A wet lawn after a dry week
If a stretch of yard stays soft when everything around it dries out, and the meter dial moves with every tap closed, the line from the meter to the house is the likely spot. It’s the pipe the county doesn’t touch.
Stafford, Virginia
Leaking or burst pipe repair in Stafford.
For pipe repair, a plumbing diagnosis visit in Stafford is $49, or $250 after hours, and a person answers (703) 997-9757 day or night.
SwiftPro’s plumbers in Stafford are rated 5.0 stars across 1,130 reviews and work under Virginia Class A contractor license 2705192276. Leaking or burst pipe in Stafford or Aquia Harbour? We find the leak, fix the pipe and quote the price before we cut, once we know whose pipe it is. Finding a hidden leak is $200 to $500, and most water pipe repairs run $450 to $650, from our published price list.
- Shut off, found, then fixed
- The price before we cut
- Dedicated plumbing team
5.0 stars across 1,130 reviews
Part of our plumbing team, with the tools they bring to find a leak and fix the pipe.
Get your price in writing
Send this and the office calls or texts you back to set a time.
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Rather talk now? (703) 997-9757
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 fixing a leaking pipe costs in Stafford.
The same numbers as our pipe repair page, each a range because the house decides where it lands. You hear the number before the work starts.
Plumbing diagnosis visit
$49
Plumbing diagnosis visit, after hours
$250
Leak located (hidden or behind a wall)
$200 to $500
Water pipe repair, one section replaced
$450 to $650
Drywall opened for the repair
Priced in writing before we cut
Prices checked .
Most repairs are one section of pipe: the split or pinhole cut out and a new piece put in. Where the pipe sits decides most of the price. Exposed in a basement ceiling is the low end; inside a finished wall is higher, and we tell you before the drywall comes open.
With Comfort+ membership, any repair is 15% off, and every year includes a plumbing safety inspection that looks at the supply pipe you can see.
What’s different in Stafford
Stafford’s pipes are two generations old, and the county’s own rule decides who fixes what.
Stafford County Utilities says its responsibility ends at the meter, and it asks you to call them before you call a plumber. That’s good advice, because it takes two minutes and tells you which side of the meter is wet. A damp patch between the meter box and your foundation is yours. A boil of water at the street side is theirs.
Aquia Harbour is the textbook case for pipe age. Its median home went up in 1984, two in three were built between 1980 and 1999, and almost all are detached. That is the polybutylene stretch, so if you own a house here, find your water heater and look at the pipe going into it. Grey plastic with metal crimp rings can fail at the rings with no warning. If you see it, a plumber should check every connection, not just the wet one.
The county asks owners to install a pressure reducing valve when pressure runs over 80 psi, and if the builder didn’t put one in, it’s at the owner’s cost. We find a lot of Stafford houses where the valve is old and stuck. A fittings leak in a house with high pressure comes back. Reading the pressure at an outside tap before any repair costs nothing.
The ground matters here as well. The county’s own plan warns that marine clay in the east and shrink-swell clay in the west can crack and shift buried pipe. A service line under a driveway in clay may move a quarter inch a year, enough to loosen a joint. Stafford Courthouse is the opposite, with more than a third of its homes in apartments and condos, and newer pipe behind the walls.
Neighborhood by neighborhood
Which pipe is likely leaking across Stafford.
Census figures for each place, and the supply pipe that usually goes with houses that age. Median year built and heat count owner-occupied homes only.
| Place | Median home built | Most homes are | Heated with | The supply pipe you usually find |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aquia Harbour | 1984 | single-family houses, nearly all | electricity, nearly all | The polybutylene years: check the supply pipe at the fittings. |
| Stafford Courthouse | 2005 | single-family houses, about 4 in 10 | gas, about 6 in 10 | Copper or PEX supply; fittings and hose bibs go first. |
By the numbers
Stafford houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey. Median year built and heat count owner-occupied homes only.
Stafford
ZIPs 22554 and 22556 as a whole: every Stafford address. The Census places in the table hold about one in seven of these homes.
- Built before 1980about 2 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 4 in 10 Census
- Most homes aresingle-family houses, about 7 in 10 Census
- Heated withelectricity, about 6 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 2 in 10 Census
- A lot of houses here went up while polybutylene supply pipe was in use, about 1978 to 1995. It fails at the fittings, so one leak is a reason to check the rest.
What you’d notice
How a pipe leak in Stafford usually shows up.
Grey plastic pipe at the water heater
Polybutylene, often stamped PB, went into houses from about 1978 to 1995. It tends to fail at the fittings without much warning, so a drip at one joint is a reason to look at the rest.
A stain spreading on the ceiling
A brown ring under a bathroom, or a soft spot in the drywall, is water that’s been finding its way down for a while. A supply pipe leaks all the time; a drain only leaks when somebody runs water upstairs, and that difference tells us where to look first.
The meter moves with every tap off
Turn everything off and watch the water meter for ten minutes. If the dial or the little leak indicator still moves, water is going somewhere, inside a wall, under a slab or out in the yard.
Need pipe leak repair in Stafford?
A person answers day and night. See this month’s deals before you call.
Before the first hard freeze
Keep pipes in Stafford from freezing this winter.
A pipe usually bursts in the hours after a cold snap, when the ice inside it thaws and the split starts to run. Five things to do before it gets that cold, then call us if something already looks wrong.
- 1
Hose off, outside spigot shut inside
Disconnect every garden hose. A hose left on traps water in the spigot, and that’s the most common split we see. If the spigot has a shutoff inside the house, close it and open the outside tap to drain it.
- 2
Cabinet doors open on outside walls
A kitchen or bathroom sink on an outside wall gets the coldest air in the house. On the coldest nights, open the cabinet doors so room heat reaches the pipes, and let that tap drip.
- 3
Crawl space and garage closed up
Close crawl space vents and the garage door for the winter. Pipes that run through a crawl space, a garage ceiling or an unheated room over the garage are the ones that freeze first.
- 4
Know where the main shutoff is
Find it now, before you need it: usually where the water line comes through the basement or crawl space wall, near the meter or the water heater. Make sure it turns. When a pipe bursts, that valve is the difference between a mop and a contractor.
- 5
Going away? Leave the heat on
Keep the thermostat at 55 or higher while you’re gone, and ask someone to look in if a cold snap comes. A frozen pipe that thaws with nobody home runs for days.
Find a pipe that’s frozen, or water where it shouldn’t be? Shut the main off and call us at (703) 997-9757. A diagnosis visit is $49, or $250 after hours, and you get the repair price before we cut into anything.
Your pipes, your paperwork
Whose pipe is leaking in Stafford.
Stafford County
Stafford County Utilities’ side of the water service ends at the meter; the line from the meter to the house is the owner’s. On sewer the owner’s side runs to the cleanout, or with no cleanout, out to the VDOT right of way or utility easement. The County asks you to call Utilities before a plumber to sort out who owns the repair. Source.
Our Virginia Class A contractor license, 2705192276, is on the side of the van.
Choosing who fixes it
How to pick a plumber for a leak in Stafford.
Questions worth asking anybody who comes out, us included.
Do I call the county or a plumber first?
Both, in that order. Call Stafford County Utilities to confirm the meter reading and where their side ends. Then call (703) 997-9757 with what they said, and we’ll dig only where the pipe really is.
Is the plumber licensed in Virginia?
Anyone can check on the state’s license lookup. Ours is Virginia Class A contractor license, on every van.
Will they find the leak before they open a wall?
A good leak call starts at the meter and the shutoffs, then narrows it down with pressure and moisture readings. The drywall comes open in one spot, not five.
Do you get the price before the work?
Every repair on our list has a range, and you hear where yours lands before anything is cut. If someone won’t say until the job is done, keep looking.
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.
James Milligan (Jimbo) did a GREAT job fixing a pipe & replacing a valve in our basement.
- 5.0stars across 1,130 reviewsHow we count them
- ABBB Accredited, A ratingCheck it on bbb.org
- 2026Voted a Nextdoor Neighborhood Faves winner two years running: 2026 in 30 Northern Virginia neighborhoods, 2025 in Emerald Chase (Herndon) and Hunters Run (Chantilly)See it on Nextdoor
- #1BusinessRate Best of 2026: the top-ranked heating contractor in Fairfax, VirginiaSee our BusinessRate score
- Class AVirginia contractor, license #2705192276Look it up with DPOR
Where we work
Pipe leak repair in every Northern Virginia town we serve
Next door to Stafford: Fredericksburg, Quantico, Triangle, Dumfries and Midland.
Fairfax County
Arlington County
Loudoun County
Prince William County
Fauquier County
Stafford County
Every town on one page
Questions
Leak and burst pipe questions from Stafford.
Should I check pressure after a pipe repair?
Yes. If the reading is above 80 psi, the pressure reducing valve is doing too little, and the next weak joint is already waiting. Stafford County’s own FAQ says the owner pays for one if the builder never installed it.
How cold does it get for pipes in Stafford?
The Quantico weather station, just north, records about 76 nights a year at or below freezing. That is a lot for a hose bib or an unheated crawl space. Shut off and drain outside taps by early November, and open the nearest faucet before you shut the main if something freezes.
What do I do first when a pipe bursts in Stafford?
Shut off the main water valve, then turn off the water heater (gas to pilot, or the breaker for electric). Open a faucet at the lowest point of the house to drain what’s left in the pipes. Then call (703) 997-9757: a person answers day or night, and our emergency plumbing team is on 24/7.
How much does it cost to fix a leaking pipe in Stafford?
A plumbing diagnosis visit is $49, or $250 after hours. Finding a leak you can’t see is $200 to $500, and most water pipe repairs run $450 to $650. You get the number before we start.
Ready when you are
Water where it shouldn’t be?
Shut off the main, then call, or send the form at the top. You get the price before the work, and if it can wait until morning, we’ll tell you that too.
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 Stafford 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.