Whole-House Repiping in La Palma, CA

When repiping is worth considering

Repiping means replacing the water supply lines in the house - the pipes that carry hot and cold water to every fixture. It's a bigger job than a single repair, but it can end years of leak after leak. It's worth a serious look if:

• You've had more than one slab leak or pinhole leak in the last few years
• Your water lines are original to a 1960s or 70s house and starting to fail
• You have galvanized steel pipes, which rust from the inside and restrict flow
• Water pressure has dropped throughout the house
• Hot water comes out discolored or rusty
• You're planning a kitchen or bathroom remodel and walls will be open anyway

Why it comes up so often in La Palma

La Palma was largely built out in the 1960s and 70s, and much of the plumbing from that era is copper, frequently running under the slab. Copper is durable, but after 50 or 60 years, many local homes are seeing pinhole leaks, especially on the hot side. When one pipe of a certain age fails, the others that went in at the same time are often not far behind. Our blog post on pinhole leaks in La Palma homes covers the reasons.

PEX or copper?

PEX is a flexible plastic tubing that's become the most common choice for repipes.

• Flexible, so it can be routed through walls and attics with fewer openings
• Resistant to scale and the pinhole corrosion that affects copper
• Fewer fittings, which means fewer potential leak points
• Needs to be protected from sunlight and installed to the manufacturer's specifications

Copper is the traditional choice.

• Long track record and familiar to every plumber
• Rigid, so routing it through finished walls usually needs more openings
• Can be affected by the same water conditions that caused the original pipes to fail

A plumber can explain which suits your house and why. Many homeowners choose PEX for a repipe because of how it's routed and how it handles hard water.

What a repipe involves

1. Planning the route. In slab homes, new lines are usually run through the attic and down through the walls to each fixture, rather than under the slab. That takes the plumbing out of the concrete for good.
2. Protecting the house. Floors and furniture are covered and work areas are contained.
3. Small wall openings. Access holes are cut where the new lines need to drop down to fixtures.
4. Installing new lines and connecting them to the main, the water heater and every fixture.
5. Pressure testing the new system before anything is closed up.
6. Inspection. Repiping typically needs a permit and a city inspection.
7. Patching. Drywall openings are patched and prepped for paint. Ask upfront whether that's included and who does it.

Many repipes on a typical single-story home take a few days, and water is usually only off during parts of the day.

Questions to ask before you choose

• What material, and why for this house?
• How will the lines be routed, and how many wall openings will there be?
• Is drywall patching included?
• Will you handle the permit and inspection?
• Are new shutoff valves included at each fixture?
• What warranty comes with the work?

And as with any contractor, check their license with the California Contractors State License Board.

Repipe vs another reroute

If you've had one slab leak, rerouting just that line can be a sensible fix. If it's the second or third, or the copper is visibly corroded, a full repipe often costs less over time than a string of separate repairs and the damage that comes with each leak. See slab leak repair.