Whole House Repipe: How Plumbers Scope and Quote It

The third pinhole leak in a year, rusty water from the tub, gray plastic pipe the insurance company asked about. At some point another repair stops making sense and the homeowner asks what it would cost to replace everything. That's a whole house repipe: new water distribution piping from the main shutoff to every fixture.

It's a big ticket, and it's easy to lose money on. The pipe is the cheap part. The access, the patching, the permit, the inspections and the day the water is off are where quotes go wrong. This guide covers the signs, the materials, the scope and the quote.

Code requirements below come from one city's handout (Milpitas, California, under the California Plumbing Code) and from the manufacturers' own guides. Your code, your inspector and the instructions for the product you install decide what applies on your job.

Signs a house needs a repipe

Galvanized steel

Old galvanized pipe corrodes from the inside: low pressure at several fixtures, rusty water after it sits, leaks at threaded joints. Once it's failing in more than one place, patching one section usually just moves the next leak down the line.

Ask the water utility about the service line too. Under EPA's Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, a galvanized service line that is or ever was downstream of a lead service line, or that is downstream of a line of unknown material, is classed as "galvanized requiring replacement", and water systems must make their service line inventory publicly accessible. If the inventory flags the address, the repipe conversation should include the service line. See our guide to water line replacement.

Polybutylene

A Connecticut legislative working group reported in January 2024 that polybutylene pipe was used generally in residential and multifamily housing from 1978 to 1995 and was sold with a life span of about 30 years. It also noted that it's often behind walls, so owners don't know they have it. If you find it at an access point, tell the owner in writing, even if they only called about one leak.

Repeated leaks and repairs

A string of pinhole leaks in copper, multiple patched sections, or a remodel that's opening most of the walls anyway are all good reasons to price a full repipe next to the repair, and let the customer choose.

PEX vs copper vs CPVC

The PEX and CPVC columns come from one manufacturer's installation guide each; other brands have different rules. Copper follows your code and the tube standard.

	PEX (Uponor AquaPEX)	CPVC (FlowGuard Gold)	Copper
Joining	ProPEX cold-expansion fittings	Solvent cement; cure time before testing	Soldered, brazed or press fittings, per code
Light and sun	Not within 5 ft of direct view of fluorescent or LED lights unless protected	Cover when stored outdoors; paint with latex if installed outdoors	Not affected by light
Pressure rating or test	Residential test: 25 psi above working pressure or 100 psi, per local code	Rated 100 psi at 180°F; suggested test 150 psi for 1 hour; never test with air	Per code
Watch for	UV exposure on site	Expansion on hot lines (4 in per 100 ft at a 100°F change); chemical compatibility of sealants and firestops	Price swings; bonding

PEX

Uponor's installation guide says its PEX is approved for direct connection to electric water heaters and power-vented gas water heaters where local code allows, should not be stored outdoors, and should stay in its packaging until installed. For residential pressure tests it says to pressurize to 25 psi above working pressure or 100 psi and test according to local code.

CPVC

Wavin's FlowGuard Gold guide gives minimum cure times before a 150 psi test, from 1 hour for 1/2" to 1" pipe above 60°F up to 8 hours for 1-1/4" to 2" pipe below 40°F. It says to cut out and discard any joint that leaks, and never to test with high-pressure air or compressed gas. It also warns that thread sealants, firestops and other products touching the pipe must be chemically compatible with CPVC.

Copper

Copper prices rose through 2025 and kept rising in 2026, so copper repipe quotes need short validity dates and current material costs. Our guide to copper pipe prices has the dated numbers and the Type K, L and M differences. Where code allows, put a copper option and a PEX option side by side on the proposal and let the customer pick.

Bonding and grounding

Switching from metal to plastic can change the electrical system. The Milpitas handout cites the California Plumbing Code: where metal building supply piping is used for electrical grounding, the replacement piping must be of like material unless a grounding system acceptable to the building official is installed, inspected and approved. Put "electrician to verify grounding and bonding" on the scope, with a price or an exclusion.

Scope: what to settle before you price

The walk-through

Count every fixture and appliance connection: sinks, toilets, tubs, showers, washer, dishwasher, ice maker, hose bibbs, water heater, softener or filter.
Find the main shutoff, the water heater, and where the old pipe runs: attic, crawl space, basement, slab.
Check access: which walls and ceilings must be opened, and what's behind them (tile, cabinets, finished ceilings).
Measure static pressure. If a pressure-reducing valve or an expansion tank will be needed, it goes on this quote, not on a change order later.
Note what stays: existing shutoffs, supply lines, the water heater itself.

Manifold or trunk-and-branch

A manifold (home-run) layout sends a separate line from a central manifold to each fixture, with a shutoff for each at the manifold. Trunk-and-branch runs a main line with tees off to each fixture group. Each has its place depending on the house layout, the material and what the customer values. Whichever you choose, write it on the quote so the customer knows what they're buying, and so the inspector sees what the permit described.

Drywall access and patching

Say exactly what you'll do with the holes. Three common options: you cut and patch to a paint-ready finish, you cut and patch rough and the owner's painter finishes, or you cut and the owner's contractor patches. Each is a different price. "Drywall repair not included" in small print is how a good repipe ends with an angry review.

Permit and inspection

Milpitas's residential water piping handout is a clear example of what to expect:

Installing or replacing water piping within a building requires a plumbing permit, and extensive removal of walls or ceilings requires a building permit.
There are typically two inspections: rough plumbing, before walls or ceilings are covered, when the pressure test is typically done; and a final.
The test is with water at no less than working pressure, or air at a minimum of 50 psi, held for at least 15 minutes without leaks. Plastic pipe may not be tested with air.
Plastic and copper pipe that passes through framing within 1 inch of its exposed edge needs a steel nail plate of at least No. 18 gauge, and hot water piping must be insulated.
New potable water systems are disinfected before use.

Your jurisdiction will differ in the details, but the shape is the same: permit before work, rough inspection with walls open, final at the end. Schedule the patching after the rough inspection passes, never before.

How long it takes

There's no honest single number. Duration depends on the number of fixtures, the access, the material, the crew, and how fast the inspector can come. Break it into phases on your schedule and tell the customer which ones mean no water:

Protect floors and furniture, open access points.
Run the new lines while the old system stays live, where the layout allows.
Switch fixtures over to the new piping (water off).
Pressure test and rough inspection (walls stay open).
Patch, clean up, flush and disinfect as code requires, final inspection.

Track your own hours on each repipe, by phase. After three or four jobs you'll have real numbers to quote from.

Building the quote

Line-item checklist

Pipe and fittings by size, from your price book, with a short validity date if it's copper
Manifold or trunk components, and stop valves at every fixture
Labor by phase: open, run, switch over, test, patch
Access and protection: floor protection, dust walls, attic or crawl space work
Drywall and finish patching, or a clear exclusion
Permit fees and the time to pull it and meet the inspector
Pressure test, flushing and disinfection
Nail plates, hangers, pipe insulation
Water heater connections, expansion tank, pressure-reducing valve if needed
Grounding and bonding by an electrician, or an exclusion
Haul-away of old pipe and debris
A hidden-conditions clause, with changes handled by a signed change order
Payment schedule: deposit, after rough inspection, on final

A worked example

The numbers below are an example only, not market prices. Build your own from your costs and your price book. Example: a single-story house, 2 baths, 14 fixture connections, PEX manifold, attic runs.

Line	Example price
PEX pipe, fittings, manifold, stop valves	$1,900
Labor: open, run, switch over, test (crew of 2)	$4,800
Drywall patching, paint-ready, 12 openings	$1,350
Permit and inspections	$450
Nail plates, hangers, hot-water insulation	$220
Expansion tank at the water heater	$310
Haul-away and cleanup	$200
Total	$9,230

Then add a copper option as a second column, priced from today's material costs, and send both on one proposal. Our plumbing proposal template shows how to lay out options so the customer can choose without a second visit.

Plumbo, now on the App Store and Google Play, turns a voice note like "repipe, two baths, 14 fixtures, PEX manifold" into a quote from your own price book, asks only what's missing, and Quote Guard flags forgotten items like the expansion tank, shutoff valves or the permit. The customer signs on your phone. Try the 60-second demo →

Sources

City of Milpitas, Office of Building Safety, Water Piping (Residential) (PDF handout dated January 1, 2026: permits, nail plates, testing, grounding, disinfection, inspections), checked October 10, 2026.
Uponor, PEX Piping Systems Installation Guide (PDF, seventh edition: UV from light fixtures, storage, water heater connection, pressure testing), checked October 10, 2026.
Wavin, FlowGuard Gold CPVC Installation Guide (PDF: cure times, testing, pressure rating, thermal expansion, chemical compatibility), checked October 10, 2026.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, LCRI Fact Sheet: Service-Line Inventory and Replacement Requirements (PDF, October 2024: galvanized requiring replacement, public inventory), checked October 10, 2026.
Connecticut General Assembly, Final Report of the Working Group to Evaluate the Connection Between Polybutylene Pipes and Indoor Mold (PDF, January 5, 2024), checked October 10, 2026.