When Mark Ellefson launched Prodigy Sewer & Drain in 2023 in Tennessee after only working in California up to that point in his career, he had a lot to learn about the ways pipeline rehab work differed between the two states. One of those lessons was about Tennessee tees.
“The tee fittings installed 50, 60 years ago. You cannot by code put a tee fitting on its back or side, but this whole state is riddled with tees improperly installed,” Ellefson says. “So when it comes to rehabbing underground piping, we have this problem where we have to be innovative in how we’re lining in order to get around these tee fittings. It’s been a big nightmare, but it’s also made us more advanced as we learn how to work on them. I guess it makes us more valuable.”
The Prodigy crew will often reinstate from the backside if they line through a fitting, usually using Picote or Dancutter tools.
“When you can’t, you have to do multiple shots or even use things like tee fitting liners to be able to cover the entire area that’s needed,” Ellefson says. “We have different systems that allow us to line jobs like that and still be efficient. You just have to get creative.”
Training outside of doing actual jobs helps a lot, and Ellefson takes full advantage of the opportunities to further educate his team.
“We work with the team at Vortex and MaxLiner. I’ve worked with those guys a long time. We’ll send people to their facility, or have them come out for a couple days to do an on-site technical training with our team.”
Prodigy also handles a lot of training in-house.
“If there’s something I know that one of the newer guys doesn't know, we’ll break out the equipment and do a mock training and get hands on,” Ellefson says. “It makes for an unstressful situation. We can kind of slow it down, break down how everything goes. How to minimize the risk. Go through some of those very unique scenarios.”
Ellefson emphasizes how important communication and preparation are in pipe lining.
“We’re constantly talking about old jobs and new jobs coming up, because everything is custom designed,” he says. “It’s not just, ‘I’m going to line this.’ It’s like, ‘What if this happens because of that fitting over there or this other scenario.’ Because things happen in lining. You can't predict everything. But the more you talk about it, when you’re on the job and on a time crunch, you can respond quickly to save a liner from failing or if equipment fails on the spot — how to get around it and pivot as quickly as possible to keep the whole operation moving.”
Read more about Prodigy Sewer & Drain in the October 2026 issue of Cleaner magazine.
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