Service line break between meter and house. Curb-stop work. Trenchless replacement when access allows.
Live 24/7 dispatch. Stocked trucks. Most repairs first-visit complete.
Water main repair covers the service line between the city meter (at the curb) and your house's main shut-off valve. The Portland Water Bureau owns and maintains everything from the main in the street to the meter; you own the line from the meter to the house. Service line breaks are sudden — soggy yard, dropping pressure, water bill spike. Repair can be trenchless (pipe pulling) where access allows, or open-trench for shorter runs.
Real dispatcher picks up — no IVR. We confirm your Portland address and triage on the call.
Closest stocked truck. ETA 20-60 min depending on quadrant.
Written quote before any work starts. Re-quote if diagnosis shifts.
Most repairs first-visit. Portland BDS permits where required.
Copper Type K for direct-burial service line. HDPE (high-density polyethylene) for trenchless pull-through. Curb-stop valves, meter setters, dielectric unions. Portland Water Bureau coordination required for any work touching the curb stop or meter.
Verifiable Oregon CCB license at oregon.gov/ccb before our crew arrives.
Property-damage coverage on every job. COI for landlords.
Upfront pricing before any work starts.
First-visit completion on most calls.
Water main / service line repair customers are usually one of two: (1) Homeowner with a sudden break — soggy yard, dropping pressure, water bill spike. They need immediate response. (2) Homeowner doing diligence — old galvanized service line, planning a pre-emptive replacement before failure. The second customer has time to compare trenchless vs open-trench quotes; the first does not. Service line work also overlaps with Portland Water Bureau coordination for any work touching the meter or curb stop.
Common mistakes: (1) Waiting too long on a slow service line leak. A pinhole leaking 1 gallon/hour = 24 gallons/day = 720 gallons/month showing up on your bill. The leak doesn't self-heal; it grows. (2) Choosing the cheapest option without understanding the trade-off. Trenchless costs more upfront but preserves your driveway, landscaping, and irrigation. Open-trench is cheaper but tear-up and restoration can add to project cost. (3) DIY without locating the leak first. Random excavation through your yard hoping to find the leak is destructive and rarely succeeds.
Call (971) 293-4200Dispatch from SE Portland to all metro neighborhoods. Same upfront estimate any quadrant.
We dispatch to all Portland quadrants and the surrounding metro: Hawthorne, Sellwood-Moreland, Alberta Arts, Mississippi, Mount Tabor, Hollywood, Irvington, St. Johns, Nob Hill, Belmont and the rest of inner Portland; plus Beaverton, Gresham, Hillsboro, Lake Oswego, Tigard, Vancouver WA, West Linn, Oregon City, Happy Valley, Wilsonville, Troutdale, Forest Grove, McMinnville, Canby, and Saint Helens. Same upfront estimate any quadrant.
Full Service AreaPortland water service lines (the line from the curb meter to your house's main shut-off) come in three eras with three failure profiles. Pre-1960 galvanized service lines are essentially expired — most are corroded internally past safe operating life. 1960s-1990s copper service lines on Portland's slightly-acidic Bull Run water develop pinhole leaks at 30-50 years; these are common right now. Post-1995 service lines are typically copper Type K or HDPE — generally reliable for 50+ years. Portland Water Bureau owns the line from the main in the street up to and including the meter. You own everything from the meter to your house. Water Bureau coordination is required for any work touching the meter or curb stop.
Three habits catch service line problems early. (1) Monthly meter check during the dry season (when no rain or irrigation should be running). Close all fixtures, watch the meter for 5 minutes. Any movement indicates a leak somewhere on the customer side, potentially the service line. (2) Annual visual inspection of where the service line enters the house — look for moisture, corrosion at the main shut-off valve, or unexplained soft spots in nearby flooring or basement walls. (3) If you have galvanized service line and the home is more than 50 years old, budget for proactive replacement. Reactive replacement after a burst event costs the same but adds water-damage cleanup and emergency-dispatch premium on top.
Honest boundary on what's safely DIY-friendly vs when to bring us in.
Service line repair is not a DIY job. Pressure, depth, Portland Water Bureau coordination, and the need for permit + inspection make this a licensed-plumber-only call. Call us for: water bill spikes that meter test confirms as leakage, soggy yard with no visible source, dropping pressure system-wide.
We dispatch 24/7 across all Portland quadrants. Live dispatch around the clock.
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