Seattle Plumber — Trenchless Sewer & Water Line Specialists Serving Seattle, WA
Trenchless, low-impact water line & sewer replacement — by our own crew, never subcontracted.
Done Right Plumbing is a licensed Seattle plumber working in Ballard, Crown Hill, Wedgwood, View Ridge, Fremont, Wallingford and Beacon Hill. Seattle is the busiest city on our board — more of our jobs land inside the city limits than in any other town we serve, and most of them come down to the same thing: a house built long before anyone thought about a maintenance schedule, sitting on a side sewer or a water service that has quietly run out of life. We own our equipment, we run our own crew, and we handle the permit side ourselves.
Plumbing Services in Seattle
Trenchless Water Line Replacement
Pull a new service line from the meter to the house without trenching a Seattle parking strip or a 1920s front walk.
Learn More →
Trenchless Sewer Repair
Line or burst a failing side sewer in place, so the yard, the porch and the street stay where they are.
Learn More →
Sewer Line Repair & Replacement
Repair and replace the concrete and clay side sewers under Seattle's pre-war neighborhoods, from the house out to the city main.
Learn More →
Drain and Pipe Services
Kitchen, bath and main-line drain work for Seattle houses, basement units and rentals.
Learn More →
Water Heater Installation & Repair
Tank and tankless installs in Seattle basements and utility closets, including tight-access swaps.
Learn More →
24/7 Emergency Plumbing
Round-the-clock response across Seattle when a line backs up or a service line lets go.
Learn More →Why Seattle Homeowners Choose Trenchless
Start with the fact that surprises most Seattle homeowners: the side sewer is yours. Not just the part under your house, and not just the part under your yard — the whole run, across the planting strip and out to the connection at the city main in the street. Seattle Public Utilities owns the main. Everything upstream of it is private property, and when it fails, it is the homeowner's bill.
That is why the permit path matters as much as the pipe. Seattle requires a side sewer permit from SDCI for repairs, replacements and new connections, and every application now goes through the Seattle Services Portal online — the city stopped taking paper. If the work reaches into the right-of-way, a separate SDOT permit is required on top of it. The old Registered Side Sewer Contractor program has been retired, so anyone can apply, but somebody still has to do it properly. We do that part ourselves rather than handing a homeowner a form.
The housing stock is the other half of the story. Ballard, Crown Hill, Fremont, Wallingford and Wedgwood are full of pre-war bungalows and box houses on their original concrete and clay side sewers — pipe laid in short sections with mortared joints, at a depth nobody now considers generous. Roots find those joints. Eighty years of settling opens them. The line does not fail all at once; it narrows, then it catches, then one wet week it stops.
Trenchless earns its keep in Seattle because of what sits above the pipe. City lots here are narrow, the front walks are often original poured concrete or brick, and the tree in your planting strip belongs to the city, not to you. Open-trench replacement means cutting through some combination of all three and putting them back. Boring underneath means two access pits and a new line pulled through, with the walk, the parking strip and the street left alone.
We own the jetter, the camera and the boring equipment, and the technician who quotes your job is on the crew that does it. Twelve technicians, one company, no subcontractors handed your address.
Recent Work in Seattle
In April 2026 we were called to a Ballard house where waste was backing up and standing water had collected at the foot of the exterior stairs. Nick and Jeremy pulled the cap on the outside cleanout, ran a camera down the side sewer to find the restriction, and hydro-jetted the line back to full bore — the access pit at the side of the house had to be opened by hand through moss and packed gravel before the jetter could go in. The house was draining normally again before the crew left, on the same visit.
About Seattle
Seattle is the largest city we serve and the one we work in most, spread across seventeen ZIP codes. Our heaviest concentration is the north end — Ballard and Crown Hill, Northgate and Lake City, Wedgwood and View Ridge, Bitter Lake, Fremont and Wallingford — and we run regularly across the Ship Canal to Montlake, Beacon Hill, Mount Baker, Columbia City, Georgetown, South Park and West Seattle. The city's drinking water comes from the protected Cedar and South Fork Tolt watersheds by way of Seattle Public Utilities, which also owns the sewer mains under the streets. What it does not own is the side sewer running from your house out to meet them, and that pipe is the single most common reason a Seattle homeowner calls us.
FAQs About Plumbing in Seattle
Do I need a permit to repair my side sewer in Seattle?
Yes. Seattle requires a side sewer permit from SDCI for repairs, replacements and new connections, applied for online through the Seattle Services Portal — the city no longer accepts paper applications. If any part of the work reaches into the right-of-way, a separate SDOT permit is required on top of it.
The Registered Side Sewer Contractor program that used to gate this work has been retired, so the permit is open to anyone to apply for. That has not made the process shorter. We pull the permits on our own jobs and schedule the inspection, because a side sewer repair that gets buried without one becomes the homeowner's problem at the next sale.
Who owns the sewer line between my house and the street in Seattle?
You do. In Seattle the side sewer is private property for its entire length — from the fixtures inside the house, under the yard, across the planting strip and out to the connection at the city main in the street. Seattle Public Utilities owns the main. Everything upstream of that connection is yours to maintain.
This is the answer that changes most quotes. A homeowner who assumes the city is responsible past the property line is often looking at twenty or thirty feet of pipe they did not know they owned, sometimes under a sidewalk and a street they will need an SDOT permit to open.
Why does my Ballard house back up in winter but not in summer?
Groundwater. North Seattle's pre-war blocks sit on ground that saturates once the fall rain sets in, and a side sewer with cracked joints that drains fine in August will surcharge in November. The pipe has not changed between those two months — the water table around it has.
There is a second reason, and it is roots. Roots grow toward the moisture and the nutrients leaking out of a joint, so the same defect that lets groundwater in during winter is quietly recruiting the root mass that will block the line entirely. A camera run in the dry season tells you which stage you are at.
How much does it cost to replace a water line in Seattle?
Most full water service replacements we do in the Seattle area run $6,000 to $16,000, and a spot repair on a line that is otherwise sound is usually $2,000 to $6,000. What moves the number is the length of the run, how deep it sits, and whether it crosses a driveway or the street.
We break the ranges down further, including what a repair-versus-replace decision actually turns on, in our water line replacement questions.
Can you clear an old Seattle sewer line without cracking it?
Usually yes — and we put a camera down the line first to find out. Hydro-jetting is safe in sound clay or concrete pipe and will cut roots and scale back to full bore. If the camera shows a collapsed section or badly offset joints, jetting is the wrong tool and we will tell you so rather than sell it.
Do you work in West Seattle and the south end, or only north of the Ship Canal?
Both. Our shop is in Lynnwood, so the north end is closest to us — Ballard, Crown Hill, Northgate, Wedgwood and Bitter Lake are routine. We also run south regularly, into West Seattle and Alki, Beacon Hill, Mount Baker and Columbia City. Expect a slightly longer arrival window on south-end calls.
Licensed, Bonded & Insured
WA Contractor License #DONERRP852N5
Done Right Plumbing is fully licensed, bonded and insured in Washington State. We are a family-owned company serving the greater Seattle area since 2011, with twelve technicians on staff and our own trenchless, jetting and camera equipment. Every Seattle job is run by a Done Right crew from the quote through the cleanup — we do not subcontract.
Call Done Right Plumbing for Seattle Plumbing Services
Ready to find out what is actually going on under your Seattle house? Call for a free estimate, or request a callback and we will reach you at a time that works.