House Repiping Cost Calculator
Priced by fixtures, not floor area — and with the drywall the plumbing quote usually leaves out.
Repipe cost
$10,065.00
- Plumbing — 12 fixtures at $550.00
- $6,600.00
- Patching, permit and reconnection
- $2,550.00
- Contingency (10%)
- $915.00
- All-in per fixture
- $838.75
Ask explicitly whether the plumbing quote ends at open walls, at patched drywall, or at finished paint. The three are thousands of dollars apart.
Patching the walls yourself? Work out the sheets and compound →
How this is calculated
plumbing = fixtures × rate for the material
extras = drywall patching + paint + permit
+ water heater + slab reroute
total = (plumbing + extras) × (1 + contingency%)Fixture count is the input because a repipe is priced by runs and connections rather than by floor area. Two 1,800 square foot houses can differ by half again in cost if one has a single bathroom and the other has three plus a laundry, a wet bar and two outside taps — and square footage would report them as identical.
Drywall patching defaults to on because leaving it off is how a repipe quote comes in cheap. The plumbing has to open walls and ceilings at every branch, and plumbers commonly quote to open walls, to patched drywall, or to finished paint — three different jobs separated by thousands of dollars. Establishing which one a bid describes matters more than the rate per fixture.
Cost by material and house size
| Material | Rate | 8 fixtures | 12 fixtures | 18 fixtures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PEX | $550.00/fixture | $7,645.00 | $10,065.00 | $13,695.00 |
| CPVC | $600.00/fixture | $8,085.00 | $10,725.00 | $14,685.00 |
| Copper | $950.00/fixture | $11,165.00 | $15,345.00 | $21,615.00 |
Figures include $1,800 of drywall patching, a permit, water heater reconnection and a 10% contingency. Note that the gap between PEX and copper widens with fixture count, because the fixed items are the same in every row — on a small house the material choice is a couple of thousand dollars, and on a large one it is closer to seven.
Counting fixtures
| Room or area | Typically counts as |
|---|---|
| Full bathroom | 3 — sink, toilet, tub or shower |
| Half bathroom | 2 — sink and toilet |
| Kitchen | 2 — sink and dishwasher |
| Laundry | 1 — washing machine connection |
| Water heater | 1 |
| Outside tap | 1 each |
| Wet bar, utility sink, ice maker | 1 each |
A typical three-bedroom, two-bathroom house with a kitchen, laundry, water heater and two outside taps counts around twelve, which is the default above. Count yours before reading a quote: a contractor working from a walk-through and one working from a plan can arrive at different numbers, and the count is what the price rests on.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to repipe a house?
Most whole-house repipes land between $5,000 and $15,000, driven mainly by fixture count and material. PEX is the cheapest and fastest; copper commonly runs sixty to eighty percent more for the same house. A single-story home on a crawl space is at the low end, and a two-story house on a slab with finished ceilings is at the high end.
Why is the count of fixtures the input rather than square footage?
Because a repipe is priced by the runs and connections, not by floor area. Two houses of identical size, one with a single bathroom and one with three plus a laundry and a wet bar, are completely different jobs. Counting fixtures — every sink, tub, shower, toilet, dishwasher, washing machine and outside tap — tracks the work far better than square feet.
PEX or copper?
PEX installs faster, costs less, flexes through framing with fewer joints, and tolerates freezing better. Copper lasts longer in most conditions, is unaffected by UV and rodents, and some buyers still prefer to see it. For a repipe driven by failing galvanised or polybutylene pipe, PEX is the usual choice on cost alone, and the extra spent on copper is generally about longevity and resale rather than performance.
Does the quote include repairing the walls?
Frequently not, and it is the most common surprise on this job. Repiping means opening walls and ceilings at every branch, and plumbers often quote to a patched-drywall standard, or to no patching at all, leaving texture, priming and paint to you. Ask explicitly where the plumbing quote stops, because the finish work can add thousands.
How long does repiping take, and can we live there?
Typically two to five days for a house, with water shut off during working hours and usually restored each evening. Most families stay, though it is dusty and disruptive. Slab houses where the new lines are rerouted through the attic and down inside walls take longer, and the drywall repair that follows adds several more days on top of the plumbing itself.
Do I need to repipe, or just repair?
Repeated pinhole leaks in copper, any polybutylene, or galvanised steel that has closed up with corrosion are the usual reasons to repipe rather than keep patching. A single leak at a fitting is a repair. Once you are fixing leaks more than once a year, or water pressure has fallen across the whole house, spot repairs stop being economical.
Results are planning estimates built from typical price ranges, not quotes. Rates vary by region and by access, slab houses and multi-story homes cost more, and local code decides which materials are permitted. Repiping is permitted and inspected work in most jurisdictions and belongs to a licensed plumber.