Before You Line, Compare Coating
Before You Line, Compare Coating.
A liner is a sleeve pulled through your pipe; coating is a new wall built inside it. They are not interchangeable, and the company quoting you usually sells only one. We sell epoxy coating, cleaning and descaling, pipe repair and refurbishment, and replacement — not lining — so here is the comparison in plain English, and the written findings to decide with.
- Coating, cleaning, repair, replacement — we do not sell lining
- Where lining genuinely wins, the written findings will say so
- $449 camera + written report — fee credits toward your repair project
Open 7 days · 8:00am–10:00pm ·
$449 Camera + Written Report
Holding a lining quote? Get the written findings before you sign.
We camera the first 75 feet, put the findings, locate, and scope in writing, and tell you which method the pipe actually calls for. The $449 fee credits toward your repair project. Pull-toilet or roof access carries a $400 surcharge, stated before we start.
Get the Written Findings
Lining vs. Coating, Side by Side
The honest comparison — what each method is, where it wins, and its limits:
| Epoxy brush coating | Best for: corrosion, stacks & complex geometry | NSF/ANSI 61 certified (4"+, white coat) · ASTM tested · 1.25"–12" · navigates bends easily · back in service ~4 hrs after final coat |
| Cured-in-place lining (CIPP) | Best for: confirmed slope & structure | Structural sleeve · the CIPP standard (ASTM F1216/F1743) calls for continuous end-to-end installation — no gaps at branch connections |
| Inner diameter impact | Coating: minimal · Liner: ~¼" (≈5%) | Why lining is not recommended in 2" lines — coating works down to 1.25" |
| Stress on old fittings | Coating: none · Liner: inflation pressure | Curing pressure can crack brittle cast iron fittings; brush coating applies none |
| Permits (Florida) | Coating: none required · CIPP: permit + inspection | Brush coating is rehabilitation/maintenance work under the Florida Building Code — same status as descaling and jetting |
| Tunneling / excavation | Best for: collapsed or slope-defective lines | The replacement paths — tunneling spares your floors |
| The wrong choice | Any liner or coat over a bad slope | Neither method fixes belly or back-pitch — that takes replacement. Anyone who says otherwise is selling you their truck |
A 10-year warranty is available on restoration work (10-year coating material warranty plus 1/5/10-year workmanship tiers); separately, the epoxy coating carries a 30–50 year design life.
All financing is subject to credit approval. Your terms may vary. See full financing terms.
Not combinable — customers receive the greater of any membership discount or promotional offer.
Three Options — You Choose
Coating Wins When…
Corrosion, not collapse
- Vertical stacks — corrosion problems, not structural failures
- Small diameters (down to 1.25"), tight bends, complex geometry
- Occupied buildings needing ~4-hr return to service
- No permit, no fitting stress, no gapping risk
Lining Wins When…
Structure confirmed
- Slope and structure verified on camera
- Long horizontal runs with localized cracking
- Installed continuously to ASTM F1216/F1743 — never gapped
- We don’t sell it — but the written findings will say if it fits
Replacement Wins When…
The pipe is done
Financing available
- Collapse, severe bellies, lost slope
- Tunneling under the home spares floors
- Sometimes the honest answer is a new pipe
Warranty
Why the Comparison Is Straight
We have no liner to sell you. Epoxy coating (the Picote system), cleaning and descaling, pipe repair and refurbishment, and replacement are what our certified crews install — so when the findings say a liner is the better tool, that is what the report will say. Coating carries warranty options up to 10 years; the price for every viable path is flat and in writing.
The Honest-Options Promise
Written Findings Before We Quote.
Certified installers document the problem on camera, put the findings in writing, and quote three options with real prices from that report — before any work is approved. It is how 50,000+ South Florida customers have made these decisions with this team.
What Happens After You Call
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1 ~1 hour
Camera the line
$449 with a written report (first 75 ft; pull-toilet / roof access +$400) — the fee credits toward your repair project — or free on-screen with any service call.
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2 Same visit
Read the evidence
Wall condition, slope, structure — the three facts that pick the method.
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3 Your timeline
Choose with real prices
Every viable method quoted flat, in writing, from the documented condition.
The Question Nobody Asks Their Bidder
“What happens if my pipe’s slope is bad?” A liner is a sleeve: it follows the host pipe exactly, bellies and back-falls included. Coating is a surface: it restores the wall but adds no structure. Neither fixes slope — only re-laying the pipe does. A bidder who never mentions slope is selling you their method, not your fix.
Then ask about gapping. Since April 2024, the Florida Building Code has required CIPP lining to comply with ASTM F1216/F1743 — a continuous liner, end to end, with no gaps at branch connections — and a February 2025 Florida Building Commission declaratory statement confirmed that gapped, start-and-stop, and hybrid lining methods do not meet code. Yet gapped installs were sold across South Florida for years: unlined gaps where old cast iron keeps corroding, liner edges that snag debris, entry points for roots and infiltration — and building inspections are now surfacing them, with documented failures already on record in Palm Beach County. Our existing-lining inspection — camera plus written findings with a recommendation — exists because of exactly this.
Coating sidesteps the controversy entirely — there is no liner to gap, no inflation pressure to crack brittle fittings, and under the Florida Building Code brush coating is rehabilitation/maintenance work requiring no permit, the same status as descaling and jetting. Its honest limits: it is not structural, and like lining it cannot fix slope. Coating a collapsed pipe wastes money; so does excavating a line a four-hour coating would have restored. Where the line is past coating, we repair the section or replace the run — tunneling beneath the home where that spares your floors.
One more thing your bidder should tell you: a lined or coated pipe changes how the line is serviced afterward. Cables and snakes damage liners and are excluded under coating warranties alike — future maintenance belongs to careful jetting and the installer who documented the work. The method should be the last decision, not the first. Camera first, evidence on screen, flat prices for every path that genuinely fits — then you choose.
Board or property manager? The building version of this decision has its own page — including the existing-lining inspection.
Condo, HOA & CommercialFrequently Asked Questions
Is coating just cheap lining?
No — they’re different tools. Coating rebuilds the wall of a structurally sound pipe and reaches places liners can’t: diameters down to 1.25", tight bends, multi-branch stacks — with minimal diameter loss, while a liner takes roughly a quarter inch. Lining adds a structural sleeve where one is genuinely needed. Price follows the pipe, not the label.
What is “gapping,” and why does it matter?
Gapping is installing liner segments with unlined gaps left at branch connections — faster and cheaper for the contractor, and it does not meet Florida code, which requires continuous liners to ASTM F1216/F1743 with robotic reinstatement at every branch. At each gap the old pipe keeps corroding, liner edges catch debris, and roots get in. Gapped installs are now being found on camera in building inspections — it’s exactly what our $650 board report (camera inspection plus written findings with a recommendation) documents.
Does coating need a permit?
No. Under the Florida Building Code, brush-applied epoxy coating is rehabilitation and maintenance work — the same status as descaling, jetting, and camera inspection. CIPP lining, by contrast, requires a permit and post-installation inspection in Florida.
How is a coated or lined pipe serviced afterward?
Carefully — and by the installer. Cables and snakes damage liners and are excluded under coating warranties alike. Maintenance shifts to jetting with appropriate pressure and the documentation trail from the install. It’s one more reason the method decision deserves evidence up front.
Do you install lining?
No. We install epoxy coating, cleaning and descaling, pipe repair and refurbishment, and replacement. Lining is a legitimate tool when slope and structure are confirmed and it is installed continuously to the standard — and if that is what your line calls for, the written findings will say so.
Someone quoted me a full-length liner. Should I worry?
Not necessarily — full liners are the right call for confirmed-slope, confirmed-structure runs. Worry if nobody cameraed the line first, nobody mentioned slope, or the quote arrived before the evidence. The written findings settle it either way.
What warranty applies to each method?
Epoxy coating carries warranty options up to 10 years: a 10-year manufacturer material warranty with 1, 5, and 10-year workmanship plans. Design life is a separate number — 30–50 years for the epoxy coating. A liner’s warranty is the lining installer’s to state.