Main water line leak in front yard (Spring: rental, house)

[Loveshiscountry]

Watch out for high price quotes on this type of job. This is not skilled labor.

I had a very slow leak in my main water line. About 6 feet from the house and 30 feet from the water meter. I got 3 quotes $2400, $2200, and $800 to replace the entire line. I went with the last one who dug all the way to the sidewalk but didn't replace the last 3-4 feet connecting to the meter in order to save a bit of money. There were a few tree roots.

The job took 8 total man hours. 5.5 from one worker 2.5 from another who joined him later. Seven hours of the job was digging a ditch 30 feet long, 2 feet deep, 1.5 feet wide using regular shovels. The last hour was cutting the old 1 " pipe out, rethreading, and replacing it with a pex pipe (crosslinked high density polyethylene). I estimated the 30 feet of pex pipe and parts to hook into the old line cost at $100 tops.

The lowest price still paid out $100 an hour to dig a ditch. Amazing what people charge. Looking back, I probably could have asked a couple neighborhood teens to dig the ditch for half that price easy. Plumber probably would charge more to come out and hook it up but not 350 more I'd bet.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Wow, that's cheap! Mine cost $7K to replace last Spring, but here in northern Utah it's buried about 6 ft. down. I don't know what they used for the pipe - that is, I knew at the time but have forgotten.

[dallas90210]

That is good info! I have had 2 of these done on rental properties, and I got both done at an incredibly cheap price. An incoming water line can usually be patched or repaired, too, and not always replaced...so that is one thing to remember and will drastically reduce your repair costs.