Cities We Serve
Austin Area:
San Antonio Area:
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Water Lines
The Most Important Pipe You Have Never Seen
Your water service line runs underground from the meter at the street to the point where it enters the house. The utility owns the main and the meter; everything on your side of the meter is yours. That line gets a harder life here than most places. Across much of Austin and San Antonio it is buried in expansive clay that heaves and shrinks with the weather, or chipped into limestone and caliche that never quite stops rubbing on it. Older lines are galvanized steel that rusts shut or thin-walled polyethylene that splits at the fittings, and tree roots find every joint.
Radiant handles the whole range of service line work: replacing a line that has failed for good, rerouting one that runs under a slab or a new addition, upsizing an undersized line so the house stops starving for pressure, and installing new service to a workshop, casita or irrigation system. Where the run and the soil cooperate, we pull the new line through the old path without an open trench across the yard. If you are dealing with a leak right now rather than planning a replacement, start with water line repair. If the pressure problem is inside the house, the fix may be a pressure reducing valve or repiping rather than the service line, and we will tell you which. Either way, the price is written before we dig, and the work is covered by the Home Comfort Guarantee.
- Trenchless where it fits New line pulled through the old route with a pit at each end instead of a trench through the lawn, driveway or roots.
- Sized for the house Line diameter matched to your fixtures and irrigation so two showers and the sprinklers do not fight over one skinny pipe.
- Licensed and inspected Master Plumber M-42438 in Austin and M-45619 in San Antonio. Permits and inspections handled where required.
What to Watch For
When a Service Line Needs More Than a Patch
A single break can be repaired. These are the signs the whole run is at the end of its life.
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The second break on the same line
Old galvanized or brittle poly does not fail once. Two repairs in a few years means the rest is waiting its turn.
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Low pressure at every fixture, even with a new PRV
A service line rusted nearly shut or sized for a smaller house. The whole home is fed through a straw.
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Rust or sediment at the first tap in the house
Debris arriving from the street side means the service line itself is shedding, not the pipes inside.
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The line runs under the slab or a planned addition
A service line beneath the house or a new patio is a future slab leak. Rerouting it around is cheaper before the concrete is poured.
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A soft, green stripe across the yard
A slow underground leak feeding the grass. In a Central Texas drought, the healthy strip gives it away.
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New demand: a casita, shop or irrigation
Adding a second building or a sprinkler system often means a new dedicated line or upsizing the existing one.
What We Do
Service Line Work, Street to House
Repair, replacement, rerouting and new installation, from licensed plumbers who dig in this ground every week.
- Full service line replacement New line from the meter to the house in PEX, copper or HDPE, sized correctly and buried to depth, with the old line abandoned.
- Trenchless line replacement Pulling new pipe through the old path from two small pits, sparing the lawn, driveway and tree roots when conditions allow.
- Rerouting around slabs and additions Moving the line out from under the house or a planned pour so a future leak is in the yard, where it can be reached.
- New service installation Dedicated lines to detached buildings, pools, outdoor kitchens and irrigation, with backflow protection where required.
- Main shutoff and PRV at the house A new main valve you can turn by hand and a pressure reducing valve set to protect the plumbing inside.
- Locating and diagnosis Finding where the line runs and where it is failing before any digging, using the same tools as our leak detection work.
How It Works
How a Water Line Replacement Goes
We plan the switchover to keep your time without water short. You know the plan and the price before a shovel goes in.
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Locate and assess
We trace the existing line, check the meter and the entry point, look at soil and obstacles, and decide whether trenchless will work.
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Price and plan in writing
Material, route, method, what gets disturbed and how it gets restored. Permits and utility locates arranged where required.
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Install the new line
Pits or trench opened, new pipe run and connected at the meter and the house, with a new shutoff and PRV as needed.
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Test, inspect, backfill
The line pressure-tested, any required inspection completed, then backfilled and the yard put back as agreed.
Current Specials
Save on the work your home needs most.
Planning a Water Line Replacement?
Get a written price with trenchless and open-trench options compared.
What Our Customers Say
Don't just take our word for it — hear from our satisfied customers
★★★★★
I had Radiant Plumbing replace my tankless water heater, damaged in the Feb. 2021 snowmageddon storm with a new unit. The process was smooth and professional from start to finish. The plumber, James, was extremely knowledgeable and thoroughly explained my options to me. The cost and time to perform the installation were just as estimated. When he was done, James explained how to maintain the system, what service would be needed and how to perform it, and answered all of my engineering geek questions. It was a thoroughly positive experience. I have used several different plumbers in Austin over the past 15 yrs, but my search is over - I will not hesitate to call Radiant next time and would recommend them unreservedly.
8/9/23 Update: I have subsequently used Radiant for a toilet repair, faucet installation (Danny), and drain work (Ezekiel) and they have continued to impress with knowledgeable, friendly plumbers and quality work.
8/9/23 Update: I have subsequently used Radiant for a toilet repair, faucet installation (Danny), and drain work (Ezekiel) and they have continued to impress with knowledgeable, friendly plumbers and quality work.
★★★★★
We called Radiant Plumbing after we noticed a water leak in our kitchen. We were in a time crunch and they were able to schedule us quickly, before we left for vacation. They sent their representative, Preston Nichols, and he was excellent to deal with! He was on time, skillful, friendly, and very professional. It turned out to be a problem with our dishwasher but Preston was quick to diagnose it and set our minds at ease. While he was here, we mentioned that our one year-old water heater needed to be flushed. Preston was quick to take care of that, as well, saving us time and money in the process. Radiant charged us almost half the price another plumber quoted us for that service! While Radiant Plumbing isn’t our usual plumber, they gained a new customer. We won’t hesitate to call Radiant again in the future based on our VERY positive experience with them.
★★★★★
Had 3 different systems installed by them approx. 3 years ago for a total of approx $20k. I was quite happy with the install until the year later when they came for a maintenance call and started finding deficiencies in their own install. they wanted extra money to address those deficiencies. Now I am in the process of selling my home and an inspector has found a few items that need to be addressed and they will not even look at the report unless I schedule a $139.00 service call. Very poor customer service.. This company does not stand by their work and would not recommend.
I am revising my review of this business from 1 to 5 stars. After my original review I was contacted by the company's service manager and he made sure that I was taken care off. I had a team of 3 technicians coming to my house to double check the system and make the necessary adjustments. I was very satisfied by their attention to details and professionalism.
I am revising my review of this business from 1 to 5 stars. After my original review I was contacted by the company's service manager and he made sure that I was taken care off. I had a team of 3 technicians coming to my house to double check the system and make the necessary adjustments. I was very satisfied by their attention to details and professionalism.
Maintenance Membership
Join the Care Club
Home maintenance for $9.99 a month.
Care Club members get two HVAC tune-ups and a plumbing safety inspection every year, priority scheduling, no dispatch fees — ever — and 5% off every repair.
- Priority scheduling
- Seasonal HVAC tune-ups
- Annual safety inspection
- Exclusive member discounts
- Free dispatch on repairs
- No long-term contracts
Water Line Questions
Who is responsible for the water line, me or the utility?
In most Central Texas water systems, the utility owns and maintains the main in the street and the meter, and the homeowner owns everything on the house side of the meter, including the buried service line to the house and the shutoff valve at the building. So a leak in the yard between the meter and your foundation is almost always your repair. A leak at or before the meter is the utility’s. If you are not sure which side a wet spot is on, look at where it is relative to the meter box, or call us and we will check it. It is worth knowing your utility’s rules before there is a problem, and some offer optional service line coverage.
What is a trenchless water line replacement?
Instead of digging a trench along the entire run, we open a small pit at each end, at the meter and at the house, and pull the new pipe through the path of the old one. Depending on the soil and the old pipe, that is done by bursting the old line outward as the new one follows, or by boring a new path alongside it. The lawn, driveway, sidewalk and tree roots in between are left alone. It is not possible everywhere: solid rock, a line with too many bends, or a run that passes under other utilities can rule it out. When we assess your line we tell you whether trenchless will work and price it against the open-trench option so you can compare.
What material should a new water service line be?
The common choices are PEX, copper and HDPE, and all three are good when installed properly. HDPE is a tough, jointless plastic pipe well suited to trenchless pulls and rocky ground, since it comes in one continuous length with no underground fittings to fail. PEX is flexible, resists our hard water and is often used for shorter or more accessible runs. Copper is durable and long-proven but costs more and can be affected by soil chemistry over decades. What we avoid is what fails here: galvanized steel and thin-walled polyethylene with barbed fittings. We recommend a material based on your route, soil and budget and explain why in the estimate.
Can a new water line fix my low water pressure?
It can, if the service line is the bottleneck. A galvanized line rusted nearly closed, a line sized for a smaller house than the one that grew around it, or a long run of undersized pipe will all starve a home of flow, and no amount of work inside the house changes that. But low pressure has other causes: a failing pressure reducing valve, a partially closed main valve, scale in the interior pipes, or simply low pressure from the utility. Before recommending a new line, we test the pressure at the meter and at the house and compare them. If the drop happens across the service line, replacing it is the fix. If not, we point you to the actual cause on our water pressure page.
*Offers cannot be combined with other promotions or applied to dispatch fees. No cash value. Must present offer at time of service. Call for details.
