Drain lining repairs a damaged pipe from the inside, with no digging. A resin-soaked sleeve is inserted, inflated against the old pipe and cured hard, leaving a smooth new pipe within the old one. A properly installed liner is commonly quoted with a design life of around 50 years. As a typical UK range, patch repairs cost a few hundred pounds and full runs are priced per metre, with most domestic jobs between several hundred pounds and a few thousand. Prices vary, so get a camera survey and a fixed quote.
If a CCTV survey has just found cracks, fractures or root damage in your drain, the phrase you will keep hearing is drain lining. It sounds like a temporary patch. Done properly, it is anything but: lining is how most damaged drains in the UK are now permanently repaired without a digger ever arriving. Here is how it works, what it costs, how long it lasts, and the honest list of situations where it is the wrong choice.
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How drain lining works
Drain lining, formally cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) lining, builds a new pipe inside your old one. A flexible fabric sleeve is impregnated with resin, inserted into the drain through an existing access point such as a manhole, then inflated so it presses tight against the wall of the damaged pipe. The resin is left to cure until it sets hard, at which point the inflation equipment comes out and what remains is a smooth, jointless, structural pipe bonded inside the original. Cracks, fractures, open joints and the holes roots came through are all sealed in one pass.
Two preparation steps come first, and they are not optional. The drain is jetted clean with high-pressure water so the resin bonds to pipe rather than to grime, which is where our drain jetting kit earns its keep. Then a CCTV drain survey maps exactly what is being lined: where the damage starts and ends, the pipe diameter, and whether there are junctions or bends the liner has to negotiate. For a single localised defect, a shorter version of the same process, a patch repair, places a resin patch over just the damaged section instead of lining the whole run.
Most domestic lining jobs are finished within a day, and because everything happens inside the pipe, your lawn, patio and driveway stay exactly as they were.
How long drain lining lasts
A correctly installed liner is a permanent repair, not a stopgap. Manufacturers and industry guidance commonly quote a design life of around 50 years for cured-in-place liners, and the technique has been in use in the UK for several decades with a strong track record. The caveats are the same as for any repair: the host pipe has to be suitable in the first place, the drain has to be properly cleaned before installation, and the resin has to be cured correctly. A liner slapped into an unsurveyed, uncleaned drain by the cheapest bidder is where the horror stories come from, not from the method itself.
It is also worth knowing that a liner slightly reduces the internal diameter of the pipe. In a normal domestic drain the difference is small and the new smooth bore usually flows better than the rough, damaged pipe it replaced.
What drain lining typically costs
Lining is usually priced by the metre for full runs, plus a fixed price for patch repairs. The figures below are typical UK ranges drawn from widely published national costs. They are orientation only: length, diameter, access and how much cleaning the drain needs all move the price, and costs differ between regions and firms.
| Job | Typical UK range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| CCTV survey before lining | Roughly £100 to £400 | Establishes what needs lining and whether lining is suitable at all. |
| Localised patch repair | Often a few hundred pounds | One defect, one patch, usually done in hours. |
| Full lining, priced per metre | Commonly quoted in the low hundreds per metre | Longer runs cost more in total but less per metre. |
| Typical whole domestic job | Several hundred pounds to a few thousand | Depends on length, diameter, access and pre-cleaning needed. |
| Equivalent excavated repair | Often more, once reinstatement is counted | Digging, replacing and re-laying surfaces frequently costs more than the pipe work itself. |
We do not publish set prices because no two drains are the same, and a number given before the camera has been down the pipe is not a price, it is a guess. What we will always do is survey first, show you the footage, and give a fixed written quote for the repair through our drain repair service. If lining is not the right fix for your drain, we will tell you that too.
Lining vs excavation: pros and cons
Lining wins on: no digging, so no ruined lawns or relaid driveways; speed, with most jobs done in a day; less disruption and mess; and often overall cost, because excavation quotes carry heavy reinstatement costs. It also produces a jointless pipe with nowhere for roots to get back in along the lined section.
Excavation wins when: the pipe has fully collapsed or is badly deformed, because the liner has nothing sound to bond to; the drain has a structural fault a liner cannot correct, such as a significant back-fall or a badly sunken (bellied) section, since the liner simply follows the shape of the host pipe; or the pipework needs rerouting or upsizing rather than repairing. In those cases a targeted dig is the honest recommendation, and pretending otherwise just moves the cost a year or two down the road.
When lining is not the answer
Be wary of any firm that quotes for lining without a survey, or that proposes lining a drain that keeps blocking without first finding out why. If the underlying problem is a collapsed section, lining fails. If it is a build-up problem, fat or scale in a sound pipe, then the drain does not need lining at all, it needs a proper clean, and repeated blockages are usually solved far more cheaply with jetting and a look at the habits feeding the drain. A blocked pipe with no structural damage is a job for drain unblocking, not a liner.
The right order is always the same: clean, survey, then decide. That way the fix matches the fault, and you only pay for the repair the drain actually needs.
Frequently asked questions
What is drain lining?
Drain lining is a no-dig repair where a resin-soaked fabric sleeve is inserted into a damaged drain, inflated against the pipe wall and cured hard, creating a smooth new pipe inside the old one. It seals cracks, fractures, open joints and root entry points without excavating, so lawns, driveways and floors stay intact.
How long does drain lining last?
A properly installed cured-in-place liner is commonly quoted with a design life of around 50 years, and manufacturers and industry bodies widely cite figures in that region. In practice it is regarded as a permanent repair rather than a stopgap, provided the host pipe was suitable and the liner was installed and cured correctly.
How much does drain lining cost in the UK?
As a typical UK range, localised patch repairs often cost a few hundred pounds, and full lining of a domestic drain run is commonly priced per metre, with many jobs landing between several hundred pounds and a few thousand depending on length, diameter and access. Prices vary between areas and firms, so a camera survey followed by a fixed written quote is the only reliable figure.
Is drain lining better than digging up the drain?
Where the pipe is cracked or leaking but still open and round, lining is usually quicker, tidier and often cheaper, because there is no excavation or reinstatement. Excavation wins when the pipe has fully collapsed, is badly deformed, or has a fault such as a severe back-fall that a liner cannot correct.
Can all drains be lined?
No. A liner needs an open, largely intact host pipe to bond to. Fully collapsed sections, heavily deformed pitch fibre and pipes with severe displacement usually need excavating. Drains also need jetting clean and surveying on camera first, so the liner bonds to clean pipe and the full extent of the damage is known.
Cracked drain? See if lining can save the dig
We survey first, show you the footage, and quote the smallest repair that properly fixes it. No-dig lining where it suits, honest advice where it does not. Serving Plymouth, south east Cornwall and south and west Devon.
Call DCI Drainage on 07418 000 420 Fast, free quotes · hello@dcidrainage.co.uk
