Water Line Repair in Ogden
The line between the meter and your house is normally your responsibility, and a failure on it is excavation rather than a plumbing repair. Confirming which side of the meter the problem is on comes before anything else.
What to do right now
Do these first. None of them need tools or plumbing knowledge, and they limit what this ends up costing you.
Stop and get out if any of these are true
Water has reached anything electrical and you cannot cut power from a dry position, or sewage has entered living space. In either case leave the area, do not touch switches, and call from outside.
- Shut off the water at the mainIn most Ogden homes the main shutoff is where the supply line comes through the foundation wall, usually in the basement or crawlspace on the street side, often near the meter or the water heater. Turn it clockwise. If it will not move, do not force it, because an old gate valve can snap.
- Shut off the valve at the fixtureMost toilets and sinks have their own shutoff on the wall or under the basin. It turns clockwise. That isolates the problem without taking water off the whole house.
- Move what water can ruinLift boxes, rugs, electronics and anything sitting on a basement floor. Most of the cost of a plumbing emergency is damage to belongings rather than the repair itself.
- Photograph everything before you clean upPhotos and a short video of the water, the source and every damaged item. If you claim on insurance this is the evidence, and it cannot be recreated once the area is dry.
Does this need a plumber tonight?
- Water escaping that you cannot stop
- Sewage backing up into living space
- No water during freezing weather
- Water near anything electrical
- The water is off and nothing is getting worse
- A single slow fixture with the rest working
- A contained drip in a bucket
The meter is the dividing line
Close the shutoff where the supply enters your house and watch the meter. If it keeps moving, the leak is on the buried run outside. If it stops, the problem is inside where it is far cheaper to reach.
That single test changes the cost of the job by an order of magnitude, and it is worth doing before anyone quotes for excavation. Digging up a yard to chase a leak that turns out to be under a bathroom floor is expensive and avoidable.
The other thing worth knowing about is your main shutoff valve. If it will not turn, you currently have no way to stop water in an emergency, and replacing it is one of the cheapest pieces of insurance a homeowner can buy.
- Main water line repair between the meter and the house
- Broken water lines and sudden loss of supply
- No water at all, and how to tell why
- Main shutoff valves that have seized
- Pressure reducing valve failures
- Low pressure and sudden pressure loss
What this work costs
[PLACEHOLDER: PRICING] Pending from the client.
Access and scope drive the price. You hear the number and agree to it before any work starts.
Questions people ask about this
Is the buried line my responsibility?
In most cases the section from the meter to your house is yours, and the main in the street is the utility's. Confirm with your provider, because it decides who pays for a large excavation.
My main shutoff will not turn.
Do not force it. Old gate valves seize and can snap, and a broken main shutoff during an emergency is worse than the emergency. Get it replaced while nothing is wrong.
Why has my pressure dropped?
Gradually over years usually means corroded galvanised pipe narrowing the bore. Suddenly means a leak, a freeze, a failed valve or the supply, and that is more urgent.
If that is not quite what you have
Not sure how urgent this is?
Describe what you can see and hear. We will tell you whether it needs someone tonight, and what to do in the meantime either way.
Or send it over
Four things and a photo.