How Much Does Repiping Cost?

Though you may not see them or inspect them as you go about your daily life, keeping your home’s pipes in good shape is absolutely essential. From taking daily showers, to drinking water, to washing dishes, to flushing toilets, properly-functioning plumbing in your home literally keeps your home running!

When should you think about repiping a house?

Before we dive into the details of the right time for repiping a house, let’s first get clear on what repiping actually means.

The repipe house process involves replacing hard copper or pex pipes that are leaking or have corroded over time. This process is also commonly referred to as re plumbing a house.

You pay a professional plumbing company to literally remove all of the old water pipes and replace them with brand new ones.

You usually hire someone to repipe your house when something goes wrong – and it’s not something you’ll want to quickly decide. It is a rather large financial investment, but it’s absolutely worth it if the condition of your home’s plumbing calls for it.

By investing money in re-plumbing a house that genuinely needs this type of work, you can save yourself from heftier bills down the road to repair even more damaging issues.

What is the average cost to repipe a house?

One of the first things people think of when faced with the decision to repipe is definitely related to the budget. When you’re considering the cost to repipe a house, you can bet that it will be an investment.

Of course the exact cost of repiping depends on the following factors:

    • The size of your house
    • How many levels (1, 2 or 3 stories)
    • Ease of access via a crawl space or basement
    • The type of pipes you use as replacements
    • Extent to which your pipes are corroded or damaged
    • Cost of the materials, along with the cost of delivery and transportation
    • Cost to prepare your house for the repiping process (it’s important that your house be protected)
    • Cost of job cleanup once the repiping process is complete
    • Cost of labor – usually an additional 15 to 20% if supervised by a general contractor

How Much Does Repiping Cost?

As previously mentioned, the exact cost of repiping varies and requires an in-depth inspection by a professional; however, we can provide some more information about the different options available:

Pex piping or CPVC piping

Wondering what pex piping is?

It’s basically plastic tubing made of cross-linked polyethylene and is cheaper than copper – and also takes less time to install. It’s available in long rolls for bigger repiping jobs and smaller roles for smaller jobs.

repiping a house | BFP Bay Area

Image Courtesy of Repiping Specialist

Copper piping

If you use copper pipes, you’ll pay a bit more, as the price of copper has increased.

Copper is considered a premium piping material to use and so will typically be more of an investment when compared to pex.

Re Plumbing a House | BFP Bay Area

Image Courtesy Allied Plumbing and Pumps

Repipe house process – what can you expect?

Whether you choose to use pex or copper to repipe your home depends on cost as well as a variety of other factors to consider. Regardless of the material you choose, a permit is usually required from the planning or building department in your area.

The contractor you work with may include this in their cost estimate.

Here’s what you can expect as far as the start to finish process.

    1. You should start by having a professional contractor inspect the pipes in your home to assess their condition. He or she can then recommend whether repiping is necessary.
    2. If it is necessary, a professional bid will give you an idea of the cost.
    3. Once you accept the bid, the repiping process can begin.  If you’re using copper pipes, note that it typically takes a bit longer, as more labor is required with this material.

And don’t worry – you can expect to stay in your house during the repiping process. Contractors typically turn the water back on in the evenings while they’re not working.

When done correctly at the right time, repiping your home can be 100% worth the investment – it’s just a question of how much you would like to spend!