which is often the quickest way to tell which pipe you are looking at.
On permits, the county is specific: a repair or replacement on private property requires a county plumbing permit; if the work extends into the public street (VDOT right-of-way) a state permit is required as well; the plumber must be certified, licensed and bonded; and repairs are inspected by the Building Inspections Branch. Treat any quote that omits permitting as incomplete rather than cheap.
If the problem turns out to be in the public system — a main break, a manhole issue, a cave-in — that is the county’s to fix, and its 24-hour Customer Communications Center is 703-323-1211, TTY 711 (Fairfax County DPWES). For as-built information on the public line, Wastewater Planning and Monitoring is 703-324-5015.
Ready to get it sorted? Pick your own appointment time online.
Or call (703) 832-9090 — we answer 24/7.
We cover all of Fairfax County — Fairfax, Centreville, Chantilly, Vienna, Reston, Herndon, Burke, Springfield, McLean, Annandale and every community in between — plus Ashburn, Sterling and South Riding in Loudoun, and neighboring Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church and Manassas.
The homeowner. Fairfax County states that the building lateral is considered part of the home and that maintenance, repair and replacement are the property owner’s responsibility, enforceable under Section 504.1 of the Virginia Property Maintenance Code. The county maintains the public sewer in the street or easement.
Position and size. The lateral runs across your property and is typically 4 inches in diameter; the public main is usually in the street or a dedicated easement and is typically 8 inches or larger. A camera inspection settles it, and if the problem is on the county side we will say so rather than sell you a repair.
Often. A single defect can sometimes be handled as a spot repair, and where the line suits it, trenchless methods work through access pits instead of a full trench — see our trenchless sewer repair page. A severely collapsed line or certain tie-in conditions still call for excavation, and the camera is what decides.
Yes. Fairfax County requires a plumbing permit for repair or replacement on private property, plus a state permit if the work reaches the public street. The county also requires a certified, licensed and bonded plumber, and inspects the repair. We handle the permit as part of the job.
Because rainwater is getting into the sanitary system. Fairfax County notes its sanitary sewer is separate from the storm sewer, so storm-driven backups mean inflow — a roof drain connection, an uncapped cleanout, a storm cross-connection, an illegal foundation drain — or infiltration through cracks and root intrusion. Clearing the line will not fix either; finding the entry point will.
It is a fair prompt to look. Laterals in a street tend to be the same age, the same material and under the same trees. A camera inspection is a much cheaper way to find out where you stand than a backup is.
It depends entirely on material and conditions. Older clay and cast-iron laterals across Northern Virginia are commonly at or past the age where joints open up and roots find them, while modern PVC lasts far longer. Age alone does not mean failure — the footage does.
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