Repiping a home is a big decision, but it’s one that comes with a clear payoff. When the pipes inside your walls have reached the end of their useful life, the choice is no longer between repiping and not repiping. It becomes a matter of repiping now on your terms or dealing with a series of increasingly expensive failures that force the issue anyway. Our team has repiped homes throughout Goose Creek and the Tri-County area for more than 30 years. We work carefully, we minimize disruption to your home, and we leave you with a system that won’t need this kind of attention again for decades. Call us at (843) 572-8522 to schedule a free repiping consultation.
Not every plumbing problem calls for a full repipe. But certain conditions make it the right call, and pushing past them only delays the inevitable at a higher cost.
Pinhole leaks in copper pipe are a sign of corrosion that has progressed through the pipe wall. One pinhole is a localized fix. Two or three in the same general area, or across multiple locations in the home, means the pipe itself is failing and more leaks are coming.
Rust-colored water from hot fixtures usually comes from the inside of aging steel or galvanized pipe, not the supply. If the cold water runs clear but the hot water is brown or orange, the pipe carrying hot water is corroding from the inside.
Isolated low pressure at a single fixture usually points to a clogged aerator or a local valve issue. Whole-house low pressure that has gradually gotten worse over time often means the interior diameter of the pipes has narrowed from years of corrosion and scale buildup.
Galvanized steel pipes installed before the 1980s have a typical lifespan of 40 to 70 years. If the home has never been repiped and the pipes are original, they are likely at or past the point where proactive replacement makes more sense than waiting for failures.
Galvanized steel corrodes from the inside out and eventually closes off entirely. Polybutylene, which was installed widely from the late 1970s through the mid-1990s, has a well-documented history of failure and is no longer approved for use in new construction. If either material is in your home, replacement is the right move.
A water bill that has increased without a corresponding change in usage often means there's a leak somewhere in the system. When those leaks can't be isolated to a single location, the pipe network as a whole may be the problem.
Different pipe materials fail for different reasons, and knowing what you have in your home helps explain why problems keep coming up.
Galvanized steel pipe was the residential standard before copper took over. It’s coated in zinc to resist corrosion, but that coating breaks down over decades of use. Once it does, the steel underneath corrodes from the inside, which restricts flow, introduces rust into the water, and eventually leads to leaks. Homes with galvanized pipe that is more than 40 years old should have it assessed and, in most cases, replaced.
Polybutylene was marketed as a cost-effective alternative to copper during the period from roughly 1978 to 1995. It has since been found to degrade when exposed to chlorine and other oxidants present in municipal water supplies. The degradation happens slowly and from the inside out, which means the pipe can look fine on the outside while it’s becoming brittle internally. Polybutylene failure rates are high enough that most insurance companies flag homes with it still in place.
Modern copper pipe is durable and long-lasting under normal conditions. Older copper, particularly in homes where the water has a low pH or high mineral content, can develop pinhole leaks over time from a process called pitting corrosion. When pinhole leaks appear in multiple locations, it’s a sign that the copper throughout the home is at a similar stage of corrosion.
When it comes to choosing the replacement material, the two main options are PEX and copper. Both are good choices. The right one depends on your home, your preferences, and your budget.
is flexible, which means it can be run through walls and around corners with fewer fittings and joints than copper requires. Fewer joints mean fewer places where leaks can develop. PEX does not corrode, does not scale up from mineral deposits, and is less likely to burst from a freeze event than rigid pipe. It’s also less expensive than copper, both in material cost and in installation labor. Most repiping jobs today use PEX for these reasons.
has a longer track record and is preferred by some homeowners for that reason. It’s rigid, which makes it easier to inspect visually, and it has a lifespan measured in decades when water conditions are appropriate. The material cost is higher than PEX, and installation takes more time because of the additional fittings required. Both materials are code-approved and carry manufacturer warranties.
We offer both options and make a recommendation based on your home’s layout, your water quality, and what makes the most sense for the job.
Repiping a home involves more steps than most homeowners expect, and the order of those steps matters. Here’s how we approach the work.
We walk through the home, identify all the supply line runs, evaluate the condition of the existing pipe, and develop a plan that minimizes wall openings and disruption to finished surfaces.
We present a detailed written estimate, walk you through the material options, and answer any questions before work begins.
We lay down drop cloths, set up work areas, and prepare the wall access points we’ll need to open. We work to keep the mess contained and the rest of the home livable during the job.
New supply lines are run throughout the home, connected at the manifold or main supply point, and routed to each fixture location.
Every fixture in the home, including sinks, toilets, showers, tubs, dishwashers, and the washing machine, is connected to the new supply lines and tested individually.
Once all connections are made, we pressure test the full system to confirm there are no leaks before we close up any wall openings.
We patch the wall access points we opened, remove all materials from the work area, and leave the home in the same condition we found it.
A standard single-family home repipe in Goose Creek typically takes three to five days from start to finish. Larger homes, homes with more difficult access, or jobs that involve additional work like water heater relocation may take longer. Water service is turned off in stages as we work through sections of the home, not all at once for the full duration of the job. We coordinate the schedule with you so you know when water will be off and for approximately how long each day.
The cost of whole house repiping varies based on the size of the home, the material selected, the accessibility of the pipe runs, and how much patching is required after the pipes are replaced. Here are the general ranges for Goose Creek homeowners.
Financing is available for homeowners who need to spread the cost. Ask about options when you schedule your free consultation.
Every repipe we complete is backed by a warranty covering both materials and labor. Once the new system is in place, you’re not looking at a patchwork of aging pipes waiting to fail at different points. You have a new supply system with a known installation date, documented materials, and no deferred maintenance hanging over the property. That matters for your peace of mind now and for the home’s value when it comes time to sell.
We’re a family-owned plumbing company with more than 30 years of experience serving Goose Creek and the surrounding communities. Repiping is one of the most involved jobs a residential plumber takes on, and we approach it the same way on every job: assess carefully, plan for minimal disruption, and do the work right so it doesn’t need to be done again. Financing is available, and we walk you through every step of the process before we start.
The clearest indicators are recurring leaks in multiple locations, rust-colored water at hot fixtures, whole-house low pressure that has worsened over time, and the presence of galvanized or polybutylene pipe. A plumber can assess your system and tell you what condition the pipes are in and what the right course of action is.
Most homeowners stay in the home during repiping. Water service is shut off in sections as we work, not all at once for the full duration. We coordinate the schedule so you know when water will be unavailable and for how long each day.
PEX pipe carries an expected service life of 50 years or more under normal residential use. It’s resistant to corrosion, does not scale from mineral deposits, and performs well across a wide range of water quality conditions.
Standard homeowner’s insurance typically does not cover repiping as a preventive measure. If a pipe fails and causes water damage, the damage to the home’s contents and structure may be covered, but the pipe replacement itself usually is not. Some policies include limited coverage for sudden pipe failures. Reviewing your specific policy with your insurance agent is the most reliable way to know what applies to your situation.
We work to minimize wall openings as much as possible by planning the pipe routes carefully before we start. PEX is particularly helpful here because its flexibility allows it to be fished through walls and around bends that rigid copper cannot reach without additional fittings and access points. Some wall access is always required, and we patch those openings before we finish the job.
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