Meter Housing, Service Mast & Underground Conduit Repair
The service entrance between the utility and your panel: meter housings, overhead masts and weatherheads, and the buried conduit carrying an underground service.
The equipment between the utility and your panel
Your service entrance is everything between the utility's conductors and your panel: the meter socket, the overhead mast and weatherhead, or on newer homes the buried conduit running from a transformer or pedestal. It lives outdoors, takes Front Range weather year round, and on many homes it is older than the panel behind it.
Homeowners usually find out about it one of two ways: an inspector or utility tech tags it, or a panel upgrade estimate reveals that the equipment is not rated for the new service. Either way this is work nobody is allowed to do without coordinating the utility, which is the part that stalls these jobs for people.
- Rust, pitting, water staining or burn marks in the meter enclosure
- A socket rated below the service you are upgrading to
- A mast that leans, has pulled away from the wall or lost its weatherhead
- Water staining below a roof penetration or inside the meter can
- Whole-house flicker or standing water on an underground service
- A utility red tag or a refusal to re-set the meter
Meter housings and overhead masts
On a meter housing job we quote the socket, the mounting and weatherproofing, any conductor repairs inside the enclosure, the permit, the utility disconnect and re-set, and the inspection. The sequence matters, because the meter is utility-owned: disconnect scheduled, work done, inspection passed, meter re-set. We manage all four steps rather than handing you a phone number.
On homes with overhead service, the mast is the rigid pipe carrying your conductors down to the meter and taking the mechanical pull of the drop. Once it leans, the drop pulls at a bad angle, the roof penetration opens up and water tracks down the pipe into the meter housing. Most of the corroded sockets we replace started as a mast problem, so we either re-set and re-brace the existing mast or replace the pipe, weatherhead, roof boot and straps as a set, correcting clearances where the rules have changed since the house was built.
- Correctly rated socket for the service size, overhead or underground
- New weatherhead, hub, straps and roof flashing where the housing was leaking
- Attachment point and guying corrected for real-world wind load
- Clearances over driveways, walkways and roofs brought current
- Grounding and bonding brought current, penetrations sealed properly
Underground service conduit
On an underground service the conductors run through buried conduit to your meter, and it is invisible right up until it is not: settling soil, root pressure, a fence post, a landscaping project or decades of groundwater finally collapse or fill the pipe. Because conductors cannot be pulled through a crushed or water-logged run, the conduit has to be repaired before anything else can be fixed.
We locate the run, arrange utility locates for gas, water and communications, and open only the ground we need. The failed section is replaced with correctly rated conduit at the required burial depth, conductors are pulled fresh where they are damaged or suspect, and the trench is backfilled and compacted. Restoration is part of the quote, not a surprise afterward, and where we can bore under a hard surface instead of cutting it, we will.
- Utility locates and safe excavation on every dig
- Schedule 40 or 80 PVC as the location and code require
- Correct burial depth, warning tape and bedding
- Fresh service conductors where insulation has failed
- Backfill, compaction and surface restoration priced up front
Doing it while the panel is already open
The cheapest time to replace service entrance equipment is during a panel or service upgrade: the disconnect, the permit and the crew day are already paid for. Mast, meter housing and panel are one continuous system, so we look at all three at the estimate and show you photos of what we found. Often the mast alone is the job, and that is what we quote.
Our process
How an EPO service entrance job runs
- 01
On-site look at the service
We inspect the socket, mast, conductors, grounding and, on underground services, confirm the fault is in the lateral.
- 02
Written fixed price
Equipment, labor, restoration, permit and utility coordination in one number, before anything is scheduled.
- 03
Permit and utility disconnect
We pull the permit and book the disconnect around a date that works for your household.
- 04
Work day
Power is off for the window we gave you in advance, and the new equipment goes in weathertight and to depth.
- 05
Inspection and meter re-set
We meet the inspector, close the permit and stay on the utility until the meter is back on.
Pricing
What moves the price on this job
We quote after seeing the equipment, because these details change the number more than anything else.
- Socket amperage rating, and overhead versus underground feed
- Mast height, pipe size, roof pitch and flashing detail
- Trench length, depth, soil conditions and buried utilities in the path
- Concrete, asphalt or paver surfaces to cut or bore under
- Whether the service conductors are reusable
- Siding, stucco or landscape restoration and jurisdiction fees
Still deciding?
The fastest way to get a real answer for your home is to have a tech open the panel. The on-site estimate is free, and you leave with a written price for service entrance.
Want the long version first? Read How to Tell Your Electrical Panel Needs Replacing.
Monthly payments available through Hearth
Prequalifying takes about a minute and uses a soft credit check, so checking does not affect your credit score. Or read how financing works.
Financing provided by third-party lenders through Hearth, NMLS #1628533. Not a commitment to lend.
FAQ
Common questions about this job
Can I replace a meter socket myself?
No. The conductors inside are utility-owned and energized until the utility disconnects them. It takes a licensed contractor, a permit and a scheduled disconnect, which is what we handle.
Who pays for this equipment, me or the utility?
In most Colorado jurisdictions the utility owns the meter and the conductors up to the point of service, and the homeowner owns the housing, mast, conduit path and everything downstream. So the equipment is on you, and we price it up front.
How long will my power be off?
A straightforward socket or mast job is usually part of a day. Underground repairs run longer because of the excavation and restoration. You get the expected window before the crew arrives, and we do not start until the utility has disconnected.
Is a leaning mast an emergency?
If conductors are damaged, arcing, or the drop is low enough to touch, treat it as urgent and call the utility first for safety. If it is leaning but intact, it is a scheduled repair, and it should not wait a season.
Search every question we get asked on the full FAQ page.
Where we work
Meter, Mast & Service Conduit Repair across the Front Range
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