How much has to come up
One opening over a located fault is a fraction of the cost of trenching the length of the yard. Narrowing it down first is what buys you that.
Sewer & main water lines
The most expensive plumbing to guess at
So we don't guess. We work out where the line has failed, and why, before anyone brings a shovel anywhere near your front lawn.
What the job actually involves
It starts with narrowing it down. Which fixtures back up, and in what order, tells us roughly how far along the line the problem sits. How far a rod travels before it stops gives us a distance. And knowing the route the line takes from the house to the street tells us where that distance actually lands in your yard.
That step is the whole difference between opening a small area over a known problem and trenching the length of a lawn hoping to find it. It also occasionally produces the best possible outcome, which is finding that the fault is past your property line and therefore the municipality's to fix. We'll tell you when that's the case.
When a section has to come out, the work is an excavation. What we can control is how much of it. A fault narrowed to a specific point means opening one area over that point rather than trenching the length of your lawn, and that difference is most of the cost.
Not every line can be dealt with that way. One that has deteriorated along its whole length needs replacing along its whole length, and no amount of narrowing changes that. We'd rather tell you at the quote than halfway through.
Signs you need this
- A main line that keeps blockingCleared three times in two years isn't bad luck. Something structural is producing those blockages and clearing it doesn't touch the cause.
- Several fixtures backing up togetherEspecially on the lowest floor. That's the main line out to the street, not a fixture.
- A wet or unusually green patch on the lawnA sewer line leaking underground fertilises the grass above it. A water line leak often shows as a soft, permanently damp area.
- Pressure dropping at every tap in the houseIf the interior pipe is sound, the problem may be the water service line between the street and your house.
- You're buying an older houseGetting the drains checked before closing is cheap relative to discovering a collapsed lateral in your first winter.
Cost
What moves the price
This is the widest range of any job we do, from a blockage cleared at a cleanout to a full excavation. Here's what decides where you land.
Depth and length
A shallow run of a few metres is a different job from a deep line running the length of a long front yard.
What's on top
Grass is the cheap case. A driveway, interlock, mature trees or a retaining wall all add cost — sometimes a lot.
Repair or full replacement
One failed section can often be repaired. A line that's failing along its length is a replacement, and patching it repeatedly costs more.
Permits, locates, inspection
Utility locates before digging, a municipal permit and an inspection. All required, all booked by us, all part of the timeline.
Whose side it's on
If the failure is past the property line it may be the municipality's to fix. Finding that out is the cheapest possible outcome.
On putting the ground back: we backfill, compact and make the site safe, and we'll patch small areas ourselves. Restoring a driveway, interlock or established landscaping to its original finish is a bigger job and a different trade — we bring in a company that does that work rather than leaving you with something that looks patched. We'll tell you which of those two you're looking at before the work starts, not after.
Where we do this
Sewer and water line work across the areas we cover
Woodbridge
Clay laterals in the old village with mature trees planted straight over them.
Thornhill
The oldest lines we work on, under the region's best tree canopy. Root intrusion is routine here.
Markham
Heritage properties in Unionville and Markham Village where access needs planning, not brute force.
Questions
About sewer and water lines
How do you find the problem without digging up the yard?
By narrowing it down before anyone digs. Which fixtures back up, and in what order, tells us roughly how far along the line the fault sits. How far a rod travels before it stops gives us a distance. Knowing the route from the house to the street tells us where that lands.
How much of my yard has to come up?
Repairing or replacing the pipe without trenching its whole length. Lining pulls a resin sleeve through and cures it in place. Bursting pulls a new pipe through while breaking the old one outward. Both need an access pit at each end, so the driveway and lawn generally survive.
Who owns the water line from the street to my house?
In most Ontario municipalities the split is at the property line. The main under the road and the portion up to your line belong to the municipality. From there into the house is yours, and that is usually the more expensive half because it sits under your landscaping.
What is a bellied sewer line?
A low spot where a section has settled and no longer runs downhill continuously. Waste pools in the dip and solids build up there. The symptom is a line that blocks repeatedly however often it is cleared. Fixing it means excavating that section, because lining will not correct a belly.
How long does a sewer line replacement take?
A localised repair over a single failed section is usually a day or two. A full replacement across a front yard is several days once you include utility locates, excavating, inspection and backfilling. What extends it is rarely the plumbing — it is the permit, the locates and the inspection.
Find out what's actually wrong down there
Call for anything urgent, or book online and we'll confirm a window.