Your cured in place pipes require adequate preparation. Unfortunately, if not prepared properly, your CIPP won’t be perfect once completed. Your CIPP contractor knows to follow the right preparation steps, from inspecting the host pipe, to making the lining, to finally transporting the liner to the work site. Once there, the actual installation begins.
Video Inspection
Before cured in place pipes can be prepped, they must have a clearly defined place to go. While CIPP is flexible enough to be placed in some oval or distorted pipes, it cannot be installed in collapsed pipes. Before you can settle on CIPP you have to ensure that it can actually be placed in your pipes.
Your CIPP specialists take a small video unit and thread it through your pipes. This camera is so small it can inspect a pipe as narrow as a few inches, and without any problems. Once the camera is threaded into the pipe, the inspection team watches the recording. If they find a cave in, then the CIPP cannot be placed over that portion.
Measurements
Once video inspection has confirmed that your pipes are suited for cured in place pipes, measurements will be taken. The length of the sleeve you would like, as well as the diameter of the pipe, will have to be noted. From there, the diameter of the flexible fabric sleeve will be prepared. Cured in place pipes are always slightly smaller than the host pipe that they’re placed inside.
Custom make the lining
Due to the vast variation in pipes that can be relined with CIPP, most CIPP linings must be custom made. CIPP lining is a long, flexible fabric sleeve. Some sleeves are woven of organics, but fiberglass is actually a more popular sleeve material. This surprisingly, flexible material is strong, tough, and has a wide weave. This allows the pipe liner to be loaded with resin and epoxy. Once the liner is manufactured, you’re ready to move on to the next step.
Mix the batch of resin
The lining of your cured in place pipes is actually not the pipe that you’ll have. It’s a transport device, as well as the basic structure of the pipe. The real pipe is the resin and epoxy mixture that is soaked into the fabric and carried into your pipes. There are several different formulas that can be used to get a strong, tough cured in place pipe. The exact mixture that your company uses depends on many factors. Some of these factors are specific to your pipes, and some are just practical. If a less expensive epoxy works just as well as a more expensive one, your contractors will probably opt to save you money.
Transport
Finally, once the epoxy and resin soak into the fabric, it must be transported quickly. This is needed because heat makes the epoxy harden. You don’t want it to get hot until it’s in place. If the transportation process takes too long, your cured in place pipes specialists may bring it in an ice chest or a refrigerated truck.
From first inspection to transporting the mixed epoxy and soaked pipe liner, proper preparation is a vital part of CIPP. Your cured in place pipes are custom made and carefully checked out even before the installation process begins. Preparation is the key to cured in place success.