Whole-Home Repiping

When repiping is worth it

• Pinhole leaks in copper showing up in different rooms over a year or two
• Galvanized steel supply lines with rusty water and low pressure
• Polybutylene, which insurers increasingly ask about
• A big renovation that already has most walls and ceilings open

If only one section has failed, a targeted repair is fine. Repeated leaks in different spots point to the system as a whole.

PEX versus copper

PEX is flexible plastic tubing. It needs fewer fittings, snakes through walls with less opening, resists freezing damage better and is usually less costly to install. Copper is rigid, long-lived, familiar to inspectors and buyers, and handles heat well near the water heater. Many repipes in Aurora use PEX for distribution with copper or approved fittings at the heater and stubs. We lay out the trade-offs for your house rather than selling one material.

A manifold system runs a dedicated line to each fixture from a central panel with individual shutoffs. That is handy for future service and helps balance pressure when two showers run at once.

Planning access

Before we start, we map the route from the main valve to each fixture. Unfinished basement ceilings make the trunk runs easy. Upstairs bathrooms are reached through closets, the floor below, or small openings in walls. We cut tidy rectangles at planned points, protect floors and furniture, and leave a list of patches for the drywall trade.

Living at home during the work

Most families stay home during a repipe. We switch fixtures to the new lines in stages, so water is off only for short windows, and we restore service at the end of each working day. A typical house takes several days depending on size and access. The final step is a pressure test of the full system, often witnessed by an inspector where a permit applies.