At their core, CIPP and slip lining are similar processes. They both install a new pipe inside your old. They both give you a functional, new pipe without having to dig up your old one. Considered trenchless pipe repair, CIPP and slip lining are great for your landscaping and your finances. However, CIPP edges out the competition in several key ways. This article will address the ways that CIPP stands out from slip lining.
SLIP LINING IS GROUTED
Slip lining involves threading a smaller pipe through your existing, or “host”, pipe. The ends are then sealed with a grout so that there’s only one solid line between the old pipe and the new entrance. This seal is heavy and may pose difficulty if it breaks down.
On the other hand, CIPP doesn’t rely on grout to form a seal around the pipe. CIPP doesn’t have to be flush with the host pipe to be effective. This also allows smaller access ports for CIPP installation. After all, less work is done at the ends than with slip lining.
CIPP IS CURED IN PLACE
CIPP stands for “Cured in place pipe” and lives up to its name. CIPP enters your host pipe as a flexible felt liner soaked in a mixture of epoxy and resin. This allows it to conform to the shape of your host pipe. If your pipe has suffered some pressure and is no longer perfectly round, CIPP can adapt to the shape that it is. Once the liner is in place, hot air is forced through the length of the pipe. It easily hardens into a brand new pipe.
Slip lining puts an entire, already made pipe inside your other pipe. This pipe has less flexibility than a cured in place pipe. It’s also more difficult to get a custom size of premade pipe than it is to make a custom size felt liner. If your pipes are of unusual size, it may be more difficult to slip line them than to have CIPP installed.
SLIP LINING IS AN OLDER PROCESS
Slip lining actually pre-dates CIPP. Slip lining got its start in the 1940s. CIPP didn’t come along until thirty years later, beginning in the England in the 1970s. CIPP technology is more up to date. It uses technology that wasn’t around when slip lining became popular. They both work to achieve the same ends, but CIPP is a more modern application of the same idea: trenchless pipe replacement.
CIPP IS THINNER
One drawback to sip lining is that you will be losing a lot of the space in your pipe. Slip lining requires a lot of space to work. This drastically reduces the size of the pipe that you have to work with. Many industrial sites can’t afford to lose the amount of space that slip lining gives up. CIPP, on the other hand, is much thinner. The resulting pipe is strong enough that you can get a large, strong pipe that’s only ¼ to ½ an inch thick.
CIPP and slip lining have the same goal: trenchless pipe replacement. CIPP is a more modern, flexible process that requires less work. Moreover, it lets you keep your pipes closer to their original size.