Underground Plumbing Services in Wisconsin
Nobody calls us for underground plumbing services about a pipe they can see. The sewer or water line runs under the lawn or the driveway, and now and then under a parking lot. We’re Van Rite Plumbing, and buried lines like that have been our work since 2006.
Nobody on our crew tears up a yard on a hunch. We find out what is wrong with the line first, and once we know, we choose whichever fix means the least digging.
Call us at (920) 557-3964, or send a few details about what you’re seeing.
Underground Plumbing Services for Sewer and Water Lines
One service of ours decides how the others go, and that’s televising. We run a camera through the line and look. A break, roots, or a blockage is then something we’ve seen, not something we assumed.
Everything we do is on sewer and water systems below the surface. Nobody gets at those systems without inspection equipment, specialized machines, and an experienced crew. Homeowners call us for it, and so do commercial property owners and municipalities.
Three of our services have their own section further down. The list is longer than that, though. We also do trenchless pipe replacement, water pipe replacement, pipe bursting, pipe lining and rehabilitation, and sewer and water line televising.
Hydro Excavation, Hydro Jetting and Directional Drilling: What Each One Does
Each of these three methods fixes a different problem, and paying for the wrong one is money wasted. Start with what’s happening on your property. Your situation should be somewhere in the left column below.
| What you’re dealing with | Method we look at first | What it means above ground |
|---|---|---|
| We have to expose a line, and other utilities are buried right beside it | Hydro excavation | You get a small, precise hole and not a wide trench |
| The pipe itself is sound, but roots or a layer of grease and buildup have it blocked | Hydro jetting | We don’t dig where the line has an access point |
| A new line has to get across a driveway or a road, or run under a finished lawn | Directional drilling | There’s a pit at each end, and the surface between them stays intact |
Hydro Excavation: Digging With Water and a Vacuum
Hydro excavation takes two things: pressurized water and a vacuum. The water loosens the soil, and the vacuum pulls the slurry into a tank on the truck as we go. At the end, the pipe is uncovered and whatever is buried beside it hasn’t been cut.
While we still use backhoes in many situations, we never open a trench for an entire project. When buried utilities are an issue, a traditional bucket treats a water service, a gas line, and a fiber cable as just more ground to dig. Water lets us safely work around all three. Control is what we want, and hydro excavation gives us exactly that.
Hydro Jetting: Cleaning the Pipe You Already Have
Some lines that act broken are only choked. For those, we use hydro jetting. Pressurized water goes down a hose and out a nozzle, and it scours the inside wall of the pipe for the whole run. Roots come out. So do grease and any other buildup.
Why not just run a drain cable? All a cable does is punch a hole through the clog. Jetting washes the pipe wall clean, which leaves the next blockage less to grab onto.
You should know one limit before you book. Jetting cleans a pipe. It doesn’t repair one that has cracked or collapsed. When the camera shows us a broken line, we’ll tell you, and then we’ll talk through replacement or lining.
Directional Drilling: A New Line With No Open Trench
Say a new sewer or water line has to cross something that costs a lot to tear out and rebuild. That’s a job for directional drilling. We bore a steered path underground between two small pits. Then the new pipe gets pulled back through that path.
Nothing happens to your driveway or your sidewalk, and the lawn between the two pits stays put as well. Municipalities and commercial sites get this same underground drilling from us.
How a Sewer or Water Line Project Runs
It starts with you telling us what you’re seeing. That might be drains backing up or a wet spot in the yard, or you need a line added or moved. Next, we diagnose the line, and where the pipe allows it, we do that with a camera.
Then you get a quote. It names the method that fits the problem and gives our reason for choosing it, so you know what is wrong and what the fix costs before we change anything on your property. The work itself is the last of the four steps. Our crew does it with trenchless methods, targeted excavation, or both.
A Wisconsin Underground Plumbing Company Since 2006
Once we fill the hole, you can’t go look at what we did. Buried work is like that, and you end up trusting whoever did it.
We’re a family-owned and operated company, licensed and insured. Lee Van Rite leads our service operations, and Lee is a licensed Master Plumber. Across eastern Wisconsin, our crews have finished thousands of underground plumbing projects. They were residential, commercial, and municipal jobs. Van Rite Plumbing is a member of the Wisconsin Rural Water Association as well.
A track record counts on any job. On a buried line, it counts for more.
Areas We Serve in Wisconsin
Our service area covers Neenah, Appleton, and the wider Fox Valley. If you’re located closer to the bay, we also provide complete sewer and water line work in Green Bay. Even if you don’t see your town mentioned, give us a call. We travel extensively across eastern Wisconsin and are always happy to check if your property is on our route.
What Property Owners Ask Us About Buried Sewer and Water Lines
How much does underground pipe work cost?
It depends on your line, so we can’t give you a flat price. Four things go into your quote. Depth is one, and the length of the run is another; then there’s whatever sits on top of the pipe and the method the job needs. Tell us what’s wrong, and we’ll price your job. We also offer financing, and the quote request is the time to ask.
How long does a sewer or water line job take?
Two things decide it: the method and what we find in the line. Ask us for a timeframe when you request your quote, and we’ll work it out from your job instead of guessing.
Can every buried line be fixed without a trench?
No. Many jobs can be done with trenchless methods, but on some lines we have to do targeted excavation to get to the damage. Diagnosis comes first, and the method we recommend follows from what it shows.
Are you licensed to work on sewer and water lines?
Yes, we are. Van Rite Plumbing is licensed and insured. Lee Van Rite, a licensed Master Plumber, leads our service operations.
Do you take commercial and municipal underground projects, or only residential ones?
We take all three kinds. Our customers are homeowners, commercial property owners, and municipalities.
Schedule Your Underground Pipe Work Early
Call us as early as you can. Buried line work takes planning, and it’s fine if all you have so far is a slow drain and a suspicion.
We’re open Monday through Friday, 7 AM to 4 PM, and (920) 557-3964 is the number to call during those hours. Outside of business hours, the button below still works, so send your details through it at any time.
A failing line shouldn’t sit and wait because of what it costs. We offer financing. Ask about it when you request your quote.
Maybe you still can’t tell a jetting job from a digging job. Describe what is happening, and we’ll tell you which one it sounds like.
- 2229 Cty RD QQ, Green Bay, WI 54311