Excavation & Plumbing · Denver & Surrounding Region
Dependable Excavation & Plumbing Solutions for Commercial and Residential Needs
At SR Excavating, we bring precision, safety, and years of experience to every job. Whether you're building from the ground up or making essential repairs, our team delivers reliable excavation and plumbing services designed to get your systems running smoothly, above and below ground.
From new installations to emergency repairs, we ensure your water lines are installed correctly and built to last.
Sewer Lines
Efficient, clean sewer line work that meets code, for residential homes and commercial properties.
Tap Repairs
Fast and professional tap repairs for sewer connections, minimizing downtime and ensuring safety.
Full Line Replacement
Outdated or damaged lines? We provide complete replacements, restoring full function with minimal disruption.
Sprinkler Line Replacement
Keep your irrigation systems running efficiently. We fix leaks, breaks, and misaligned lines with care.
Interior Jackhammer Services
When you need concrete broken up indoors, whether in a foundation, a basement, or an industrial floor, we bring the right tools and leave a clean finish.
Our Work
About us
Our Story
At SR Excavating, we’re a small operation owned by our family, built on a deep respect for hard work and honest service. What started as a few pieces of equipment and a strong work ethic has grown into a trusted name for underground utility work across Denver and the surrounding region.
Our roots are in excavation: moving earth, breaking concrete, solving problems underground. Over time we’ve grown to offer a full range of services, including:
Water & Sewer Line Work
Interior Jackhammering
Full Line Replacements
Tap & Sprinkler Line Repairs
We take pride in doing the work ourselves. When you hire us, you deal directly with the people who own the company. They live here, raise their families here, and treat every job like it’s in their own backyard.
We serve Denver and the surrounding region for both residential and commercial customers. Not sure if we cover your address? Send us a note and we'll let you know.
Not Sure What You Need?
No problem. Tell us what you're seeing, like a wet spot in the yard, low water pressure, a backed up sewer, or a broken sprinkler line, and we'll help figure out the right fix.
When Should I Book My Job?
As early as you can. Booking ahead gives us time to schedule locates and equipment. For urgent issues like leaks, reach out right away and we'll do our best to respond quickly.
Do You Call 811 Before Digging?
Yes. Before we break ground, a locate request goes in through 811 so utility companies can mark their buried lines. It’s free and required by Colorado law, and it keeps everyone safe. If you’re planning some digging of your own, for a fence post or a new tree, call 811 a few business days ahead.
Why Choose SR Excavating?
We're a small crew owned by our family, and we're fully insured. You deal directly with the owners, who live here and treat every job like it's in their own backyard.
Need a hand with water, sewer, or sprinkler lines in the Denver area? Whether it’s a full replacement, a tap repair, or interior jackhammer work, SR Excavating has you covered. Drop us a line through the form or give us a call. We’re ready to help.
Why Sewer Lines Back Up, and What You Can Do Before Yours Does
SR Excavating · 4 min read · October 2026
Most people never think about their sewer line until the day it quits. By then the trouble has often been building for years.
Fresh PVC sewer line set in a clean trench before backfill.
Your main sewer line is usually a 4 inch pipe running from the house out to the street connection or a septic tank, buried a few feet down. Everything that leaves your home, from the shower to the washing machine, funnels through that single pipe. A small problem out there turns into a whole house problem in a hurry.
What really causes clogs
Wipes top the list. The package may say flushable, but they don’t fall apart the way toilet paper does, and they twist together into ropes that snag on any rough spot. Grease is the quiet one. It leaves the kitchen sink as a warm liquid and sets up like candle wax on the pipe wall, where it catches whatever else comes along. Paper towels, floss, and cat litter round out the usual suspects.
The shape of the pipe matters too
A sewer line works on gravity alone, so it needs a steady downhill pitch. Around a quarter inch of drop for every foot is a common target for a house line. Soil settles over the years, though, and a stretch of pipe can sag into what plumbers call a belly. Water collects in that low spot, solids settle out of it, and the clog returns again and again no matter how often the line is cleared.
Why a belly means digging
Cleaning treats a clog, but it does nothing for a pipe that has sunk. When we open a trench on a line like that, the real fix is to bed the pipe on properly prepared material and set the slope again so waste can move on its own. Skipping that step is how people end up paying for the same cleaning every spring.
Signs the trouble is in the main line
Start with the lowest drain in the house, usually a basement floor drain or shower. If it backs up or gurgles when you run the washer or flush a toilet upstairs, the main is probably involved. A sewer smell near the foundation, or a patch of lawn that stays wet or turns oddly green over the pipe path, tells the same story.
Find your cleanout today
A cleanout is a capped pipe, often outside near the house or tucked in the basement, that gives access to the main line. Knowing where yours is saves precious time when something goes wrong. Pick a calm afternoon to locate it and keep the area clear.
What to skip
Chemical drain cleaners rarely reach far enough to matter, they can be hard on older pipe, and they leave caustic water sitting in the line for whoever has to work on it next. If a line keeps backing up, a camera look or a professional cleaning will tell you more than another bottle will. When that look turns up a crack, a belly, or a collapse, call us and we will walk you through a replacement.
Tree Roots and Old Sewer Pipes: What Is Really Happening Underground
SR Excavating · 4 min read · October 2026
A sewer line carries warm, wet waste, and to a thirsty root that is a daily delivery of water.
Roots packed around an old line uncovered during a dig.
Roots do not break into a sound pipe. They find the weak spots first, a loose joint or a hairline crack where moisture seeps out as vapor, and they follow that scent inside. Once a few threads get through, they thicken, grab paper and grease, and eventually form a net across the pipe.
Why the age of your pipe matters
Clay pipe was laid in short sections, so a long run has a lot of joints for roots to find. Cast iron rusts from the inside and roughens up, which gives roots and debris something to cling to. Homes built from the 1940s into the early 1970s sometimes have Orangeburg, a pipe made of layered tar paper that softens and squashes over time. Modern PVC has tight glued joints and a smooth wall, so roots have very little to work with.
The trees that cause the most trouble
Along the Front Range, cottonwoods, willows, silver maples, and Siberian elms have a reputation for going after water. Roots from a mature tree often reach well past the edge of its canopy, which surprises people who assume the pipe is far enough away.
What it looks like at home
Roots tend to work slowly, so the first sign is usually a drain that gets sluggish every spring or summer and then recovers. Toilets that gurgle, a tub that burps when the washer drains, and a clog that returns within weeks of a cleaning all point the same direction.
Cutting roots is a pause button
A cutter on a cable can clear the pipe and buy you a year or two. If the roots return fast, the pipe still has an opening, and each cutting leaves the wall a little rougher than before. At some point the numbers flip and replacing the bad stretch costs less than another round of cleanings.
Spot repair or full replacement
The answer depends on what the pipe looks like along its length. Sometimes only the section inside the root zone is failing and the rest is fine, so we can replace that stretch and tie into good pipe. If the whole line is old clay or Orangeburg, replacing it end to end is often the cleaner choice. Either way, you will hear the options from the owners before any digging starts.
Planting with the pipe in mind
If you are adding trees, give the sewer path a wide berth and choose species that do not chase water. When you are not sure where the line runs, have it traced before you dig a hole for anything.
Protecting Sprinkler and Water Lines Before the First Hard Freeze
SR Excavating · 4 min read · October 2026
Colorado can swing from sunny afternoons to a hard freeze in a single night, and buried lines pay for it.
Opening a trench with a mini excavator for a line replacement.
Frost in the Denver area commonly reaches about 30 inches down, and your main water service is usually buried deeper than that. Sprinkler lines are another story. They often sit just a few inches under the sod, so any water left inside can freeze, expand, and split a pipe or crack a fitting without any sign until spring.
Blow out the sprinklers early
Shut off the water supply to the system, then have the lines cleared with compressed air, one zone at a time. The idea is to push out every bit of water, not just most of it. Fall in Colorado can turn quickly, so the safest plan is to book this before the end of September rather than after the first cold snap.
Do not forget the backflow device
The backflow assembly sits above ground, which makes it one of the first things to freeze. Close its shutoff valves, then open the test cocks and leave the handles at a halfway angle so any trapped water has room to expand without cracking the brass.
Hose bibs and indoor shutoffs
Disconnect hoses, since a hose left attached keeps water trapped in the spigot. Many houses have a small shutoff valve inside, near where the outdoor faucet pipe comes through the wall. Closing it and draining the faucet takes two minutes.
A spring walk through the yard
When you start the system again, open the supply slowly to avoid a pressure jolt, then walk each zone while it runs. Look for a soggy patch, a geyser where a head used to be, or a spray pattern that has gone lopsided. Those are the places where winter did its damage.
The meter test for hidden leaks
Turn off every faucet and appliance, then look at your water meter. If the dial or low flow indicator keeps moving, water is leaking somewhere, and a buried line is a prime suspect. A lawn spot that stays wet in dry weather and a water bill that creeps up for no clear reason tell the same story.
When the line has to come out
Frozen or worn sprinkler and water lines can be dug up and replaced without tearing up more yard than necessary. We will find the break, show you what happened, and give you a straight answer on the fix.
