Your street is getting torn up anyway
When the City opens a street for its own work, the owners on it often replace a tired lateral the same month, while the trench is already open and the neighbors are doing the same.
Fairfax, Virginia
Sewer line repair and water lines in Fairfax.
For sewer line repair in Fairfax, a sewer line dug up and replaced is $7,500 to $9,000. Call SwiftPro, rated 5.0 stars across 1,130 reviews, at (703) 997-9757, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
$125/mo60mo @ 0% APR
Price range
$7,500-$9,000
8yrs @ 7.99%
$106/mo
15yrs @ 9.99%
$81/mo
Monthly figures on the starting price, the whole price financed, on approved credit. The lender sets the final terms. How financing works
We install in Fairfax under Virginia Class A contractor license 2705192276, and SwiftPro is rated 5.0 stars across 1,130 reviews. Sewer and water line replacement in Fairfax, from the City’s 1960s streets to Fair Lakes, with the City’s cost-sharing program and the permits sorted out first. A water service line from the meter to the house is $3,500 to $8,000. A camera down the line, added to a visit we’re already on, is $89; on its own it’s $500 to $1,700.
- Camera first, then the price
- Our own licensed plumbers
- Dug or lined, your call
5.0 stars across 1,130 reviews
An excavated trench in a Northern Virginia yard, the buried service pipes open for the repair.
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Licensed and insuredVirginia Class A contractor #2705192276
24/7 emergency serviceWe answer day or night, and we will tell you honestly when we can get there.
Our own plumbers, our own trucksNobody here is a subcontractor with a magnet on the door
The price is settled before the workYou see the number in writing before anything is taken apart
What it costs
What sewer and water line replacement costs in Fairfax.
From the same price book as our plumbing price list: the dig, the new pipe, the connections at both ends, the permit and putting the yard back.
Sewer line replacement, dug up
$7,500 to $9,000
or $125/mo at 0% APR for 60 months
Water service line replacement
$3,500 to $8,000
or $58/mo at 0% APR for 60 months
Sewer camera inspection, added to a visit
$89
Sewer camera inspection on its own
$500 to $1,700
Monthly figures: 60mo @ 0% APR on each starting price, the whole price financed, on approved credit. Longer plans lower the payment and cost more in total. The lender sets the final terms. How financing works
Prices checked .
Where you land in the range is mostly depth and length: how far the house sits from the main, how deep the line runs, and whether it crosses a driveway, a walk or a big tree’s roots.
Lining the old pipe instead of digging is quoted off the footage once the camera has been through it, so there’s no lining number on this page. When a line can be lined, we price both and you pick.
What’s different in Fairfax
Inside the City of Fairfax, the City will split the bill on a new sewer line.
That’s the first thing to know if you live inside the city limits. Fairfax runs a wastewater repair program that shares part of the cost when an owner replaces a lateral, and the pipe is still yours all the way to the main, including the stretch under the street. We can scope the job to fit the program: the camera footage, the permit and the work in the right-of-way are the paperwork the City wants. Call Public Works for the current terms before you sign anything, because the share changes with how much of the job is on your lot and how much is out in the street.
Who pulls what matters on a City job. Your contractor applies for a plumbing permit with the City’s Office of Code Administration, and for a right-of-way permit from Public Works when the dig reaches the street or sidewalk. A Fairfax mailing address outside the city line is a different office: Fairfax County, with its own plumbing permit and a VDOT permit when the trench crosses a state road. The City’s cost-sharing program is for City owners.
The water side is Fairfax Water’s, which took over the City’s system in 2014. Their rules say the service pipe past the meter is the customer’s to repair or replace, so a failed water line is a bill that lands on you, not on them. In a 1960s Mantua or Long Branch house the line has been in the ground for sixty years and is worth a look before it picks its own day to fail.
Close to the street cuts both ways. On a City lot the sewer still crosses a sidewalk and a curb, and in the City that puts more of the work in the right-of-way. Out in the 1990s plastic-pipe half of the Fairfax address, a longer run from house to main is where the price climbs. Condo buildings in Merrifield and Fair Oaks share one lateral, so the association makes that call.
Neighborhood by neighborhood
What a line replacement looks like across Fairfax.
Census figures for the owner-occupied homes in each place, and what the buried pipe usually is in houses like them.
| Place | Median home built | Most homes are | Heated with | What’s usually in the ground |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair Oaks | 1995 | condo and apartment buildings, about 5 in 10 | gas, about 6 in 10 | PVC sewer; a sag or a shifted joint. |
| City of Fairfax | 1966 | single-family houses, about 5 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Clay or cast iron sewer, galvanized water line. |
| Fairfax Station | 1982 | single-family houses, about 9 in 10 | gas, about 5 in 10 | PVC sewer; a sag or a shifted joint. |
| Kings Park West | 1976 | single-family houses, about 7 in 10 | gas, about 5 in 10 | Clay or cast iron sewer, copper water line. |
| Merrifield | 1990 | condo and apartment buildings, about 6 in 10 | gas, about 6 in 10 | PVC sewer; a sag or a shifted joint. |
| Fair Lakes | 1998 | townhouses, about 3 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | PVC sewer; a sag or a shifted joint. |
| Long Branch | 1968 | single-family houses, about 9 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Clay or cast iron sewer, galvanized water line. |
| Mantua | 1968 | single-family houses, about 7 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Clay or cast iron sewer, galvanized water line. |
By the numbers
Fairfax houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey. Median year built and heat count owner-occupied homes only.
The City of Fairfax
- Median home built1966 Census
- Built before 1980about 7 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 2 in 10 Census
- Most homes aresingle-family houses, about 5 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 7 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 3 in 10 Census
- Houses from before 1980 usually went in with clay or cast iron sewer pipe and galvanized or copper water lines. Clay joints let roots in; galvanized rusts from the inside until the pressure drops.
- Most homes here are detached houses, each with its own line to the street, so a longer front yard means a longer line and a bigger dig.
The Fairfax County side
Most of the Fairfax Station Census place, in the table, has Fairfax mail, so it counts here.
- Built before 1980about 3 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 3 in 10 Census
- Most homes aresingle-family houses, about 4 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 6 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 4 in 10 Census
- Houses from the 80s and 90s mostly went in with PVC sewer pipe, which doesn’t rust and resists roots, so trouble there is usually a sag or a joint that shifted.
- Many homes here are townhouses or condos, where the line from your unit may join a shared one before the street. Who owns which stretch is the first question.
When it’s time
When a Fairfax sewer or water line needs replacing.
The pipe is as old as the house
Lines laid before 1980 were often clay, cast iron or galvanized steel. Each of those wears out on its own clock, and by now many of them have been in the ground fifty years or more.
The trees have grown up
A maple planted when the house was new is now big enough to send roots after the water in a sewer line. Roots get in at the joints and keep coming back after every cleaning.
Need sewer and water line replacement in Fairfax?
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Choosing who replaces it
How to pick who replaces a sewer or water line in Fairfax.
Questions to ask anybody who quotes you a line replacement, us included.
Will they pull the City permits themselves?
Inside the City the plumbing permit and any right-of-way permit are the contractor’s to apply for. If a bid leaves them to you, or leaves them out, ask why before you sign.
Did they show you the camera footage before the price?
A line replacement quoted without a camera is a guess at what’s down there. Ask to see the break, the sag or the roots, and where on the line they sit.
Did they price sewer line repair by digging and by lining, side by side?
Some lines can be lined in place, some can’t. The installer who quotes only one way, without saying why the other won’t work, is the one to question.
Two of our crew going over a work order before the day's calls.
From our Google reviews
What our customers say.
5.0 stars across 1,130 reviews. Read them on our reviews page.
I would gladly recommend them to anyone in the greater Fairfax/Alexandria area without reservation.
Swiftpro came out the same day I called when my AC was out and had it fixed in less than an hour after arriving.
Plumbing system test and maintenance, including snaking the sewer line As a follow up, Tyson came out to check the system and gave us some good preventive maintenance tips.
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- Class AVirginia contractor, license #2705192276Look it up with DPOR
Where we work
Sewer and water line replacement in every Northern Virginia town we serve
Next door to Fairfax: Burke, Vienna, Annandale, Springfield and Reston.
Fairfax County
Arlington County
Loudoun County
Prince William County
Fauquier County
Stafford County
Every town on one page
Questions
Sewer and water line questions from Fairfax.
Does the City of Fairfax pay for any of a new sewer line?
It shares part of the cost through its wastewater repair program, for owners who repair or replace a lateral. The share depends on what part of the job is private and what part is in the street, so ask Public Works for the current figures before work starts.
I have a Fairfax mailing address but live outside the City. Whose rules apply?
Fairfax County’s. You own the whole lateral to the county main, under the street too, and the permits come from the county, with VDOT added under a state road. Water is Fairfax Water on both sides of the line.
How much is sewer line replacement in Fairfax?
Dug up and replaced, $7,500 to $9,000, with the permit and putting the yard back in that number. A water service line from the meter to the house is $3,500 to $8,000. Where you land depends on depth, length and what sits on top of the line.
Do I need a camera inspection before replacing the line?
Yes. The camera shows whether it’s one bad joint we can repair, a run we can line, or a pipe that has to come out. Added to a visit we’re already on it’s $89.
Ready when you are
Find out what’s wrong with the line first.
Call, or send the form at the top. We run a camera, show you the footage and where the trouble is, and you get the price in writing before anyone digs.
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing
4230 Lafayette Center Dr N, Chantilly, VA 20151
44679 Endicott Dr, Suite 211, Ashburn, VA 20147
SwiftPro Plumber & Water Heaters
4200 Lafayette Center Dr, Suite N, Chantilly, VA 20151
Virginia Class A contractor license #2705192276
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing is a licensed, BBB Accredited (A rating), independently owned heating, cooling and plumbing company in Chantilly, serving Fairfax and the rest of Northern Virginia. Virginia contractor license #2705192276. 5.0 stars across 1,130 reviews on Google, Angi, Yelp, the BBB and Facebook. SwiftPro maintains a dedicated HVAC team and a dedicated plumbing team.
From SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing in Chantilly. Housing figures are the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, 2020 to 2024, for each place named; permit, water and sewer facts link to each office’s own page and were checked in September and October 2026.