A Rhode Island house with one floor, two bathrooms, and about 1,800 square feet costs about $7,000 to $12,900 to repipe in PEX, the flexible plastic pipe, over a crawl space. That is higher than the US figure of $6,400 to $11,800, because Rhode Island plumbers earn about 13 % more than the national average. Nearly half of Rhode Island homes were built before 1960, when galvanized steel water pipe was common. If yours is one of them, it's worth checking what pipes it has. Call at no cost to reach a repipe company serving your area. It will give you a fixed price after it sees your house.
Why do Rhode Island prices run higher?
Rhode Island plumbers make $39.23 an hour, while the US figure is $34.70, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That works out to about 13 % more than the country as a whole. Labor is roughly 70 % of what you pay for a repipe, a national guide says, so that pay gap lands right in your final bill.
Run the same 2-bath PEX house at US average wages and you get about $6,400 to $11,800. In Rhode Island the number is closer to $7,000 to $12,900. For comparison, the same house runs about $7,100 to $13,100 in New York and about $7,000 to $13,000 in California.
The state's aging plumbing
Rhode Island has some of the oldest homes in the country. The typical one was built in 1962, the third oldest of any state or DC, Census Bureau figures show. Homes built before 1960 account for 47.2 % of Rhode Island housing, and galvanized steel water pipe was common in those years.
Homes going up between 1980 and 1999 make up another 18.7 %. That building period overlaps with the years polybutylene and Kitec were used. The age of your house is a clue, but you'll need to check the pipes to know. Homes built in 2000 or after make up just 11.5 %.
If you can see a section of pipe, the site's identifier can help you narrow down its type by color and feel. It recognizes eight types in all: copper, PEX, galvanized steel, CPVC, cast iron, Orangeburg, polybutylene, and Kitec.
Does repiping pay off?
One national guide says repiping is generally worth it once leaks, low pressure, or discolored water turn up in several places around the house. If you're seeing these problems in more than one room, that's the time to call. A local repipe company will come look at your house and give you one fixed price, and the call is free.
What a repipe costs in Rhode Island, by house and pipe
PEX is bendable plastic pipe for water, typically red on the hot side and blue on the cold. CPVC is hard plastic pipe in a cream or tan color. Copper is metal pipe joined together with solder. The numbers below come from the site's calculator for Rhode Island, so each is an estimate for the house described.
| House size | Pipe type | Beneath the floor | Roughly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,200 square feet, one bathroom, single-story | PEX | Crawl space | $4,500–$8,400 |
| 1,800 square feet, two bathrooms, single-story | PEX | Crawl space | $7,000–$12,900 |
| 1,800 square feet, two bathrooms, single-story | CPVC | Crawl space | $8,100–$14,000 |
| 1,800 square feet, two bathrooms, single-story | Copper | Crawl space | $10,300–$20,500 |
| 1,800 square feet, two bathrooms, single-story | PEX | Slab | $9,100–$17,800 |
| 2,400 square feet, three bathrooms, two-story | PEX | Crawl space | $8,900–$17,600 |
With a crawl space, the pipes sit in the open area beneath a floor that is raised off the ground. With a slab, the concrete floor rests right on the ground, and the pipes run below it or within it. Reaching pipes under or inside concrete takes more labor, so a slab house costs more, about $9,100 to $17,800 in our example. Bedrooms don't factor into the price, since crews price the job by bathrooms and overall size. A house with 3 bedrooms typically has 2 bathrooms.
For houses like these, the calculator estimates about 2 to 3 days for the one-story, two-bath PEX job and about 3 to 5 days for the two-story, three-bath job. Most people stay in the house while the work is done.
What a quote should cover
A national guide puts permits at $50 to $800 and finds that two quotes for identical jobs can land $2,000 to $5,000 apart. With quotes that far apart, you want one firm number you can trust. Call now to reach a repipe company that works near you. The call is free, and after the company sees your house, it gives you one fixed price. Ask that the price spell out the permit.
Checking a Rhode Island plumber's license
The Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training's Professional Regulation unit handles plumbing licenses in the state. Look up the plumber's license there before you sign.
Plumbing permits in Rhode Island, plus well pressure
A master plumber is the only person who can sign your repipe contract in Rhode Island. State law says that plumber puts the license number on the contract and the permit. Your city or town may require that permit and send its own inspector. A state code for houses is based on the 2021 International Residential Code. If you swap bad hidden pipe for new pipe, the code calls that new work, and it needs a permit.
Roughly 10.7 percent of Rhode Islanders get their water from a private well, meaning water from their own land. For those homes, the code wants at least 40 psi (pounds per square inch) of pressure leaving the well tank or pump.
How this is worked out
The calculator averages a price from the home's size with the typical price for the number of bathrooms, then adds the extra for copper or CPVC. It scales the labor share, about 70 % of the bill, by Rhode Island plumber pay against the US average, then tacks on the extra charge for a slab or a second story and rounds the total to the nearest hundred dollars.
