Sewer Line Repair in Memphis, TN
In Memphis the sewer lateral — the run from the house to the public main — belongs to whoever owns the property, not to the utility. There are 268,998 occupied homes here, and across all the housing the median build year is 1968 — the best single clue to what the pipe is made of and how it tends to fail.
In short
Two materials are in play beneath a typical Memphis property, whose housing dates from about 1968: clay, and the bituminized fiber laid next to it. The two fail in quite different ways, and a camera survey is what separates them.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25035.
What went in the ground around 1968
A lateral laid in Memphis in that period is most likely Orangeburg or cast iron, with clay still going in at some depths. Which of the three you have is not something the build year can settle on its own. More on Orangeburg pipe.
What a camera survey should settle here
Three materials were going in the ground at once in these years, so the survey is identifying the pipe before it diagnoses anything. The full picture on Orangeburg pipe.
Memphis is the 1st largest block of laterals we cover in Tennessee, carrying about 20% of the 1,317,902 homes on our TN list, and its housing runs older than 99% of the TN towns we route. Age concentration matters on a lateral: where a whole street went in one season, the failures arrive in one season too.
48% of homes here are owner-occupied — 15 points below the TN figure. That matters more on a lateral than on almost any other pipe in the house: the run from the building to the main is the property owner’s to repair, and a landlord and a resident owner do not find that out at the same speed.
Median household income across Memphis ZIP codes is $45,456 — the relevant figure for a job no insurer and no utility is going to split.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2023 release — tables B25003 (occupied units), B25035 (all units) and B19013 (households). How these are aggregated.
Before anyone digs in Memphis, get the run on camera — and ask what the pipe is actually made of, because the build year cannot settle it at this age. What the recording should show you.
Build era by ZIP code in Memphis
| ZIP | Typical build year | Likely material |
|---|---|---|
| 38103 | 2000 | plastic |
| 38104 | 1948 | Orangeburg |
| 38105 | 1968 | Orangeburg |
| 38106 | 1954 | Orangeburg |
| 38107 | 1953 | Orangeburg |
| 38108 | 1956 | Orangeburg |
| 38109 | 1963 | Orangeburg |
| 38111 | 1956 | Orangeburg |
| 38112 | 1950 | Orangeburg |
| 38114 | 1955 | Orangeburg |
| 38115 | 1981 | cast iron |
| 38116 | 1966 | Orangeburg |
| 38117 | 1958 | Orangeburg |
| 38118 | 1972 | Orangeburg |
| 38119 | 1980 | cast iron |
| 38120 | 1976 | Orangeburg |
| 38122 | 1955 | Orangeburg |
| 38125 | 1997 | plastic |
| 38126 | 1977 | Orangeburg |
| 38127 | 1966 | Orangeburg |
| 38128 | 1976 | Orangeburg |
| 38133 | 1992 | plastic |
| 38134 | 1978 | Orangeburg |
| 38135 | 1992 | plastic |
| 38141 | 1985 | cast iron |
Nearby towns we cover
- Bethpage typical build 26 years newer
- Cunningham typical build 23 years newer
- Hickman typical build 7 years newer
- Lyles typical build 16 years newer
- Spring Hill typical build 41 years newer
ZIP codes we route in Memphis
- 37501
- 38103
- 38104
- 38105
- 38106
- 38107
- 38108
- 38109
- 38111
- 38112
- 38113
- 38114
- 38115
- 38116
- 38117
- 38118
- 38119
- 38120
- 38122
- 38125
- 38126
- 38127
- 38128
- 38130
- 38131
- 38132
- 38133
- 38134
- 38135
- 38136
- 38137
- 38141
- 38152
- 38157
- 38161
Sewer line repair near me in Memphis
Tell us your Memphis ZIP code and what the drain is doing. If a previous visit cleared it and it returned within months, say so. We answer plumbing requests unrelated to sewers.