Wet spot in the yard, soggy parking strip, sudden bill spike, or a turn-off notice from the City? We come out, pressure-test the line, and find the leak. Most underground leaks come down to one bad joint or coupling — when they do, we repair it in place, often same visit. Simple spot repairs we dig ourselves; if the route runs under concrete or the line turns out to need full replacement, an excavation sub joins us as part of the same job. If the run is past saving, we tell you that straight and lay both options side by side so you can choose.
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Licensed CCB #255748 · Spot Repair First · Free On-Site Diagnosis
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A patch that won't dry out between rains, a strip of grass greener than the rest, or a low spot that pools every time you run water — all classic signs of a buried supply leak. The line is bleeding water steadily, and you're paying for it on every bill.
Not just one fixture — every tap, the shower, the hose bib all weak together. A sudden drop usually means a partial collapse or a leak between the meter and the house, not a problem inside.
Your habits didn't change but the bill jumped — especially noticeable in winter when irrigation is off. Hidden underground leaks don't show up at any fixture inside the house, so the bill is often the first place you see them.
Portland Water Bureau will tag and shut off service when a visible leak — usually right at the meter box or in the parking strip — is wasting water. Once the tag goes up, the clock starts on a fix.
Stand at the meter with the house quiet — if the small dial keeps turning and you hear a faint hiss, water is moving through the line and going somewhere it shouldn't.
Before we touch a shovel, we pressure-test from the meter to confirm the leak is the service line and not something inside the house. Half the time the answer changes the whole conversation.
Once we know the line is the problem, we call in 811 utility locates so power, gas, and comms are marked. The blue, red, and yellow paint on your lawn is the locate process working — nothing gets dug until it's on paper.
A failed joint at the meter coupling, a single broken fitting, or a short isolatable section — repaired in place. One small access dig, the bad piece comes out, the new piece goes in. Most spot repairs finish the same visit.
When the access pit is in unobstructed ground — lawn, parking strip, garden bed — we dig and repair with the same crew on the same trip, then backfill before we leave. If the route hits concrete (driveway, walkway, slab) or the line needs full replacement, an excavation sub joins us, but it's still one job, one estimate, and one point of contact for you.
Sometimes a spot repair is the obvious right answer. Sometimes the line is past saving and replacement is the honest call. Sometimes both are reasonable and the choice is yours. We tell you which it is, with the trade-offs in plain language — no upsell, no scare.
If we recommend replacement, you get a written replacement estimate the same visit. If repair and replace are both viable, you see both numbers, both timelines, and the honest pros and cons of each before you decide anything.
After the repair we backfill the access dig, tamp it, rough-grade the surface, and lay removed sod back where possible. Final landscape finish — fresh sod patches, planting beds, decorative work — is a separate trade we'll refer you to if you'd like.
Confirm the leak is in the service line — not inside the house, not at a yard hose bib. The first 15 minutes usually tell us where the problem actually lives
Public utility locates marked on the surface — gas, electric, comms, sewer — so we dig only where it's safe. The colored paint on the lawn is the procedure working
When the failure is at one joint or coupling, we dig a small access pit right where the leak is — not a long trench across the yard. Footprint is usually a few feet square, not a scar across the lawn
Single failed joint at the meter, a broken coupling, or a short isolatable section — repaired with a new fitting or short pipe section. We dig, repair, and backfill the same trip
After the repair we tell you what we saw underground — pipe condition, age, whether other failure points are likely soon. You leave the visit with an honest read on what's next, not a sales pitch
If the line is past saving — or if both repair and replace are reasonable and you'd rather replace — we hand you a written replacement estimate the same visit. Method, route, timeline, restoration scope, all in writing. No pressure to decide on the spot
Access dig backfilled and tamped, surface rough-graded, removed sod laid back where possible. Final landscape finish (fresh sod, planting beds, decorative work) is a separate trade — happy to pass along a referral if you'd like
Morgan founded and runs bluefrog from SE Portland. The business is woman-owned and LGBTQ-owned — a team that reflects the city we serve. When you call, you reach a local shop whose owner oversees every project, not a national dispatch center routing you to whoever's available.
We price by the job, not by the hour. You see a written estimate after diagnosis and before we touch anything — no overtime charges, no surprises. The number on the estimate is the number on the invoice.
Every technician works under Oregon CCB #255748. We pull the permit, schedule the inspection, and close it out — you don't have to coordinate anything. The work meets Oregon code and gives your home a clean paper trail.
Every technician on our crew is a direct bluefrog employee — background-checked, Oregon-licensed, and accountable to Morgan personally. We don't route calls through a dispatch network or hand off to whoever's available. You'll get the right person for the job, not just whoever's next in the queue.
The team that shows up at your door.
Licensed · Background-checked · Portland-based4.9 average · 105 Google reviews
★★★★★
I had a great experience today with Bluefrog. I had a leaky valve on some very old piping. It only required a quick tighten but could have been a much bigger project given location and age. It was a quick fix and they did not charge me an arm and leg. I'll use…
★★★★★
We had a mysterious hot water flow issue that a different plumbing company couldn't figure out, and Shae immediately solved it and fixed it same day. They were also able to get us in quickly, which I appreciated. Thank you so much!
★★★★★
I had a pipe burst and called 8 or 9 places with zero luck — most couldn't help for 1 to 2 weeks. But Bluefrog's customer service went above and beyond to get me serviced the next morning, rearranging their schedule to help. The technician was prompt and got…
★★★★★
They solved a fairly complex problem the same day that I called them. They were courteous, prompt, and clear about costs and options.
★★★★★
The plumber (Eric) arrived on time. Quickly determined what the problem was and fixed it on the spot. Good communication. High quality work.
Could be either. The two most reliable telltales for a service-line leak: pressure is weak across every fixture in the house at once (not just one bathroom), and the wet spot follows a roughly straight line from the meter at the curb toward the house. Sprinkler leaks, downspout drainage, and high water tables all look similar from the surface. We pressure-test from the meter when we arrive — that's how we tell straight whether it's the supply line, the irrigation, or something else.
If a spot repair is the right call, that's what we'll do — and we'll usually finish it the same visit. We see plenty of older lines where one joint or coupling is the whole problem and the rest of the run is sound. A spot repair on a line like that costs a fraction of a full replacement, and you don't pay for pipe you didn't need to swap. We only recommend replacement when the line is genuinely past saving — multiple failure points, a leak we can't isolate, or end-of-life across the run. When both are viable, we lay them side by side with honest trade-offs and you pick.
Honest answer: it depends on the line. A 60-year-old galvanized line that's failed at one joint may have another leak come up in a year or two; a copper or poly line with a single damaged section may go decades on the repair. After the work we tell you what we saw underground — pipe condition, joint quality, signs of other weak points — so you can decide whether to ride the repair or plan for replacement on your timeline. Most homeowners go years on a clean spot repair.
It depends on depth, access, what's in the route (driveway, mature landscaping, retaining wall), and whether the dig hits unobstructed ground or concrete. After the on-site pressure test we hand you a written, by-the-job price before any digging — no hourly billing, no surprises mid-dig. The diagnostic pressure test itself is free.
A pure in-place repair — replacing one joint or fitting on the existing line — typically doesn't require a permit. A full line replacement does, issued by the city of Portland's Bureau of Development Services. We tell you which path the work falls under before we start, and if a permit is required we pull it and close it out — no city paperwork on you.
No — Portland Water Bureau owns the main in the street and the segment up to the meter at the property line. Everything from the meter to your house is the homeowner's responsibility, and that's the section we work on. The City inspects replacement work and issues the permit when one's required, but they don't cover the cost of the homeowner-owned segment.
We tell you straight, and we hand you a written replacement estimate the same visit. Replacement is a bigger project — typically 1–2 days, with a permit, City inspection, and a choice between trenchless pipe-bursting and open trench depending on the route. We have a separate page for the replacement scope if you want to read more before deciding.
We serve most of the Portland metro area — typically within 20 miles of SE Portland.
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No surprise fees — the price we quote is the price you pay.
No overtime charges · Upfront pricing · Licensed CCB #255748
