A leaking or burst water line between the meter and the house is one of the most common calls we get. We dig to the line, give it room to be repaired or replaced, and put your yard back together when it's done.
Boise Water Line Excavation
The first sign is usually the water bill. Then it's a wet spot in the lawn that never dries out, low pressure in the shower, or a hiss at the meter box. Sometimes it's a line that froze and split in January. However it shows up, the line has to be dug up to fix it.
One of our customers put it this way: "Our main water line burst and I had no idea who to call." That's normal. Most people never think about the pipe between the meter and their house until it fails. We dig water lines in Boise, Meridian, Eagle, Nampa, Star, Kuna and nearby towns.
Who Owns the Water Line From the Meter?
In Boise, most homes get water from Veolia, and the meter usually sits in a box near the street or sidewalk. Meridian, Nampa, Caldwell and other cities run their own water systems. In nearly all of them, the service line from the meter to the house belongs to the homeowner. A leak on the street side of the meter is the water provider's problem. A leak on the house side is yours.
If you're not sure, call your water provider before you call anyone else. They can tell you where their side ends. It's also worth finding the main shutoff valve inside the house now, before you need it. If a line is spraying, closing that valve (or asking the provider to shut off at the meter) stops the damage while the repair gets lined up.
Common Causes of Water Line Leaks Around Here
Old pipe materials
Older Boise homes often have galvanized steel water lines. They rust from the inside, the flow drops, and eventually they leak. Homes built from the late 1970s into the mid 1990s may have polybutylene, a gray plastic pipe known for failing at the fittings. Copper lasts longer but can pinhole in some soils.
Freezing
Boise winters get cold enough to freeze a line that wasn't buried deep enough. Boise uses 24 inches as its frost depth for footings, and water lines are generally kept deeper than that. Shallow lines and lines that come up through cold crawlspaces are the usual suspects.
Rocks, settling and roots
Caliche and rock in the trench can rub through a pipe over the years. So can a line that was laid without proper bedding. Tree roots can crush or wrap a line too. Once the old pipe is exposed, the cause is often plain to see, like a sharp rock pressed into the pipe or a stretch with no sand around it. Fixing the leak without fixing the bedding sets up the next leak.
How Water Line Excavation Works
Find the leak
A plumber or leak detection company can usually pinpoint the leak. On an old line, it's often smarter to replace the whole run than to chase one leak after another. The closer the leak is located, the smaller the hole. A pinpointed leak might mean one small pit, while a guess can mean opening up a long stretch of lawn.
Locates and the dig
We call Digline (811) at least two business days before digging, as Idaho requires. On an emergency the locate can be rushed, and we work with that timeline. Then we dig to the line, by hand near the meter and other utilities, and by machine where it's safe.
Repair or replace
A spot repair makes sense on a newer line with one bad section. A full replacement makes sense on galvanized or polybutylene, or on a line that's been leaking in several places. New lines are usually PEX or HDPE, laid on sand bedding so rock can't rub through them.
Inspection, backfill and cleanup
If the work needs an inspection, the line stays open until it passes. Then we backfill in layers, compact it so the trench doesn't settle, and clean up. Spoil that can't go back in the trench, like rock and chunks of caliche, gets hauled off. The strip is left graded and ready for seed, sod or gravel, so you aren't stepping into a soft spot later.
Water Lines to Shops, ADUs and New Homes
Not every job is a leak. We also dig new water lines to detached shops, ADUs, barns and stock tanks, and new service lines for homes being built. If you're also running power or sewer to the same building, we can often dig a shared route and save you some trenching. See our trenching services page for more.
Water Line Excavation Cost
What you'll pay depends on the length of the line, how deep it is, what's on top of it (lawn, concrete, landscaping), the soil, and whether it's a repair or a full replacement. We give free estimates, and we'd rather show you a couple of options than one take-it-or-leave-it number.
A few things can lower the cost. Have the leak located before we dig, clear vehicles and furniture off the route, and decide ahead of time whether you want a repair or a full replacement. When an old line runs under a driveway or mature landscaping, routing the new line around it is sometimes cheaper than digging through.
We're an Idaho registered contractor (RCE-65836) with a 5.0 rating on Google. Tanner looks at the job himself and walks you through the options. Call (208) 697-2429 or request an estimate.
