Whole-House Water Line Replacement (Repipe)

A repipe replaces the water supply system inside the house: the trunk from the point of entry, the branches to every fixture, the hot and cold runs from the water heater. It's the right answer when the existing system is a material that fails everywhere at once, galvanized steel rusting shut and through, polybutylene cracking at its fittings, or copper that has pinholed in several places, and when the next spot repair is just the next of many. Homes on the Kitsap Peninsula from the 1940s, the 1960s and 70s, and the polybutylene years of the 1980s and early 90s each have a version of this.

We repipe in PEX-A, routed through the crawlspace, attic or walls as the house allows, with a manifold or trunk-and-branch layout, new shutoffs at the fixtures, a new main shutoff and pressure regulator where needed, and new connections at the water heater. The old lines are abandoned in place or removed where they're accessible. Openings in finished walls are kept to what the routing requires and are patched and primed afterward. Water is off only in stages; most homes have service restored each evening.

Where the exterior service line is the same vintage as the inside, which it usually is, the repipe is the moment to replace it too, in one continuous line from the meter to the new manifold. We do both: the exterior excavation with our own equipment and the interior work with our licensed plumbers, as one registered general contractor, bonded and insured. You get a system with no end-of-life material anywhere in it, documented so the next owner knows what's there.

When you need whole-house repipe

• Galvanized supply lines with low pressure and rusty water after a shutoff
• Polybutylene lines or fittings anywhere in the house
• Copper that has pinholed more than once
• Repeated interior leaks in different places
• A remodel that opens walls anyway
• A pre-purchase inspection that flagged the supply system

How the job goes

1. Survey. The existing system traced: material, routing, fixture count, water heater, shutoffs, pressure. A repipe plan and routing drawn.
2. Plan the openings. Where walls or ceilings must be opened, marked in advance with the owner, and kept to the minimum the routing allows.
3. Run new lines. PEX-A from a new manifold or trunk through the crawlspace, attic or walls, with new fixture shutoffs and water heater connections.
4. Tie in and test. The new system connected at the point of entry, pressure tested, and brought online in stages so the house has water each evening.
5. Abandon or remove old lines. Old pipe removed where accessible, capped and abandoned where not.
6. Close and document. Openings patched and primed, the system documented, and the exterior service line replaced in the same project where it's the same vintage.

Equipment and materials

• PEX-A tubing, hot and cold
• Manifold or trunk-and-branch fittings
• Quarter-turn fixture shutoffs
• New main shutoff and pressure regulator as needed
• Water heater connections and expansion tank where required

What shapes the scope

Every property is different, and these are the things that decide whether a job is a quick morning or a full day. We'll tell you which it is before we start.

• Number of fixtures and stories
• Crawlspace, attic or slab construction and how much routing is accessible
• How many finished walls must be opened
• Whether the exterior service line is replaced in the same project
• Permit and inspection requirements in the jurisdiction