Plumbing · Service

Whole-house repipe, from someone who isn't selling one

PEX or copper, whole house or spot repair, and what it is actually like to live in the house for the week. Every page ranking for this is published by a repipe company.

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In short

What is repipe?

A repipe replaces the water supply pipework running through your house — the lines feeding every fixture — rather than patching one failure at a time. It does not touch drains or the sewer line. Most whole-house repipes are done in PEX or copper, take roughly three to seven days depending on size and access, and involve opening walls and ceilings at intervals. The decision that matters is not the material. It is whether your pipes are failing as a system or you have simply had two bad leaks.

Triggers

Signs you need repipe

You have polybutylene supply lines. Grey, sometimes blue or black flexible plastic with crimped fittings, common in homes plumbed roughly 1978–1995. This is the clearest single trigger on the list
You have galvanised steel supply pipes. They corrode from the inside, so the failure shows up as falling pressure and rusty water long before a leak does
You have had multiple pinhole leaks in different parts of the house within a couple of years — the pattern matters far more than any single leak
Water pressure has dropped progressively across the whole house, not at one fixture, and a pressure regulator check has ruled out the obvious
Discoloured water on first draw in the morning, consistently, from more than one tap
You are already gutting the house — a full bathroom or kitchen renovation opens the walls anyway, and that is when a repipe is cheapest it will ever be
Your insurer has raised the plumbing on renewal, or a buyer's inspection flagged the pipe material

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The job

How repipe actually works

Identify what you actually have, in more than one place

Pipe material is confirmed at the water heater, under sinks, at the main shut-off and wherever a run is exposed in a basement, crawl space or attic. Houses are frequently mixed — a partial repipe was done at some point, or copper was run to the visible fixtures and the original material left in the walls.

Watch for: A material judgement made from one visible pipe. A quote for a whole-house repipe based on looking under the kitchen sink is not a survey.
Decide repipe against spot repair, honestly

One failure in a copper system that is otherwise sound is a repair. Repeated failures in a system with a known systemic fault — polybutylene, galvanised, or copper suffering pinholes from water chemistry — is a repipe. The question to answer is whether the next leak is a coincidence or a schedule.

Watch for: Being quoted only for a full repipe. A contractor who will not price the spot repair alongside it is not giving you a decision, they are giving you an invoice.
Material selection — PEX or copper

PEX is flexible, installs faster with fewer fittings, tolerates freezing better because it can expand, and costs less in labour. Copper is rigid, has a long field record, is unaffected by UV and rodents, and some buyers and jurisdictions still prefer it. Both have real failure modes: certain early PEX fitting generations have litigation history, and copper is vulnerable to pinhole corrosion in aggressive water and to erosion at high flow velocity.

Watch for: Being told either material is simply better. Ask what your local water chemistry does to copper, what PEX system and fitting type they install, and whether your jurisdiction has any restriction on PEX in specific locations.
Route planning — and where the walls open

A repipe is planned around access. Runs go through attics, crawl spaces, closets and soffits wherever possible, and walls are opened at specific points — near fixtures, at manifolds, where a run has to cross a floor. A good contractor walks the house with you and marks the openings before starting.

Watch for: No access plan discussed before work begins. You want to know how many openings, roughly where, and how large, while you can still ask for one to be moved out of the middle of a tiled shower wall.
Permit and inspection

Repiping is permitted work in most jurisdictions, and typically involves a rough inspection while the pipework is exposed and a final inspection afterwards. The rough inspection is the one that matters: it happens before anything is covered up.

Watch for: A schedule that closes the walls before the rough inspection has been signed off. If a permit was pulled, the sequence is fixed; if the sequence is being rushed, ask to see the permit.
Installation, section by section

New lines are run and pressure-tested before the old system is cut over. Water is normally off for part of each working day rather than the whole job, and most crews restore service each evening. Expect three to seven days for a typical single-family house, longer for multi-storey, slab-on-grade, or awkward access.

Watch for: No pressure test mentioned. New pipework is tested at pressure before it is buried in a wall — that test is the only thing standing between a bad fitting and a leak behind new drywall.
The drywall question — who patches, and to what standard

This is the single largest hidden variable in the job. Some contractors close and finish the openings, tape, texture and prime, and leave you to paint. Some patch to bare drywall. Some leave the holes entirely and expect you to hire a drywall contractor. All three are legitimate business models; only one of them matches the number in your head.

Watch for: "Drywall repair" written on a quote with no standard attached. Get it in writing at the level of: patched, taped, textured to match, primed, painted. Texture matching on older ceilings is genuinely difficult and is where this goes wrong. Also confirm who is responsible if a tile, stone or plaster surface has to be opened — those are not drywall and are rarely covered by a drywall allowance.
Final inspection, walkthrough and handover

The system is tested at every fixture, the final inspection is signed off, and you should get the permit documentation, the warranty terms and any manufacturer registration for the piping system.

Watch for: No paperwork handed over. Manufacturer warranties on piping systems frequently require registration or proof of professional installation, and the time to establish that is at handover, not in year eight.

Money

What does repipe cost?

A whole-house repipe is a five-figure job in most markets, with the spread driven by house size, number of bathrooms, storeys, access, material, and how much wall repair is included. Slab-on-grade and multi-storey homes sit at the top. Confirm what the drywall line covers before you compare two quotes.

See the full repipe cost guide — by material, size and region →

Straight answer

When repipe is the wrong call

Everyone else ranking for this is paid when you say yes. Here's when you shouldn't.

You have had exactly one leak. One pinhole in an otherwise healthy copper system is a repair, not a verdict on the house. Fix it, note the date, and see whether a pattern develops. Repiping on a single data point is the most expensive way to be cautious.
Your pressure problem has not been diagnosed. Low pressure across the house is caused by a failed pressure regulator, a partially closed main valve, or municipal supply issues at least as often as by pipe corrosion. All three are dramatically cheaper to fix. Have the regulator and static pressure checked before anyone quotes pipework.
You are mid-way through a renovation that will open different walls next year. If a bathroom or kitchen gut is coming, wait and do the repipe with the walls already open. Doing it now means paying for wall repair twice.
Only one branch is failing and the rest of the system is a different material. Partial repipes are legitimate. If the original galvanised was replaced everywhere except one bathroom run, that run is the job — not the house.
You are selling in the next few months and nothing is actively leaking. Disclose the pipe material and let it be priced into the negotiation. Buyers routinely finance a repipe more comfortably than a seller recovers one, and a rushed job done to clear a sale is the worst version of this work.
The quote excludes wall repair and you have no budget for it. A house with twenty open holes in it is not a finished project. If restoration is not funded, the job is not funded — get the full number before you start rather than discovering the shortfall at the end.

Your options

Types of repipe

PEX repipe

Flexible tubing, fewer fittings, faster to install and cheaper in labour. Handles freezing better. Fitting type and system matter — ask which one.

Copper repipe

Long field record, rigid, unaffected by rodents or UV. Vulnerable to pinhole corrosion in aggressive water and to erosion at high flow velocity.

Partial repipe

One branch, one floor, or the original material left in a single run. The right answer more often than whole-house contractors suggest.

Spot repair

The failed section only. Correct when the system is otherwise sound and there is no systemic failure mode behind the leak.

Compare plumbing options side by side →

Before you sign

What to check when hiring for repipe

Exactly what does the wall and ceiling repair include — patched, textured, primed or painted?

The commonest reason two repipe quotes differ by thousands. Get the finish standard written into the contract, not described on the phone.
Which PEX system and fitting type, or which copper type and joint method, do you install?

It tells you whether they have a standard practice or use whatever is on the truck. It also lets you check the specific system's field record yourself.
Will you price a spot repair alongside the full repipe?

A contractor willing to quote the cheaper option is giving you a genuine decision. One who refuses has told you something useful.
How many days will water be off, and for what hours each day?

Determines whether you can stay in the house. Most crews restore service overnight, but "most" is not "yours" — get it stated.
Where will you open walls, and can we walk the house and mark them first?

Some openings can be relocated to a closet or a less visible wall if you ask before work starts. None can be relocated afterwards.
Who pulls the permit and when is the rough inspection scheduled?

The rough inspection happens with the pipework exposed. If the sequence is vague, the inspection may not be happening.
What is the workmanship warranty, separately from the manufacturer's material warranty?

Piping materials often carry long manufacturer warranties. Labour warranties are usually far shorter, and a leak at a fitting is a labour question. Get both durations in writing.

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Local pros

Repipe near you

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Related work

Often done at the same time

Plumbing Repair

When it is one failure, not the system

Leak Detection

Finding the leak you cannot see

Sewer Line Repair

The waste side, not the supply side

Water Heater Installation

Often done in the same visit

All plumbing services →

FAQ

Repipe — questions people ask

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How long does a whole-house repipe take?

Roughly three to seven days for a typical single-family home, and longer for multi-storey houses, slab-on-grade construction or difficult access. Water is normally shut off for part of each working day rather than for the entire job, and most crews restore service before leaving each evening. Wall and ceiling repair, if included, usually follows as a separate phase and adds days on top of the plumbing itself.

PEX or copper — which should I choose?

Both are legitimate and both have real failure modes, so the honest answer is local. PEX installs faster with fewer joints, costs less in labour, and tolerates freezing better because it can expand. Copper has decades of field history and is immune to rodents and UV, but it is susceptible to pinhole corrosion where water chemistry is aggressive and to erosion where flow velocity is high. Ask a local plumber what your area's water does to copper — that is the question that actually decides it, and a contractor who cannot answer it is guessing too.

Do I have to move out during a repipe?

Usually not. Most homeowners stay, because water is typically off only during working hours and restored each evening. Where people do leave, it tends to be for the dust and disruption of the wall opening and repair rather than for the plumbing itself. If you have small children, work from home, or the job involves opening ceilings in living areas, ask the contractor for a day-by-day plan before deciding.

Is polybutylene pipe a reason to repipe on its own?

It is the strongest single trigger in this category. Polybutylene supply piping, common in homes plumbed between roughly the late 1970s and mid-1990s, has a widely documented history of failure at fittings and along the tubing, and it is frequently raised by insurers and by buyers' inspectors. Even where it has not leaked, it affects insurability and resale. Confirm the material first — grey flexible plastic is the usual appearance but not the only one — and get it identified by a plumber rather than from a photograph.

Does a repipe include fixing the walls afterwards?

Sometimes, partly, or not at all — and this is where quotes diverge most. Contractors variously leave the openings entirely, patch to bare drywall, or tape, texture and prime. Almost none paint. Tile, plaster and stone surfaces are usually excluded from a drywall allowance altogether. Insist on the finish standard in writing, because "drywall repair included" is not a specification, and texture-matching an older ceiling is the part that most often disappoints.

Will a repipe fix my low water pressure?

Only if corroded pipe is genuinely the cause. Galvanised steel narrows internally as it corrodes and does restrict flow, so a repipe transforms those houses. But a failed pressure-reducing valve, a partially closed main shut-off, a clogged aerator or supply-side issues from the utility produce the same complaint and cost a fraction to fix. Have static pressure measured and the regulator checked before you accept that the pipes are the problem.