Repiping a House: PEX vs Copper, and When You Actually Need It

Repiping is one of the larger plumbing jobs a homeowner ever pays for, and it is also one where the decision usually makes itself. Nobody repipes a house that is working. They repipe after the third leak in eighteen months.

Signs your supply lines are done

• Repeated pinhole leaks. One leak is an incident. Three in a couple of years is a system telling you it has reached the end of its life.
• Discolored water — rusty, brown or yellow, especially first thing in the morning after water has sat in the pipes overnight.
• Falling water pressure throughout the house, not at one fixture. Corrosion narrows the interior of the pipe over time.
• Visible corrosion, green staining or flaking on exposed pipe.
• Galvanized steel piping. If your house is old enough to have it, it is at or past the end of its service life. Galvanized corrodes from the inside out and the failure is not gradual.
• Polybutylene. Grey plastic piping installed in a window of years in the late twentieth century, known for failing without warning. If you have it, plan the replacement rather than waiting for it.

PEX

Flexible cross-linked polyethylene tubing. It has become the default for repipes for practical reasons.

Advantages:

• Far fewer joints. PEX can be run in continuous lengths through walls and around corners. Joints are where leaks happen, so fewer joints means fewer future failures.
• Faster to install, which is a large share of the cost of a repipe.
• Does not corrode and is unaffected by hard water and acidic water.
• Tolerates freezing better than rigid pipe — it expands somewhat rather than splitting immediately. Not freeze-proof, but more forgiving.
• Quieter. No water hammer transmission the way copper has.
• Cheaper material.

Trade-offs:

• Degrades with prolonged UV exposure, so it is not for outdoor or sunlit runs.
• Cannot be used for certain applications near high heat sources.
• Rodents can chew it — a real consideration in crawlspaces and attics.
• Some homeowners simply prefer the known quantity of copper.

Copper

Advantages:

• Very long service life when water chemistry is favourable.
• Handles heat and UV without issue.
• Naturally biostatic.
• Recyclable and holds resale value.

Trade-offs:

• Considerably more expensive, in both material and labour.
• Corrodes where water is acidic or aggressive, which is what causes pinhole leaks in the first place.
• Splits when frozen rather than flexing.
• Every joint is soldered — more joints, more potential failure points, and open flame inside a finished house.

What a repipe actually involves

1. 1Assessment and layout. Where the lines run, where the manifold or distribution point goes, how many fixtures.
2. 2Permits. Coweta County and City of Newnan permitting applies to this scope. Not optional.
3. 3Access. Drywall gets opened at strategic points — usually far fewer than homeowners expect, because PEX can be fished.
4. 4New lines run from the main to every fixture.
5. 5Tie-in and testing under pressure.
6. 6Inspection.
7. 7Drywall repair, texture and paint.

How disruptive is it?

Less than people fear. A typical single-family repipe runs a small number of days, and water is usually only off during the tie-in — often a single day. You stay in the house.

The part that takes longest is not the plumbing, it is the drywall repair and finish afterward. Ask specifically whether the quote includes patching, texturing and painting, or only the plumbing. That difference is significant and it is where estimates diverge most.

Do it during a remodel if you can

If you are already opening walls for a kitchen or bathroom remodel, repiping at the same time costs a fraction of doing it separately — the access is already there and the drywall is already coming off. If your pipes are marginal and a remodel is coming, do them together.

Get an honest assessment

Wright Way Services will tell you plainly whether you are looking at a repair or a repipe. We work across Newnan, Peachtree City, Sharpsburg, Senoia, Tyrone and Fayetteville. Call (770) 301-4638.