Cost of Copper Re-Pipe in the SF Bay Area

[Another Reader]

Thirty two year old house with the original galvanized plumbing. Been holding it together, but the writing is on the wall. House is 2,500 square feet, single story. Kitchen plus 2.5 baths. Raised foundation, so lots of laying on your back in the crawl space to do the job. Anyone have an educated guess?

[pb4uski]

Why would anyone re-pipe with copper when PEX is available today?

[Bamaman]

In the Bay Area, who knows what such a re-plumbing job would cost. California labor rates for craftsmen can be out of sight, and your home may be a very time intensive job.

It's hard to believe that a 1989 house would have galvanized pipe. That stuff was too labor intensive to use in the 1960's even.

Are you sure you want to use copper plumbing? #1, it's too expensive of a product and #2 the labor to sweat all those joints would be too difficult. You'd just about have to re-sheet rock the entire home before it's over. I had two copper pin holes that ruined some sheetrock. My neighbor has had (and fixed) over 100 pin holes in copper plumbing in his 1995 home.

My last house had CPVC. I hit a couple of valves in two separate bathrooms, and the pipes sheared off--flooding the sheet rock ceilings below. The stuff @ 12 years old is so brittle--and something not to use.

Most all homes today are being plumbed with PEX tubing. It bends easily and is very easy to install. In cold climates, the stuff is really good because it flexes when it freezes. PEX is what you should consider. Is there any way that you could get by with a partial re-plumbing of the home?

[pb4uski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bamaman .... It's hard to believe that a 1989 house would have galvanized pipe. That stuff was too labor intensive to use in the 1960's even. ...

+1 Late 80s was copper or plastic.... galvanized was prevalent long before the 1980s.

[Another Reader]

The builder had been in the local area since the early 60's. Never changed their MO. I once worked with an older guy that used to be a salesman for them. He said that when customers complained about using galvanized pipe instead of copper, he would bring out an exhibit that showed how easy it was to puncture copper pipe with a nail, but virtually impossible to do it with a piece of galvanized pipe.

In Phoenix, the tract builders switched from copper to pex starting in the mid-1990's. I have a couple built around 2002 with pex. No major problems yet. Here, the City supplies groundwater, which is bad enough. Don't need any more chemicals leached from plastic pipes. Buyers associate copper with quality at this price point, so I would devalue the house much more than the cost difference if I used pex.

[pb4uski]

Good luck then... get out your checkbook... it's gonna hurt.

[ivinsfan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Another Reader The builder had been in the local area since the early 60's. Never changed their MO. I once worked with an older guy that used to be a salesman for them. He said that when customers complained about using galvanized pipe instead of copper, he would bring out an exhibit that showed how easy it was to puncture copper pipe with a nail, but virtually impossible to do it with a piece of galvanized pipe. In Phoenix, the tract builders switched from copper to pex starting in the mid-1990's. I have a couple built around 2002 with pex. No major problems yet. Here, the City supplies groundwater, which is bad enough. Don't need any more chemicals leached from plastic pipes. Buyers associate copper with quality at this price point, so I would devalue the house much more than the cost difference if I used pex.

Bet you that builder will be switching to PEX any second now. $$

[Another Reader]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ivinsfan Bet you that builder will be switching to PEX any second now. $$

Long out of business...mine was the last major tract they owned and built. They sold the last few lots to another builder. The next generation built a couple of infill projects in various places and then went out of business.

[daylatedollarshort]

We did ours years ago and it was around $10K. The best estimates by far were from the places that did nothing but repiping. The bids from the regular plumbers were all much higher.

[Brat]

Repipe with PEX.

[HarveyS]

You do know copper is at/near all-time highs right now. I'll guess it's gonna cost 2X what it would have a year ago.
What have your neighbors done, who did they use, are they happy, and what did they pay? That's where I'd start. If they all used PEX and you use Cu, at this point that might be "overbuilding the neighborhood".

[Sunset]

Over half the people looking to buy a house have no idea what the piping or wiring is in the house.
They are concerned with the schools, size, neighborhood, appliances, etc... sometimes they notice the roof.

[RetireeRobert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Another Reader Buyers associate copper with quality at this price point, so I would devalue the house much more than the cost difference if I used pex.

Think you are making an expensive (for you) assumption. I doubt 1 in 100, if even that many, would even inquire about piping material in a house, let alone make a decision based on copper pipes, or Pex, or CPVC.

Go PEX.

Also, as another suggested, look into the repiping specialists as opposed to regular plumbers. All they do is to retrofit homes with new piping, and often their guarantees was better than plumbers anyway--on the entire system.

[Another Reader]

There was a big round of replacements maybe 10 or 15 years ago. All copper repipe specialists, based on the trucks in the neighborhood. Don't recall anyone using pex.

Full repipes in Phoenix are often pex. That's because the houses are on slab with no crawl spaces. This subdivision was one of the last raised foundation subdivisions in the South Bay. Later builders here all used slab construction.

Really just interested in the cost of a copper repipe if anyone has done it recently.

[Mykle57]

Another suggesting PEX.

Plumbed a number of Habitat houses over the past few years. All supply lines are PEX. All heating lines are PEX. With the exception of near the boiler and near the water meter as required by code.
Note copper is exceedingly difficult to work with by comparison. Second point it that most professional plumbers installing copper today will use crimp fittings. Crimp fittings are not soldered. They have a rubber seal that makes them watertight. (Yes, modern copper plumbing installation uses a rubber seal).

Thinking Habitat houses are cheaper homes, a brand new house being built across the street. When the plumbing contractors showed up, I noticed them unloading rolls of PEX tubing. That 4500 sq ft house is for sale for $1.7m today.

Imho, a buyer would be more likely to discount a home with copper plumbing.

[38Chevy454]

The fact that copper is now so expensive for the raw material, plus the increased labor to install, seems that it would be a very costly galv pipe replacement. PEX is what all new construction use.


As far as the perception to a buyer, I think the fact galv pipe was replaced is what counts, not whether copper or PEX.

[pb4uski]

I have heard of old copper piping developing pin holes that require repair/replacement.... I've never heard of that with PEX.

[WestUniversity]

As an option, the home of a friend of mine had galvanized pipe that kept developing pinhole leaks. His plumber recommended replacing only the horizontal runs as apparently that’s where the leaks seem to always develop. So he had all the horizontal runs replaced which was easily done in his attic, without having to cut open his walls to replace the drops to each sink, commode or whatever. That approach worked for him and it was more cost effective than a whole house repipe…

[Another Reader]

As a long term real estate investor with decades of professional valuation experience, I'm fairly knowledgeable about plumbing materials. To the best of my knowledge, not one person in my subdivision has replaced with pex.

The interiors of the galvanized pipes are corroded. Replacing the dishwasher and garbage disposal recently unleashed a lot of debris, resulting in two plumbing calls. The water pressure is bad throughout the house, especially hot water. Trying to be proactive here, so as not to be taken advantage of.

[Brat]

First paragraph, second sentence: Do you mean not one person has replaced a pex install?