Most people pay about $7,500 to replace all the water pipes in their house, according to the home-repair site Angi. A repipe replaces all the water pipes in the house at once. Your price depends on how big the house is, how many bathrooms and floors it has, what it sits on, and which pipe you choose. Small homes cost the least and large two-story homes the most.
Repipe prices by home size
Each bathroom adds sinks, a toilet and a shower to connect, and more pipe to run, so bathrooms count for more than bedrooms. A house with 3 bedrooms usually has 2 bathrooms. The table is for one-story homes with PEX, a bendable plastic water pipe. Each home has a crawl space, the low open space under a raised floor. Sizes are in square feet (sq ft).
| Home | About |
|---|---|
| 1,200 sq ft with 1 bathroom | $4,100–$7,700 |
| 1,500 sq ft with 2 bathrooms | $5,900–$10,800 |
| 1,800 sq ft with 2 bathrooms | $6,400–$11,800 |
| 2,400 sq ft with 3 bathrooms | $7,500–$14,400 |
| 3,200 sq ft with 4+ bathrooms | $10,600–$21,200 |
Other cost guides give very similar prices.
Repipe prices by pipe material
PEX is the cheapest of the three common pipes. It bends, and it is usually red for hot water and blue for cold. CPVC, a stiff cream or tan plastic pipe, costs a little more, and copper, a metal pipe, costs the most, according to the plumbing company Fuse Service.
For the same typical house, here is the price with each kind of pipe:
| Pipe | About |
|---|---|
| PEX | $6,400–$11,800 |
| CPVC | $7,400–$12,800 |
| Copper | $9,400–$18,800 |
Repipe prices by state
Most of what you pay is for the plumbers' time, so prices are higher where plumbers earn more. Here is that 1,800 sq ft home with PEX in six states.
| State | About |
|---|---|
| Florida | $5,400–$9,900 |
| Texas | $5,700–$10,500 |
| Arizona | $6,100–$11,300 |
| California | $7,000–$13,000 |
| New York | $7,100–$13,100 |
| Washington | $7,400–$13,700 |
Two companies can quote very different prices for the same job, sometimes $2,000 to $5,000 apart, so it is worth asking more than one for a written price (a quote).
Ask what each price includes, because these often cost extra:
- Patching the small holes the plumbers open in the walls: $300 to $1,500.
- The permit, the city's permission for the work, which nearly every repipe needs: $50 to $800.
- A new water main, the pipe that brings water in from the street: $600 to $2,500.
- A new water heater, if you need one: $850 to $1,750.
Cost per square foot
Some cost guides, such as Geek Powered Studios, price PEX by the size of the home: about $3.50 to $7 for each square foot of floor. This site's estimates count the bathrooms too, because each bathroom needs its own pipes, whatever the size of the house.
What does a 2 story repipe cost?
Two floors take extra pipe and extra hours. For the 1,800 sq ft home with PEX, a second floor raises the price to about $7,000 to $13,200.
What's under the house matters too. A crawl space is that shallow area between the ground and a raised floor. A slab is a concrete floor poured straight onto the ground, and the pipes run below it or through it. That makes them harder to reach, so the same 1,800 sq ft home costs about $8,300 to $16,300 on a slab.
Financing a repipe
Home insurance usually won't pay for the repipe itself. Some repipe companies let you spread the bill over 24 months with no interest added. These prices are estimates for the house described. If you call our line, we'll connect you with a repipe company in your area, at no charge to you. They'll look at your house and then give you a fixed price.
Common questions
Does repiping a house pay off?
Fixing one leak under a concrete floor (a slab leak) costs $2,000 to $4,000, so the bills add up fast when leaks keep coming. Replacing just a section of pipe costs less up front, but the old pipe left in place can keep leaking.
Will insurance cover a repipe?
Insurance may pay for water damage when a pipe suddenly bursts, but not for the new pipes, according to Repipe Solutions. Some insurance companies charge less for home insurance after a repipe, because new pipes are less likely to leak.
PEX or copper: which is the better choice?
For most homes PEX is the better value: copper usually adds $3,000 to $7,000 to the price. Copper also takes longer to put in: about 3 to 5 days for the 1,800 sq ft home, compared with 2 to 3 days for PEX.
How many days does a whole-house repipe take?
Plan on about 2 to 3 days of PEX work for a home of about 1,800 sq ft. With a second floor and 3 bathrooms, it's closer to 3 to 5 days. The largest houses, with 4 or more bathrooms, can take 4 to 6 days.