Ivette Nava
Owner and project lead
Walks every site before the dig, talks with the utility and signs the plan. Speaks English and Spanish.
Racine and Racine County
Is the water pipe to your house lead?
Many homes built before 1950 still have a lead pipe between the street and the meter. Look at it, scratch it, then call us. We tell you what it is and what replacing it involves.
- State-licensed, insured crews
- Se habla español
- Written price before digging
Is my service line lead?
Find out in three steps, in about ten minutes
Many homes built before 1950 still have a lead pipe between the street and the meter. You can check yours without tools.
- 01
Look at the pipe
Go to where the water line comes into the house, usually the basement wall facing the street. Find the pipe between the wall and the water meter.
- 02
Scratch and test it
Scratch a small spot with a key or a coin, nothing sharper. Lead shows shiny silver under the gray. Then hold a magnet to the pipe.
- 03
Call or text us
Tell us what you saw and text a photo. We look at the line with you, say what it is made of, and write down your options. If your address is in the city program, we start there.
Take the photo from a step back so the wall, the pipe and the meter all show.
If it is lead
A lead line is a pipe to replace, not a reason to panic
Lead pipes were laid for decades and many are still in service. Finding one is the first step, and the rest is a plan.
While you wait for a visit
Use cold water for drinking and cooking while you plan
Ask your water utility about testing and about filters
Ask whether your address is in the city program
Get the price in writing before a date is set
The city program
How the city program and our crew fit together
Programs differ from city to city. This is the usual path, and we read your city's rules with you.
Step 1: Your address comes up
The city water utility keeps a list of addresses with a lead or unknown service line. If you are on it, you hear from the utility, or you can ask.
Step 2: We locate, permit and schedule
We find the line, call 811 to mark buried utilities, pull the permit and agree a date with you and the utility.
Step 3: One dig, the whole line
Where the program allows, we replace the line from the main to your meter in one visit, so no lead pipe is left in the middle.
Step 4: Flush, check and restore
We flush the new line, check pressure at the tap and put back soil, sod and the sidewalk square. You get a written record of what was replaced.
What we replace
Three jobs, done with the same crews
Lead service lines
The pipe from the main to your meter, replaced in one visit where the program allows.
Water service lines
Galvanized, copper or failing pipe to the house, with a new shutoff where you need one.
Sewer laterals
From the house cleanout to the city sewer: a camera first, then repair or replacement.
The people you will meet
Eighteen of us, two digging crews, one office
Whoever comes to your door works for us, and you know their name before they arrive.
Cormac Pedersen
Lead plumber, indoor connections
Connects the new line at the meter, checks pressure at every tap and walks you through the shutoff.
Jada Thorpe
Scheduling and city paperwork
Answers the phone and texts, books the visits and keeps your dates straight with the crews and the city.
What goes into a line price
Every line and every yard is different, so we don't post prices. Here is how a price gets built.
What decides the price
Five things move the price of a line replacement more than anything else.
How far the line runs, from the main to your meter
How deep it sits, with Wisconsin frost in mind
What is on top: lawn, driveway, sidewalk or porch slab
Open trench or a trenchless method, where the soil allows
Whether the city program covers the street side
What the estimate includes, and what it doesn't
It covers the permit, locating buried utilities, the dig, the new pipe and connections, flushing, and putting back soil and sod.
Not included: replacing pipes inside the house
Not included: new landscaping, pavers, a stamped driveway
Concrete patching is listed on its own line when it applies
What happens at the visit
We find the shutoff and the meter, look at where the line enters the house, mark the likely route and talk through your options. You are not asked to decide that day.
After hours
We dig on weekdays and don't take night calls, so there is no after-hours rate. If a line breaks, close the shutoff inside the house, call your water utility about the curb valve, then call us in the morning.
When you get the number
You get the price in writing, with each line item, before any date is set. It is a quote for that line and that yard, and we say what would change it.
Where we dig
Racine and the towns around it
The oldest water lines sit under the older neighborhoods, and that is where most of our work is.
Racine County
- Racine
- Franksville
- Caledonia
- Sturtevant
- Wind Point
- Elmwood Park
- North Bay
- Union Grove
- Raymond
- Waterford
- Burlington
Kenosha County
- Somers
- Pleasant Prairie
- Kenosha (north side)
Milwaukee County
- Oak Creek
We don't dig south of Kenosha or north of Oak Creek. Past those lines, call a utility contractor near you.
ZIP codes: 53402, 53403, 53404, 53405, 53406, 53126, 53177, 53182, 53158, 53171
From homeowners
What they tell us afterward
“I did the scratch test, texted a photo, and Cormac said it looked like lead before anyone came out. He was right, and the price came in writing.”
Chantel J.Replaced a lead service line
“Ivette went through the city forms with my mother in Spanish, one by one. Nobody rushed her.”
Hector C.Water service replacement
“They knew which part of the line was ours and which was the city's, and they called the utility themselves.”
Darlene M.Water service replacement
Sample reviews.
The first things people ask us
Is the scratch test enough to know?
No. It is a good first look. A crew checking the line, or the utility's records, is what settles it. Some lines are lead on one side of the curb valve and copper on the other, so we check both.
Who owns which part of the service line?
It depends on the city. In many places the utility owns the pipe from the main to the curb valve and the homeowner owns the rest to the house. Your utility can tell you for your address, and we confirm it before we write a price.
Can you replace just my side?
Sometimes that is all a program allows. Replacing only part of a lead line can stir up lead for a while afterward, so where we can, we replace the whole line in one visit. When only one side is possible, we tell you what to do after: run the cold tap, and ask the utility about testing.
Do you pull the permits?
Yes. We pull the plumbing permit, call 811 before digging and book the inspection. If a street opening is needed, we handle that application too.
Do you work nights or weekends?
We dig on weekdays and take calls and texts on Saturday mornings. There is no night service and no after-hours rate. The hours are at the top of every page.
Write or text us
Tell us what you found
Give us the address and what the pipe looked like. We call back on the next working day.
Phone(262) 555-0100
Text(262) 555-0101
Hours
- Monday – FridayToday
- 7 a.m. – 4 p.m.
- SaturdayToday
- 8 a.m. – 12 p.m.
- SundayToday
- Closed