A typical Maine repipe (1,800 sq ft, 2 baths, one floor, PEX over a crawl space) lands somewhere around $6,100 to $11,200. Prices run a bit lower than the national average, mainly because plumbers in Maine are paid less per hour. And since plenty of Maine houses date back decades, many still carry pipe types that tend to wear out.
Why don't Maine prices match the rest of the country?
Roughly 70 % of a repipe bill goes to labor, so what local plumbers charge matters far more than the pipe itself. In Maine they earn $32.00 an hour, roughly 8 % under the $34.70 national average. That places the state 22nd of 51, counting the 50 states plus DC, ordered from lowest to highest. About 2,710 plumbers are working in Maine.
At average US labor, that same house would come to about $6,400 to $11,800, slightly above the Maine figure. In Washington, where the hourly wage is $42.69, that same work costs roughly $7,400 to $13,700.
Old pipes you'll often find in Maine homes
Half of Maine homes were built before 1977, the 18th oldest median of 51, per the Census Bureau. The year your house went up tells you a lot about what kind of pipe is inside it.
- Galvanized steel: 33.4 % of Maine homes went up before 1960, when galvanized steel water pipe was standard.
- Polybutylene and Kitec: 24.1 % went up between 1980 and 1999. That window overlaps the polybutylene era, 1978 to 1995, and the early Kitec years, 1995 to 2007.
- Newer pipe: 22.1 % date from 2000 or later.
The pipe identifier on this site can name yours by color and feel. It knows eight kinds of pipe, from polybutylene and Kitec to galvanized steel, copper, PEX, CPVC, cast iron, and Orangeburg.
What a repipe costs by house size in Maine
The numbers below come from the site's calculator for Maine, all with PEX over a crawl space. PEX is bendy plastic water pipe, usually red for hot lines and blue for cold ones. A crawl space is that low open area beneath a floor raised off the ground.
| House | Baths | Stories | Maine price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,200 sq ft | 1 bath | 1 story | roughly $3,900–$7,300 |
| 1,800 sq ft | 2 baths | 1 story | roughly $6,100–$11,200 |
| 2,400 sq ft | 3 baths | 2 stories | roughly $7,700–$15,200 |
The number of bedrooms plays no part in the price, since repipes are priced by bathrooms and square footage. Two bathrooms is what you usually find in a 3-bedroom house. The company you're connected to looks at your home first, then quotes a single set price.
Picking your pipe: PEX, copper, or CPVC
On the same Maine house (1,800 sq ft with 2 baths) the pipe material moves the total. CPVC is rigid plastic pipe in a cream or tan shade. Copper is metal pipe sealed with solder.
| Pipe | Maine price |
|---|---|
| PEX | roughly $6,100–$11,200 |
| CPVC | roughly $7,000–$12,100 |
| Copper | roughly $8,900–$17,800 |
What about slab foundations and extras?
A slab is a concrete floor laid right on the ground, with the pipes beneath or within it. Put that same Maine house on a slab and it runs about $7,900 to $15,400 rather than $6,100 to $11,200. Permits run $50 to $800. Quotes for the exact same job can be $2,000 to $5,000 apart, so a visit and a fixed price protect your wallet.
Is a repipe worth it?
A repipe usually pays off when low pressure, discolored water, or leaks show up in more than one spot. A single leak may just need a repair. Trouble in several rooms usually points to the whole system. Call now so a crew can inspect your pipes before leak number two.
Living at home while the crew works
Most families stay put through the whole job. By the calculator's reckoning, a 2-bath, single-story PEX job takes roughly 2 to 3 days, while a bigger 2-story home with 3 baths needs about 3 to 5 days.
How to check a plumber's license in Maine
Plumbing licenses in the state come from the Maine Plumbers' Examining Board. Check your plumber there before signing anything, so you know the person touching your water lines holds a valid license.
Plumbing code, permits and wells in Maine
Close to half the people in Maine, 49.7 percent, drink water from a private well and not from a city supply. The national rate is about 15 percent, so that's more than three times higher. Across Maine, the state plumbing board treats the 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code as its standard.
A permit is required to install plumbing in a building. Each town appoints a local plumbing inspector to check the permitted work. If you live in a single-family home, state law lets you do your own plumbing without a license. The work still has to meet board rules.
How you get your fixed price
One call connects you with a repipe company serving your corner of Maine, and the site never takes a fee for that.
How the numbers come together
The calculator begins with a price based on how big the home is, using the installed cost per square foot. It then blends that with the typical price for the home's bathroom count. Next it tacks on the extra charge when copper or CPVC is chosen. The labor piece, roughly 70 % of the bill, gets scaled by Maine's plumber wage against the US average. Finally it folds in extras for slabs and second floors, then rounds to the nearest $100. Each state gets its numbers using that state's plumber wage, per Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
