Whole house repiping. Worth it? Cost? Tips/suggestions? (1 Viewer)

[eoMMan]

We had a pipe burst today and unfortunately, it’s a pipe underground somewhere near our kitchen sink. Just to fix it, they will need to rip apart our kitchen and flooring somewhat.

Anyway, we have copper piping and that’s apparently a bad thing in Florida. The plumber suggested we consider a whole house repiping and he’s gonna send over two quotes in the morning (one for this single problem and one for the repiping).

Anyone go through this? Cost? What’s the preferred material now for water piping in the Florida climate?

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Maybe try r/plumbing? I bet it’s expensive though

 

[fruity pebbles]

Oof, that sounds like the cost of a small house 20 years ago.

 

[ChiefD]

Hard to tell without knowing the full makeup of your house. I assume you are on a slab? Or do you also have piping going up through the walls and attic?

Or if a one story house, does it come from the slab up into the bathroom and kitchen walls?

 

[3C's]

Interesting. Did a little quick reading and it sounds like copper is prone to pinhole leaks in Florida, with theories being high amounts of chlorine in the water and/or slab settling. Recommended replacement is cpvc and they run it outside and into the attic (way cheaper than tearing up slab). Sounds like fixing the current leak by tearing the floor up could be a short term fix and you could face issues again if you don't replace/bypass it all. Wonder if insurance will cover it?

 

[DA RAIDERS]

I did it. Well worth it. On the 3rd slab leak we pulled the trigger.

 

[The Z Machine]

I did it. Well worth it. On the 3rd slab leak we pulled the trigger.

CPVC or PEX?

 

[eoMMan]

Hard to tell without knowing the full makeup of your house. I assume you are on a slab? Or do you also have piping going up through the walls and attic?

Or if a one story house, does it come from the slab up into the bathroom and kitchen walls?

Single story. He did mention about someone going up into the attic if we do the repiping. It’s a concrete, stucco house on a slab but not sure where all the piping go to.

 

[eoMMan]

Interesting. Did a little quick reading and it sounds like copper is prone to pinhole leaks in Florida, with theories being high amounts of chlorine in the water and/or slab settling. Recommended replacement is cpvc and they run it outside and into the attic (way cheaper than tearing up slab). Sounds like fixing the current leak by tearing the floor up could be a short term fix and you could face issues again if you don't replace/bypass it all. Wonder if insurance will cover it?

I’m pretty sure my insurance will cover all of the related costs to the pipe break but I doubt they would pay for a whole house repiping.

 

[NutterButter]

Curious what's the benefits of a slab rather than a crawlspace? Seems like a nightmare waiting to happen having all your utilities buried in a slab.

 

[belljr]

Curious what's the benefits of a slab rather than a crawlspace? Seems like a nightmare waiting to happen having all your utilities buried in a slab.

Cheaper, more efficient climate control, less moisture issues.

Slabs are ideally used for low frost areas

But then something like the OP is a nightmare

 

[tri-man 47]

Curious what's the benefits of a slab rather than a crawlspace? Seems like a nightmare waiting to happen having all your utilities buried in a slab.

Cheaper, more efficient climate control, less moisture issues.

Slabs are ideally used for low frost areas

But then something like the OP is a nightmare

Couldn’t the risk of a frost be addressed by wrapping the new piping with some of that pipe insulation?

 

[belljr]

Curious what's the benefits of a slab rather than a crawlspace? Seems like a nightmare waiting to happen having all your utilities buried in a slab.

Cheaper, more efficient climate control, less moisture issues.

Slabs are ideally used for low frost areas

But then something like the OP is a nightmare

Couldn’t the risk of a frost be addressed by wrapping the new piping with some of that pipe insulation?

Huh? I'm just stating slabs are usually used in low frost line environments (i.e. Florida where the OP lives)

The reason you don't usually use slabs where the ground freezes is when it freezes the ground can/will expand and shift causing cracks in the slab.

There are ways to fight this when using a slab in colder environments but it takes extra measures to insulate under the slab and have deep footings

 

[NutterButter]

Curious what's the benefits of a slab rather than a crawlspace? Seems like a nightmare waiting to happen having all your utilities buried in a slab.

Cheaper, more efficient climate control, less moisture issues.

Slabs are ideally used for low frost areas

But then something like the OP is a nightmare

I can see the cheaper part. Shouldn't be too difficult to work around the other aspects, but yes more money. I'd never want it. I love having easy access to all my utilities.

 

[gianmarco]

Also, the water table isn't that far below the ground in Florida. That's why there's no basements either.

 

[NutterButter]

Also, the water table isn't that far below the ground in Florida. That's why there's no basements either.

Just throw a dehumidifier in it.

 

[The General]

Nothing to offer except T&P’s. Good luck and find a plumber you trust before starting anything.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

I did it. Well worth it. On the 3rd slab leak we pulled the trigger.

CPVC or PEX?

Pex

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Curious what's the benefits of a slab rather than a crawlspace? Seems like a nightmare waiting to happen having all your utilities buried in a slab.

Earthquake country. Cheaper.

 

[The Z Machine]

Personally, I wouldn't use CPVC and would only do PEX, ideally homerunned to a central manifold.

Although my house in Baltimore is 100% copper and the recent plumbing work I've had done, I insisted on copper, either sweated or pro-press.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Slab foundations are common in Houston, too. Not really a problem unless there's a drought. Our clay soil dries out unless it's watered. Not good.

 

[eoMMan]

I did it. Well worth it. On the 3rd slab leak we pulled the trigger.

CPVC or PEX?

Pex

We agreed to the project today and it’s PEX they are using.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

I did it. Well worth it. On the 3rd slab leak we pulled the trigger.

CPVC or PEX?

Pex

We agreed to the project today and it’s PEX they are using.

For me it was totally worth it. We are 8? Years in and it’s been great

 

[jvdesigns2002]

Is your home single story or multi-story? I had a slab leak in my house in the kitchen area, and my buddy who is a contractor was able to just run new piping through my attic (as my home is single story).

 

[eoMMan]

Is your home single story or multi-story? I had a slab leak in my house in the kitchen area, and my buddy who is a contractor was able to just run new piping through my attic (as my home is single story).

Single story. I think that’s how they will do it (not 100% sure) but it’s a little scary, to be honest. Wouldn’t we be open to do much more damage if we had a leak coming from above instead of a leak near ground level?

 

[culdeus]

I did it. Well worth it. On the 3rd slab leak we pulled the trigger.

CPVC or PEX?

Pex

We agreed to the project today and it’s PEX they are using.

How many racks this gonna run you

 

[eoMMan]

I did it. Well worth it. On the 3rd slab leak we pulled the trigger.

CPVC or PEX?

Pex

We agreed to the project today and it’s PEX they are using.

How many racks this gonna run you

Just plumbing work is about $9k. Plus drywall repair, painting, any floor/carpet repair...

Hoping for it to be under $15k when all is said and done.

 

[ChiefD]

Is your home single story or multi-story? I had a slab leak in my house in the kitchen area, and my buddy who is a contractor was able to just run new piping through my attic (as my home is single story).

Single story. I think that’s how they will do it (not 100% sure) but it’s a little scary, to be honest. Wouldn’t we be open to do much more damage if we had a leak coming from above instead of a leak near ground level?

Not really. If you are in a climate where there is little to no freezing you will be fine. And honestly, if you get a leak later on I would much rather be able to see it instead of digging up a concrete slab to find it.

 

[El Floppo]

Haven't read, but I assume title and thread are a euphemism.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Is your home single story or multi-story? I had a slab leak in my house in the kitchen area, and my buddy who is a contractor was able to just run new piping through my attic (as my home is single story).

I did 2 reroutes before I did a complete repipe

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Is your home single story or multi-story? I had a slab leak in my house in the kitchen area, and my buddy who is a contractor was able to just run new piping through my attic (as my home is single story).

Single story. I think that’s how they will do it (not 100% sure) but it’s a little scary, to be honest. Wouldn’t we be open to do much more damage if we had a leak coming from above instead of a leak near ground level?

Mine is 2 story. They made a zillion holes in walls and ceilings. The best drywall dude you ever saw came and repaired them all. It was amazing

 

[jvdesigns2002]

Is your home single story or multi-story? I had a slab leak in my house in the kitchen area, and my buddy who is a contractor was able to just run new piping through my attic (as my home is single story).

Single story. I think that’s how they will do it (not 100% sure) but it’s a little scary, to be honest. Wouldn’t we be open to do much more damage if we had a leak coming from above instead of a leak near ground level?

Apologies for the late reply as it’s been a crazy couple of days. My buddy told me the opposite. Leaks in ceilings are far easier to access (and they don’t require tearing kitchens/tile/bathrooms apart to access them. He also said that often times it takes owners a while to realize that there is a slab leak, but that attic leaks can be found and realized more quickly (and thus the problem an be addressed before the damage spreads too far). Also, I do believe that there are water leak detecting sensors that you can put in your attic if you are really worried—and those sensors are pretty cheap. Good luck with the project.

 

[Mr. Mojo]

We did ours about 4 years ago. Our house was built in '66 and we already had one slab leak. It was time to do it. We hired a recommended plumber and they used Pex. Cost was about $8K for the whole house. While they were working on it, we noticed another slab leak that was just starting out so we avoided fixing this one as they reroute through the attic with the new piping and leave the old copper plumbing in place.

 

[MTskibum]

Slab foundations are common in Houston, too. Not really a problem unless there's a drought. Our clay soil dries out unless it's watered. Not good.

We have gotten cracks in our tiles during the drought years, including a new one this year. No point in replacing the tile until the kids are old enough where they won't destroy a remodel though.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Slab foundations are common in Houston, too. Not really a problem unless there's a drought. Our clay soil dries out unless it's watered. Not good.

We have gotten cracks in our tiles during the drought years, including a new one this year. No point in replacing the tile until the kids are old enough where they won't destroy a remodel though.

You really need a sprinkler system so stuff gets at least some water year-round. Replacing tiles is a pain. Better than re-piping, though.

 

[MTskibum]

Slab foundations are common in Houston, too. Not really a problem unless there's a drought. Our clay soil dries out unless it's watered. Not good.

We have gotten cracks in our tiles during the drought years, including a new one this year. No point in replacing the tile until the kids are old enough where they won't destroy a remodel though.

You really need a sprinkler system so stuff gets at least some water year-round. Replacing tiles is a pain. Better than re-piping, though.

We have a sprinkler system, but with 5 live oak trees, 2 holly trees, a crepe Myrtle, and a fruit tree I am not sure we can keep the ground moist during a drought.

We can keep the trees and grass alive though.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Slab foundations are common in Houston, too. Not really a problem unless there's a drought. Our clay soil dries out unless it's watered. Not good.

We have gotten cracks in our tiles during the drought years, including a new one this year. No point in replacing the tile until the kids are old enough where they won't destroy a remodel though.

You really need a sprinkler system so stuff gets at least some water year-round. Replacing tiles is a pain. Better than re-piping, though.

We have a sprinkler system, but with 5 live oak trees, 2 holly trees, a crepe Myrtle, and a fruit tree I am not sure we can keep the ground moist during a drought.

We can keep the trees and grass alive though.

If the trees are doing okay, the soil should be fine too.