- What is a T-Liner?
- T-Liner is a one-piece cured in-place main and lateral liner. It is installed from the mainline pipe and is accomplished without the need for any excavation. The liner is protected inside of a unique hose launching device. The liner inside of the protective hose is inserted into the main pipe from a manhole and pulled to the desired lateral connection. The one-piece main/lateral lining is robotically positioned using a lateral camera. Once positioned, air pressure is applied and the main portion is inflated and the lateral portion is inverted *turned inside out) up into the existing lateral pipe. A Cleanout is required in order to clean the pipe and ensure that the segment to be lined is free of roots and other debris. the cleanout is also used to insert a push camera down to the main allowing visual positioning for a perfect alignment of the liner. An existing cleanout may be used, or a new cleanout can be installed by traditional excavation or a cleanout can be installed utilizing a VAC-A-TEE.
- What is VAC-A-TEE and how does it work?
- VAC-A-TEE is a trenchless cleanout system. The lateral is located typically by a mainline camera that projects a satellite camera up into the existing lateral pipe. Te satellite camera contains a sound that transmits a frequency which can be pin pointed from ground surface. Once the lateral has been located, a bore-hole about 20" in diameter is created by using water to cut the soil and a vacuum truck to remove the soil, placing it into the vacuum truck tank so there is no large piles of dirt as typically seen in a traditional dig. This is referred to as vacuum excavation. Once the lateral pipe has been exposed through vacuum excavation, a Patented PVC pipe is then introduced into the hole and the saddle is snapped onto the lateral pipe. The adhesive cures and forms a new watertight cleanout. The riser pipe is filled with 6-feet of water performing an exfiltration leak test. A diamond core bit saw is then used to cut open the crown of the pipe. The VAC-A-TEE system will work with a variety of pies including VCP, Orange Burg, PVC, and Cast Iron.
- How far can the T-Liner go up a lateral?
- The T-Liner has been used to renew laterals as far as 200' in one ocntinuous inverted liner from the mainline.
- Can the T-Liner transition from a 6" lateral to a 4" lateral?
- Yes. T-Liner is custom tailored to fit the pipe for transitioning from one pipe size to another.
- What size main pipes will the T-Liner work in?
- T-Liner works with main pipe sizes ranging from 5.5 to 24 inches.
- What size laterals will the T-Liner work in?
- T-Liner works with lateral pipe sizes ranging from 3 to 8 inches.
- How much will the T-Liner reduce the pipe diameter?
- The liner wall thickness is 3mm (1/8") for a 4" pipe leaving a pipe diameter of 3.75", and the liner wall thickness is 4.5mm (3/16") for a 6" pipe leaving a pipe diameter of 5.625".
- Is this reduced pipe diameter a bad thing?
- Typically, the flow rate is increased even though the inner diameter has been slightly reduced.
- Will a T-Liner work in a WYE shaped connection?
- Yes. T-Liner is manufactured in either a Tee Shape or a WYE Shape.
- How do you cut the end of the liner open?
- There is no cutting required since the liner is open ended. The liner and bladder are inverted together as a liner/bladder assembly. The bladder is longer than the liner, so when the liner is fully inverted, the bladder continues to invert at least another 12 inches, thus keeping the end of the liner open.
- What is the method of resin saturation?
- We use a patented vacuum impregnation system. The bladder is translucent and the liner is inside of the bladder when the resin is added to the liner during the vacuum impregnation process. Since the bladder is translucent, our workers and the project inspector can visually verify the liner is thoroughly saturated with no dry spots.
- How long does a T-Liner take to cure?
- Typically two (2) hours ambient cure or 30 minutes steam cure.
- Will the T-Liner negotiate 90-degree bends?
- Yes. A variety of lining materials are available for specific pipe conditions such as multiple bends.
- Will the liner wrinkle at bends?
- Wrinkling at bends is common for cured-in place pipe. However, new flexible lining materials with superior elasticity allow liners to negotiate bends and reduce wrinkling. If the bend is a sweeping fitting, minimal or no wrinkling may be achieved. If the fitting has a hard bend, the liner will most likely produce wrinkling on the inside cureve of the bend. The type of lining materials and inversion pressures greatly affect wrinkling in bends.
- Do you need to grout first?
- If infiltration is excessive, grout is required prior to installing the T-Liner.
- How many can be installed in a day?
- Typically 4-6 T-Liners can be installed by a knowledgable crew.
- Will a cable cleaning machine hurt the T-Liner?
- There is no record or report of cable cleaning equipment damaging a T-Liner. Furthermore, once the lateral has been renewed, there is no need for cable cleaning tools.
- Will the T-Liner stick to the host pipes?
- Sometimes liners stick and sometimes they do not stick. How do you verify the bond strength between a liner and the host pipe? No manufactured CIPP product or installation contractor can tell you when the liner sticks and how well it is stuck to the pipe. There is grease in sewer pipes which has a serious effect on adhesion. Some sewer pipes are made of polyethylene, and even some CIPP mainline-linings have an inner polyethylene (PE) coating. What sticks to polyethylene? Not much!
- Will the T-Liner stop infiltration?
- Yes, the T-Liner is a water-tight new main/lateral lining.
- Will the T-Liner stop roots?
- Yes, the T-Liner is a root-tight new main/lateral lining.
- Is the T-Liner chemical resistant?
- Yes. We can design our liner to withstand a variety of chemicals and heat. LMK has an engineering staff that will design a liner specifically for the project. The liner has been tested in accordance with ASTM D5813 chemical resistance testing.
- Does the resin have a strong chemical smell?
- The T-Liner can be used with a variety of thermo-set resins. These include: Polyester, Vinylester, silicate and epoxy. The silicate and epoxy resins are very low odor.
- How long will the T-Liner last?
- The T-Liner has an engineered service life of 100 years as certified by a PHD/PE licensed in the State of Georgia required by the City of Atlanta. The anticipated service life is based on extrapolation of testing data of the liners' physical properties.
- What is the average cost of a T-Liner?
- T-Liner is priced anywhere from $1,800 to $5,000 based on the variables of each installation, including the quantity of one versus one hundred. How many liners per set-up will vary the price of installation. As for the liner itself, price is determined by the diameter of the main and the length and the diameter of the lateral.
- What is the difference between a T-Liner and a Hat design?
- Are there T-Liner knockoffs?
