What the water line is
Your main water line, also called the water service line, runs underground from the meter near the street to your house. The water company's part stops at the meter. From there in, the pipe is the owner's. It sits under the lawn or driveway for decades and nobody thinks about it until it leaks.
Signs the water line is failing
- A wet or soft patch in the front yard that does not dry out.
- Water coming up near the meter box, the sidewalk or the driveway.
- A water bill that climbs with no change in use.
- Low pressure at every tap in the house.
- Rusty or cloudy water, mostly first thing in the morning.
- The sound of water moving when nothing is on.
Repair or replace
If the pipe is sound and has one bad spot, we dig there and repair it. If the line is old galvanized steel, one leak is rarely the last. The pipe rusts along its whole length, inside and out, and it also narrows until pressure drops through the house. In that case a new line from the meter to the house is the fix that lasts.
We tell you which case yours is and price both when both make sense. We also plan the route to do as little damage as we can to the yard and driveway. When the job needs a permit, we pull it.
Is it the water line or something else?
Low pressure and high bills have more than one cause. A leak under the house or under a slab is a different job; see leak detection and slab leak repair. Pressure that is too high or too low at every tap can be a worn pressure regulator. Old pipe inside the walls calls for a repipe. We check before we dig, so you pay for the right repair.
Water lines in Hayward
Much of Hayward was built between 1940 and 1960, and many of those homes were connected with galvanized steel. A lot of that pipe is still in the ground in Burbank, Downtown, Southgate and the older streets off Mission Boulevard. We repair and replace water lines in every Hayward ZIP code (94541, 94542, 94544, 94545) and in the cities around it.
About Friendly Services
Family-owned, with over 20 years in Hayward. License CSLB #1156315 (C-36 plumbing). $1M general liability cover and workers' comp. Five-year workmanship warranty on our own work. 100+ five-star reviews online. If water is pouring out now, we answer 24/7 for emergencies.