New and replacement water service lines from the meter to the house. HDPE installed by directional bore or open trench, finished with ProPress copper connections at the meter and the house — one licensed contractor, start to finish.
The water service is the line between the water meter and your house shut-off. When it leaks, loses pressure, or needs upsizing for an addition or ADU, we replace the whole run — not just the leak.
A jump in usage you can’t explain is often a leak underground.
Puddles, green strips or soft ground between the meter and the house.
Weak showers and slow fill-ups from a scaled or leaking line.
The leak indicator moves with every fixture in the house turned off.
Discoloration from corroded galvanized or failing old lines.
We do both, so we recommend what’s right for your site — not just what we own the equipment for.
| Directional Bore | Open Trench | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Runs under driveways, walkways, landscaping, trees and streets | Short runs, open dirt, or sites already being excavated |
| Surface disruption | Small entry and exit pits only | Full-length trench |
| Restoration | Pits only — driveway and landscape stay in place | Trench-width asphalt, concrete and landscape |
| Typical timeline | Often a single day for a residential run | One to two days plus restoration |
| Pipe | Continuous HDPE coil, no joints under hardscape | HDPE on sand bedding with tracer wire |
We look at the meter, the house connection and everything in between, and price bore, trench or both.
USA/811 ticket, potholing of crossing utilities, and the plumbing or encroachment permits your city requires.
Bore or trench the HDPE service from the meter to the house, with tracer wire where required.
ProPress copper at the meter and house, pressure test, flush, and inspection.
Backfill and restore pits or trench — asphalt, concrete and landscape.
Old galvanized, copper or poly lines leaking under the yard or driveway — replaced end to end.
ReplacementUndersized or scaled-up lines replaced with a properly sized HDPE service.
UpsizingNew or upsized service for ADUs and remodels, often bored alongside the power, sewer and gas runs.
New ConstructionWater services for new builds and commercial sites, coordinated with the GC and the water utility.
Builders & GCs
In most Bay Area cities the water utility owns the meter and everything on the street side of it. The property owner owns the service line from the meter to the house. We install and replace the property-side line and make the connection at the meter outlet; when a new meter or a street-side tap is needed, we coordinate with your water utility.
Usually, yes. Most cities require a plumbing permit for a new or replacement water service, plus an encroachment permit for any work in the street or sidewalk. We pull the permits we can and coordinate inspections, and we tell you up front which ones apply to your address.
If the line runs under a driveway, walkway, landscaping or a street, a directional bore saves the restoration cost and leaves the surface intact. If the run is short, through open dirt, or already being excavated for other work, open trench is often the simplest and least expensive. We price both when it makes sense.
HDPE is flexible, comes in long coils with no joints along the run, is fusion-welded or mechanically joined where needed, won’t corrode, and handles ground movement well. It’s the same material many utilities use for their own service lines, and it pulls back cleanly through a directional bore.
ProPress joins copper with a press tool instead of a torch — no open flame, no solder, and a consistent, inspectable joint. We use it to finish off the connection at the meter and the riser up to the house shut-off and hose bibs, above and below ground, installed and protected per the manufacturer’s instructions and local code.
Most residential water services are done in one to two days, including the bore or trench, the meter and house connections, pressure testing and flushing. Water is typically off only for the hours it takes to make the final tie-ins.
Length of the run, bore vs. trench, line size, what’s on the surface (lawn, concrete, asphalt, street), depth, utility crossings to pothole, permit and inspection requirements, and how much copper work is needed at the meter and the house. We give you a fixed scope and price after a site walk.
Often not — many policies exclude the underground service line unless you have a service-line endorsement. Check your policy; we provide a written scope and invoice you can submit.
Cover depth is set by your city and water utility. We confirm the requirement before we start and install the line to that depth, with tracer wire so it can be located later.
Shut the water off at the customer shut-off next to the meter or the main shut-off at the house, then call us. If you can’t shut it off, call your water utility’s emergency line.
Yes — that’s what directional boring is for. We set small pits at the meter and the house and bore under the driveway, walkway or landscaping.
Yes. On ADU and remodel jobs we often bore or trench the water, power, sewer and gas runs together to save mobilization and restoration.
Photos from real Apex jobs across Santa Clara County — our crew, our equipment. Tap any photo to enlarge.
“Very tight quarters to do the boring and it was no problem for Dave. Work site was back to its original condition before they left for the day.”
“He was careful to minimize the damage to the patio and set aside the removed pavers in a neat stack… helped me navigate the process with PG&E.”
“Able to start on the job immediately… and dig underneath a retaining wall without damaging it. He has a deep understanding of the PG&E Greenbook.”
Send us the address, the distance from the meter to the house and what’s in the way. We’ll walk the site and price bore, trench or both — usually within 24 hours.