Water Line Repair & Replacement in Raleigh & Wake County
The water line is the pipe that runs from the meter to your house. When it leaks, you get a soggy spot in the yard or a water bill that doubled. We find the leak, show you what we found, and give you the price in writing before we dig.
Free quotes during business hours (Mon–Fri, 8–5). No trip charge. No estimate fee. No obligation to buy.
Water lines: the short answer
Two different jobs: the line in your yard, and the pipes in your walls
"Water line" gets used for both. They're found differently, fixed differently, and priced differently. This page covers both, in two parts. Not sure which one you have? If the wet spot is outside, or the meter spins with everything off, start with Part 1. If you see water inside the house, skip to Part 2.
The main water line (meter to house)
One buried pipe that carries all the water to your home. Leaks show up as a soggy patch, a high bill, low pressure, or a meter that keeps turning. We locate it, dig it, and repair or replace it.
Go to Part 1 → Part 2Leaks inside the house
Pinholes in copper, a failed fitting, polybutylene, a frozen pipe, a line under the slab or in the crawlspace. We find the leak, open as little as we have to, and fix it. If the pipe itself is the problem, we'll say so.
Go to Part 2 →- Whose pipe is it?
- From the meter to the house, it's yours. Raleigh puts it plainly: "The City of Raleigh maintains water lines up to your property line. From there to your house, it's your responsibility."1 Cary says the same for the line "from the water meter to the house."2 On a well, the whole line is yours.
- How we find it
- We start at the meter and work toward the house. Most yard leaks show themselves once we know what to look for. Where they don't, we isolate sections and pressure-test. We don't dig until we know where.
- Repair or replace
- One bad spot on a line that's otherwise sound gets a spot repair. A line with repeated leaks, old galvanized or polybutylene pipe, or a pile of old couplings on it gets replaced. We'll tell you which, and why.
- How long
- Most residential replacements are done in one day, sometimes two. Water is usually off for part of that day, not all of it. Spot repairs are usually a few hours.
- What it costs
- We don't post water line prices because no two yards are alike. You get a free in-home quote, in writing, before anything is dug. What moves the price is below.
- Warranty
- One year on our work. Permits and inspections when the job calls for them: ARC pulls them and calls them in.
Signs of a leak in the yard
Underground leaks don't announce themselves. Here's what they do instead.
The line is buried, so you rarely see the water. You see what the water does. Any one of these is worth a look. Two or three together usually means the line.
- A water bill that jumped with no change in how you use water
- A soft, soggy, or unusually green strip of yard, often between the meter and the house
- Water pooling at the meter box or seeping up through the driveway or sidewalk
- Low pressure at every fixture, or pressure that dropped all at once
- The meter keeps moving with everything in the house turned off
- The sound of running water when nothing is on
- Muddy or cloudy water from several faucets after a pressure drop
- A line that's been repaired before and is acting up again
- On a well: the pump runs more than it used to, and the power bill shows it
Do this first: the 10-minute meter check
Is it really leaking?
- Turn off every faucet, the ice maker, the irrigation, and anything that uses water. Don't flush.
- Open the meter box at the street. Find the small leak indicator on the meter face (a little triangle, star, or wheel). On a digital meter, watch the flow reading.
- Watch it for a few minutes. If it moves with everything off, water is leaving the system somewhere.
- Now close the main shutoff at the house. If the meter stops, the leak is inside the house (Part 2). If it keeps moving, the leak is between the meter and the house (this part).
Not sure where your main shutoff is, or the meter box is full of water? Call us. Figuring out which side of the shutoff the leak is on is part of the free visit.
Whose line is it?
The utility owns the meter. You own what's past it.
That's the general rule across Wake County, and the two biggest utilities say so in writing. Where the rule gets fuzzy is at the meter box itself. If water is coming up in or around the box, we'll help you work out which side it's on before anyone pays for anything.
| Utility | The rule | Who to call for the public side |
|---|---|---|
| Raleigh Water (Raleigh, Garner, Knightdale and the other towns on Raleigh's system) | "The City of Raleigh maintains water lines up to your property line. From there to your house, it's your responsibility."1 Raleigh also notes there are no known lead service lines in its system; older private lines are typically galvanized iron or copper.1 | 919-996-3245 (24/7) |
| Town of Cary | "The water service line from the water meter to the house is the responsibility of the property owner."2 | 311 or 919-469-4000 |
| Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina and others | Same general practice (meter to house is the owner's), but each town publishes it differently. Call your town's water department with your address, or call us and we'll point you to the right page. | Your town's utility line |
| Private well | Everything from the well head to the house is the owner's. ARC repairs and replaces the line; we don't service well pumps. | — |
Before anyone digs: 811
North Carolina law requires three full working days' notice to NC 811 before digging, and the utilities mark their lines for free.3,4 We call it in on every excavation. One thing 811 does not do: mark your private lines (your irrigation, your gas line to the grill, your old water line). Finding those is on us.
Keep our invoice. Raleigh may credit your bill.
Raleigh Water offers one leak adjustment per twelve months when usage ran at least twice your monthly average and you have "a plumber's receipt or other proof of repair."5 Cary customers can set daily usage alerts in their Aquastar account so the next leak doesn't run for a month.6
Why they fail around here
Roots, old pipe, and the repair before the repair
When we dig up a failed water line in Wake County, it's usually one of a handful of stories:
- Roots. They don't break a sound pipe, but they find a weak joint and squeeze it, and they hold moisture against the pipe for years. Crepe myrtles, willows and maples are the usual suspects. The 1954 copper line we replaced inside the Beltline had both roots and corrosion working on it.
- Old material. Galvanized steel rusts from the inside until the wall is gone. Polybutylene (the blue, gray or black plastic used from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s) gets brittle and splits. Older private lines in Raleigh are "typically galvanized iron or copper"; the City reports no known lead service lines.1 If your house has polybutylene inside, read our polybutylene repipe page. The yard line is usually a separate pipe and a separate decision.
- Pinholes in copper. Fine copper lines can pit through from the outside in the ground. One pinhole under pressure moves a surprising amount of water. That's the leak in the video below.
- The repair before the repair. A line with three or four old compression couplings on it has been leaking for years, one spot at a time. Each coupling is a new weak point. When we find that, we talk about replacement.
- Pressure. North Carolina's plumbing code caps house pressure at 80 psi.7 We see higher on some streets. A pressure-reducing valve costs far less than the leak it prevents.
- Somebody's shovel. Fence posts, mailbox posts, trenchers for irrigation or fiber. Private lines aren't marked by 811, so they get hit.
- Soil and settling. Our clay holds water and moves with wet and dry seasons. Lines that weren't bedded well sag and stress at the fittings.
Repair or replace?
We fix the spot when the spot is the problem. We replace the line when the line is the problem.
A spot repair makes sense when
- There's one leak, and we can see what caused it (a root, a rock, a nicked pipe, one bad fitting)
- The rest of the pipe is a material we'd install today, in good shape
- It hasn't been patched before
- You're selling soon and the line is otherwise sound
We expose the section, cut out the bad part, and splice in new pipe with proper fittings: copper on a copper line, PEX-A on PEX. Pressure-test, then backfill. Usually a few hours.
Replacement makes sense when
- It's leaked before, or it's wearing old couplings
- The pipe is galvanized steel or polybutylene, or thin copper that's pitting
- The leak is under a driveway, slab or big tree and a new route is simpler than digging there
- The line is undersized for the house (low pressure with no leak at all)
A new line on a new route, meter to house. Done once. We'll tell you if a repair would have been fine; our plumbers aren't paid on what you spend.
What a replacement looks like
One day, most of the time. Here's how it goes.
Find it, price it
We locate the leak and the route of the old line, check the meter and the house shutoff, and give you a written price for repair and for replacement. You pick. No pressure, no clock.
811 and permits
We call NC 811 and wait the required three working days for the utilities to mark their lines.3 If a permit is required, or you'd like one, we pull it, coordinate the inspection, and don't backfill until it's passed.
Dig
A hole at the meter, a hole at the house, and a trench between them for a new route (or just the bad spot for a repair). We keep it as narrow as the job allows and save the sod where we can.
Run the new line
New PEX-A from the meter to the house, sleeved where it passes through the foundation or crawlspace wall, with a new shutoff valve inside so you'll always have one that works. PEX-A doesn't corrode, handles ground movement, and runs in one piece, so there are no joints buried in the yard.
Test, inspect, backfill
We pressure-test the line before anything gets covered. If there's an inspection, it happens before backfill. Then the trench is filled, tamped and raked. Your water is off for part of the day, not all of it.
Sign it
The plumber who did the work signs off on it. One-year warranty on the work. If it leaks, call us, not a form.
What we don't do: we don't do trenchless pipe-bursting or lining, and we don't repair well pumps. We'll tell you if your job calls for either, and who does it.
Real jobs
What a Wake County water line job actually looks like
1954 water line replaced with PEX-A inside the Beltline
The customer called about a wet spot in the front yard near a tree. The leak was in the home's original 1954 line, damaged by roots and corrosion. We priced a spot repair and a full replacement; they chose to replace it because of the age. New PEX-A from the meter at the street to the tie-in in the crawlspace. Eight hours on site, water off about six.
Signed by Seaton, Lead plumber · See the full job →
Raleigh: a small leak on the main to the house that had been running long enough to show up on the bill.
Cary: a pinhole in a 2" line in the ground at a business. We do commercial water lines too.
A leak in an underground water line: what it looks like once the ground is opened up.
An exterior copper line, repaired in copper: cut out the bad section, new pipe, new fittings, test, backfill.
Interior water line leaks
Water where it shouldn't be, and the pipe is behind something
Inside the house, the hard part is usually not the fix. It's finding the leak without taking the house apart. That's most of what we do on these calls, and it's why the first thing we reach for is a pressure gauge, not a saw. It's worth finding: the EPA puts the average household's leaks at more than 9,300 gallons a year, and about one home in eleven has a leak losing 50 gallons a day or more.8
How interior leaks show up
- A stain or bubble on a ceiling or wall, often below a bathroom
- A warm spot on a floor, or a water heater that runs more than it should (a hot-side leak)
- The meter moves with the house shutoff open and stops when it's closed (see the meter check)
- Hissing or running water in a wall when nothing is on
- A puddle or a wet, sagging spot in the crawlspace
- Musty smell, soft baseboard, buckling floor near a wall
- A drip under a sink or behind a toilet that keeps coming back
What's usually leaking
- Pinhole copper
- Small pits that open up in older copper, often on hot lines. One gets fixed. The second one in the same run starts a conversation about the whole run.
- A fitting or valve
- Shutoff valves ("angle stops") under sinks and behind toilets, old supply lines, a joint that was never quite right. Cheap parts, real water damage. That was the Apex guest bath job.
- Polybutylene
- Gray plastic pipe from 1978 to the mid-1990s. It fails from the inside with no warning. We'll repair it, but once it's leaked we recommend a repipe. Why, and what that involves.
- Slab or crawlspace lines
- A line under a slab shows up as a warm floor or a bill. A line in a crawlspace shows up as a puddle, and in January, as a frozen pipe.
- A frozen pipe
- Hose bibs, crawlspace runs and garage walls freeze first. How to thaw a frozen pipe, and how to keep it from freezing in the first place.
- Not a water line at all
- A ceiling that drips when the upstairs toilet flushes is a drain or a flange, not a supply pipe. We check both. This North Ridge ceiling leak was a cracked flange. Dripping fixtures live on the fixtures page; water heaters on theirs.
How we find it
Narrow it down before we open anything
Confirm it's supply, not drain
Supply leaks run all the time. Drain leaks only run when you use the fixture. That one question rules out half the house.
Hot or cold
Close the valve on the water heater. If the meter stops, the leak is on the hot side. That cuts the search in half again.
Isolate and listen
Shutoffs at fixtures, a pressure test on the section that's left, a moisture meter and a listening device along the run.
Open one small square
We cut the smallest opening that lets us see and fix the pipe, and we keep the cutout for your drywall person. We repair pipe; we don't patch or paint.
Then the honest part: if the leak is one of many waiting to happen (polybutylene, pitted copper throughout), we'll say so and show you. A repipe is a bigger decision, and it's yours to make, with the free quote in hand. Already have a quote from someone else? We'll give you a free second opinion.
What it costs
We don't post a water line price. Here's what actually moves it.
Two houses on the same street can be a one-hour repair and a two-day replacement. A number on a web page would be wrong for one of them. What you get instead is a free visit during business hours, a plumber who looks at your yard and your meter, and a written price before anything is dug. The price doesn't change once you say yes.
Makes it cost less
- One clear leak, easy to reach
- Short run, open yard
- Line is sound, so a spot repair holds
- Shutoff at the house already works
Makes it cost more
- Length and depth of the run
- Driveway, sidewalk, retaining wall or big trees in the path
- Old material that has to be replaced end to end
- A permit and inspection, where required
- A new route to get away from a tree or a slab
Inside the house
- How long it takes to find the leak
- Access: open wall vs. tile vs. slab
- One repair vs. a run that's failing in several places
- Whether the right answer is a repair or a repipe
Nobody should be digging up your yard on a guess.
A water line job is one where it's easy to sell more than a customer needs. We built ARC so the person standing in your yard has no reason to. Read the full ARC Promise.
- Our technicians aren't paid based on how much you spend. If a spot repair will hold, that's what we'll recommend.
- We don't charge you just to give you a price. No trip charge, no estimate fee, no obligation.
- A quote shouldn't come with a countdown clock. Shut the water off, think it over, call us when you're ready.
- Ask why. If we can't explain why we're recommending something, we shouldn't be recommending it.
From customers
What people say after we leave
5.0★ across 405 Google reviews.
★★★★★
"I could not be happier with the service from ARC plumbing. I had a leak in a pipe buried in my front lawn, and the two technicians, Clay and Cam, not only fixed the leak but went to great lengths to save the bushes that it was buried under. They arrived on time, provided updates throughout and were incredibly polite. I would definitely call them again."
★★★★★
"These are the guys you want. They ran a new water line — very efficiently run, thoughtfully-placed cutoff valve, smart and cordial service. Excellent price. Quick, free estimate. Everything you want and then some. I'm in NW Raleigh."
★★★★★
"We had a leak in our main water line running into the house so we contacted ARC to replace the line. Clay did a great job throughout the entire process. He was incredibly professional and talked me through the entire replacement and was able to answer all of my queries. The team, including Clay and Shane, were able to replace the line very fast and filled in the hole where the new line was installed in under a day. I would definitely recommend using ARC, and specifically Clay and Shane for your plumbing needs."
Questions we get
Wake County water line questions
Who is responsible for a leaking water line in Wake County?
From the meter to the house, the property owner. Raleigh Water says it maintains lines "up to your property line," and from there to the house it's yours. Cary says the line from the meter to the house is the property owner's. Other towns follow the same general practice. The utility owns the main in the street and the meter. If a leak is at the meter box itself, we can help you figure out which side it's on. On a private well, the whole line is yours.
Should I call the utility or a plumber first?
If water is coming up in the street, at the curb, or on the street side of the meter, call your water provider first (Raleigh Water: 919-996-3245, any time; Cary: 311 or 919-469-4000). If the wet spot is between the meter and the house, or the meter moves with everything off, call a plumber. If you aren't sure, call us and we'll tell you which it is at no charge during business hours.
How can I tell if my underground water line is leaking?
Turn everything off and watch the meter. If the leak indicator moves, water is leaving somewhere. Close the main shutoff at the house: if the meter stops, the leak is inside; if it keeps moving, it's in the yard line. Other signs are a bill that jumped, a soggy green strip between the meter and the house, water at the meter box, and low pressure everywhere at once.
Can my water line be repaired instead of replaced?
Often, yes. If there's one leak and the rest of the pipe is a sound material in good shape, we repair the spot. We recommend replacement when the line has leaked before, carries old couplings, is galvanized steel or polybutylene, or is undersized for the house. We'll tell you which we'd do and why. Our plumbers aren't paid based on what you spend, so there's no reason for us to push the bigger job.
What causes main water lines to fail in the Raleigh area?
Roots (crepe myrtles especially), old galvanized steel or polybutylene pipe, pinholes in copper, previous repairs that added weak points, house pressure above the 80 psi the North Carolina plumbing code allows, clay soil that moves with wet and dry seasons, and shovels and trenchers that hit a line 811 doesn't mark.
How long does water line replacement take?
Most residential replacements take one day; some take two. Length, depth, a driveway or sidewalk in the path, and whether a permit inspection is needed all add time. Your water is usually off for part of the day, not all of it. Spot repairs are usually a few hours. NC 811 needs three full working days' notice before we dig, so the work is scheduled after that.
Will replacing the water line tear up my yard?
There's digging. A replacement means a hole at the meter, a hole at the house, and a trench between them. We keep it as narrow as the job allows, save the sod where we can, and tamp and rake the trench when we're done. Grass grows back. We'll show you the route before we start. We don't do trenchless lining or pipe-bursting.
How much does water line repair or replacement cost in Wake County?
We don't post a price because the range is too wide to be useful. What moves it: the length and depth of the run, what's in the way (driveway, sidewalk, trees, other utilities), the pipe material, whether it's a spot repair or a full replacement, and whether a permit is required. You get a free in-home quote during business hours and a written price before any digging.
Does homeowners insurance cover a broken water line?
It depends on the policy and the cause. Many policies cover the resulting damage but not the failed pipe itself, and some homeowners carry separate service-line coverage. Check with your insurer before work begins if you plan to file. Keep our invoice either way: Raleigh Water offers one leak adjustment per twelve months with proof of repair.
Does ARC Plumbing install new water service lines?
Yes. We install new private service lines from the meter to homes and businesses across our Wake County service area, sized for the building, with a new shutoff at the house. Permits, inspections and utility coordination are handled by us where they apply.
I have a leak inside the house. Is that the same service?
Same plumbers, different job. Interior leaks are mostly about finding the pipe without tearing up the house: we confirm it's a supply leak, narrow it to hot or cold, isolate sections, and open one small cutout. Pinhole copper, failed fittings, polybutylene, crawlspace and slab lines, and frozen pipes are the usual causes. One repair is normal. A second leak in the same old pipe is when we talk about replacing the run or repiping.
What should I do if a pipe freezes or bursts?
Shut off the main water valve first. If it's frozen but not leaking, open the faucet it feeds and warm the pipe gently (a hair dryer, warm towels), never a torch. If it's burst, leave the water off and call us. After-hours and weekend emergency calls carry a flat $365 dispatch fee, confirmed before we roll; if the water is off and nothing is flooding, calling at 8 am the next business day costs nothing to come out.
Sources
Where the facts on this page come from
- City of Raleigh, Raleigh Water. Understanding Lead and Raleigh's Water System (updated April 13, 2026): "The City of Raleigh maintains water lines up to your property line. From there to your house, it's your responsibility"; no known lead service lines; older lines typically galvanized iron or copper.
- Town of Cary. Water Main Replacement FAQs: "the water service line from the water meter to the house is the responsibility of the property owner."
- North Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 87, Article 8A, Underground Utility Safety and Damage Prevention Act, G.S. 87-122: notice to the Notification Center "within three to 12 full working days before" excavation.
- NC 811. Homeowner guide: member utilities locate their lines "free of charge"; "it is the responsibility of the caller to contact a utility locating company to have any private lines located."
- City of Raleigh. Leak Adjustment (updated August 20, 2026): one adjustment per twelve months; usage must be at least twice the monthly average; "a plumber's receipt or other proof of repair" required.
- Town of Cary. Fix a Leak: daily usage alerts through the Aquastar account; emergency shutoff at the meter via 311 or (919) 469-4000.
- NC Office of State Fire Marshal. Plumbing code interpretation 312.5, "Testing at Working Pressure," citing the 80 psi maximum in section 604.8. ncosfm.gov
- U.S. EPA WaterSense. Fix a Leak Week: "the average household's leaks can account for more than 9,300 gallons of water wasted every year"; "nine percent of homes have leaks that waste 50 gallons or more per day."
Shut it off, call us, and we'll find it.
Yard line or inside the house, the first visit is free during business hours. We find the leak, show you, and put the price in writing. Already have a quote? We'll give you a free second opinion.
Where we work on water lines
Homes and businesses across Wake County from our shop at 2406 Waco Commercial Ct in Fuquay-Varina: Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, Garner, Morrisville, Wake Forest and Knightdale. We also cover Clayton, Angier, Lillington, the city of Durham and the RTP corridor, and the town of Chapel Hill.
Not sure we cover you? See the full service area or call with your address. Related: polybutylene and whole-house repiping · sewer line repair and replacement · toilets, faucets and fixtures · water heaters · how to thaw a frozen pipe · 24-hour emergency plumbing · all plumbing services.
ARC Plumbing · 2406 Waco Commercial Ct, Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526 · NC Plumbing Contractor License #36473 · About ARC · Our Signature Work · Page updated October 2026