repiping a house

has anybody in here have repiped a house? i have a very small leak in one of the copper pipe, the company that i called said it would make more sense to repipe the whole house, which is crazy expensive, or i can just repipe that one copper line and wait and see if you have any leaks. even at just repiping one line is not cheap. can anybody chime in here with their experiences.

thanks you

 

I can't understand why they would want to redo the entire house instead of just the one bad section.

 

sounds like someone is trying to take you for a ride...

@OZ-T may have more questions and a better answer.

 

Plumber by trade here, if one piece of piping is corroded, then most of it probably is. Can you see this hole in your pipe? Isn't is squirting water all over the place? Did someone put a " band aid " on it to stop the leak? Repair as much or as little as you can/want to right now. Lots of holes to cut to re pipe the whole house.

 

If you've already got copper pipes, there is absolutely no reason to do the entire house. The only reason to do that would be if you have galvanized piping.

Just fix the leak.

Edit: the guy above knows more than I do. Listen to him.

 

The leak could be a symptom of a greater issue with corrosion due to water hardness etc perhaps

Did they give an explanation ?

 

Why is it leaking and what is the construction style of the home?

 

If it's simply a joint leaking, it's most likely limited to that location - fix & be done.

If pipes are corroding & thus leaking, it's most likely systemic in nature - repiping may be needed.

 

Test your water if you are getting blue green stains it probably acidic ( PH lower than 7) patching in a repair will buy you time but without treatment the rest of the piping will soon follow. If you have them replace pipes offer to remove drywall and have pipes exposed for them to replace. Pex and cpvc is easy to do. Save yourself some money for mods and make a weekend of it. If the plumber doesn't say anything in the quote about the copper you can recycle it to pay for all the new piping your installing.

 

Listen to the plumbers above.

I'm not a plumber, but just got done redoing most of the house (fresh and soil water). It's a pain in the ass, and you have to open walls, but get PEX, and learn to crimp it correctly. Then make a weekend of it.

I wouldn't bother trying to remove old copper pipes except where they are very easy to access.

 

i cannot see the hole in the copper pipe, but i can see a very very slow "run" of water somewhere in that pipe. I have a loop system which goes down into the slab foundation. they told me that i'll have to cap both ends and run another pex pipe through it.

 

thanks for everyone's input in this. sometimes you take your water for granted until it doesn't work, then you realize you have a problem. can anyone recommend a trusty plumber here in Houston? thanks again ya'll

 

The slab limits your options to a re-pipe. Which is something you can do yourself with some help.

Problem with repairing copper is, every time a sections is replaced it changes the integrity of the rest. While busting up the slab on a section and replacing will buy you some time, it's hard to say how long. It could be 10 months or 10 years. It's also pretty difficult to actually find the leak. Which leads to a LOT of busting up. It can get out of hand and never fix your problem. That'll force you into a re-pipe potentially. So now your in the hole for the repair that didn't work AND a re-pipe.

You're the home owner, what's you risk vs. reward, divided by, cost vs. effort?

And someone else up there mentioned PEX. With being able to crimp and go, you can pipe a whole house pretty quickly.

 

I'm not following the loop system. Is your domestic hot water on a recirculated loop or is this a radiant heating system? If someone is telling you they can fish pex through copper pipes under a slab I'd get a second opinion.

 

If your having slab leaks, where the pipe comes up out of the concrete, then you will have problems eventually at all risers at the concrete slab. Only fix is to chip up the concrete, find the pipe and fix it. You will have to indeed re pipe the whole house, as you need to get your water coming into the house, then route it up into the attic or ceiling. That eliminates your leaks at the slab, and all new pipe overhead ensures the rest is water tight also. Not pleasant or cheap, but non stop water leaks will drive you mad.

 

I redid my entire house two years ago from copper to pex because one 90* elbow blew out. It really is not difficult to do, especially if you can do it piece by piece following the old pipes. I thought it was worth it just to buy the pex crimpers and all the pex and do it myself (but I do have building and plumbing experience).

My vote would be for redoing everything.

 

If I was doing pex I would be using a manifold system and running independent supplies to each fixture and recirc lines for the hot water supplies to the furthest fixtures

 

Im no plumber but IMO it depends on what caused the leak. In older homes I have had copper fail due to lack of a dielectric connection to galvanized pipe. In those cases the damage was limited to the first 6' or so after the connection. The rest of the piping was sound and was still leak free many, many, years later. I have also seen poorly soldered joints leak after quite awhile in service. Again, no need for a whole house repipe in that case.

 

I have one weird tip

here and it

is the balls


use any combination of copper and/or plastic PEX piping

but connect it all up with Sharkbite adapters (they have them for everything including faucets)

don't dick with PEX crimp...Sharkbites come off as easily as they go on with the
removal tool. and will stay put for 40+ years no leaks.

say goodbye to solder, fancy tools, and any leaks. Sharkbites are simple to connect, simple to
disconnect, f and are certified to be inside walls with no
maintenance access. in other words, even though it is a pop-fit connector, it's completely correct way to plumb

you can connect copper to plastic or back with them too...to make your outside wall lines freeze-split proof use PEX lines

or don't use PEX use copper, but use Sharkbites on them. piece of cake

old timers plumbers will tell me it is stupid...but i know better... been using Sharkbites now on four houses... passes inspection and freaking works.

 

While I see your support, I want to make sure that others reading this understand push fittings or the brand name "shark bite" are only guaranteed for 25 years against manufacture defect and have not been used for 40 years to support your claim of "will last for 40 years".

I've had a shark bite back out on me I right in front front of my eyes. I had to have the water immediately shut off and solvent weld (glue) the joint. The pressure on the house was higher than 80 PSI but not near the 200 shark bite rates at. This fitting was on CPVC.

I also know a personal friend and homeowner that have had the actual shark bite fitting fail and cause around $4,000 worth of water damage to his home.

PEX and push fittings are great, don't get me wrong. But for those reading, they can fail.