Horizontal Drilling Saves a Morningside Yard

Trenchless Water Line Replacement Case Study

Project Overview: How Horizontal Drilling Saved a Morningside Homeowner Thousands

• Client Location: Morningside Neighborhood near Piedmont Park in Atlanta, GA

• Structure Age: Built in 1938

• The Emergency: Water pooling across a sloped front yard, an 80+ year-old deteriorating water service line, and dangerously high municipal water pressure exceeding 100 PSI.

• The Solution: Minimally invasive horizontal directional drilling to install a 1-inch copper service line, a new Pressure Reducing Valve (PRV), and a dedicated emergency shutoff valve.

• Key Result: Saved the homeowner thousands of dollars by leaving the mature lawn, 3-foot concrete retaining wall, and public sidewalk completely intact while bringing household pressure back within safety codes.

The Situation: Mystery Leak on a Steep Atlanta Hillside

In Atlanta’s historic Morningside neighborhood, just blocks from Piedmont Park, a homeowner noticed steady pools of water gathering in her front yard. The property sits perched uphill from the roadway, featuring a lawn that slopes sharply down toward the public sidewalk and terminates at an existing three-foot-tall masonry retaining wall.

Under conventional plumbing repair methods, replacing an underground main line on a hill like this requires digging a continuous, deep trench straight through the lawn, cutting through the public sidewalk, and tearing down sections of the structural retaining wall. That would mean massive excavation costs, followed by thousands more in masonry rebuilds, concrete pouring, and sod replacement.

The Diagnostic Breakdown: 1938 Galvanized Pipe & Extreme Pressure

When Ryan Hanson, Master Plumber (License MP210510), arrived on site, he accessed the crawl space to trace the incoming water supply.

• Original 1938 Galvanized Steel: Ryan identified that the home was still running on its original galvanized steel service line installed during construction in 1938. While galvanized piping was standard in pre-1970 construction, it deteriorates from both the inside out and the outside in. Decades of mineral contact leave the metal brittle, flaking, and completely unrepairable once structural leaks begin.

• Pressure Exceeding 100 PSI: Ryan tested the incoming static water pressure inside the home and clocked it at over 100 PSI. Plumbing code mandates that residential interior water pressure must never exceed 80 PSI. It should also provide optimal working range sitting between 40 and 70 PSI. High pressure strains fixtures, accelerates pipe degradation, and risks bursting supply lines to water heaters and appliances.

The Solution: Horizontal Directional Drilling & Code Upgrades

To protect the homeowner’s yard and wallet, Ryan laid out a trenchless approach using horizontal directional drilling. He returned the very next day with the crew to complete the installation.

1. Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD): Rather than digging up the hillside, True Plumbing used precision directional boring equipment to tunnel underground from the street connection up to the crawl space entrance, passing smoothly beneath the sidewalk and the 3-foot retaining wall without disturbing a single stone.

2. 1-Inch Copper Pipe Pull: A seamless 1-inch copper water service line was pulled back through the bored path, providing durable water volume and long-term corrosion resistance.

3. Pressure Reducing Valve (PRV) Replacement: Ryan installed a high-capacity PRV to knock the incoming 100+ PSI down to an ideal, code-compliant 55–65 PSI range, safeguarding indoor fixtures and water lines.

4. Emergency Brass Shutoff Valve: Ryan installed an accessible, heavy-duty quarter-turn brass ball valve in the crawl space and walked the homeowner through its location and operation so she can instantly shut off water in an emergency.

The Results: Fast Turnaround, Protected Hardscaping, and Complete Control

The entire water service line replacement was completed with zero disruption to the sidewalk, retaining wall, or mature landscaping.

This saved the homeowner substantial masonry and re-sodding expenses.