Repipe Whole Home - Any Plumbing Experiences to Share?

jlim87 on 20/02/2021 - 21:58

Hi,

Has anyone repipe their home before? I need to repipe this home cause there's visible water burst that's coming out of the driveway concrete, and a plumber actually tried to fix it before. Paid $3k and he tried and said that it's likely it won't hold for long cause the pipes are old galvanized steel which corrode easily.

Sure enough, it's now burst again. The home was build in the 1980s, and I'm just wondering how much drilling and hacking they'll be doing. Is it common to just be outside of the home or would it be outside and in the house too?

I'm calling a few plumbers on Monday but was hoping to get some insights and just a comparison of cost you paid. I assume this may cost up to the range of $15k. I've accepted the cost in a way and don't necessarily need a cheap solution, just wanna make sure it works and will be fixed. Any thoughts and advice?

Home & Garden

Comments

  • Logical on 20/02/2021 - 23:07
    +3

    is it the main water line coming in to feed the house that needs replacing? Pretty cheap exercise if so, just leave the pipe there, seal it up at house connection point and lay a new poly water pipe pipe from the water meter into the first hose cock at the front of the house or to where ever you sealed the old pipe.

    • jlim87 on 20/02/2021 - 23:37

      Thanks for the insights. I'll see if the plumber suggests that. My meter is at my neighbours front yard (long story), and this burst is at the front of the house on the driveway. Either this is where it comes in, or is specifically just to a water hose tap.

      I'm just worried based on what the previous plumber said. He said he fixed it but because their all galvanized copper or whatever, it all needs to be replaced anyways. So I am afraid of making bandaid fixed if issues keep coming up.

      This last fix didn't last 2 months :(

      • spal on 21/02/2021 - 09:40

        Hi
        We had the same issue in our house build in late 1960s. Applied the same fix suggested by logical. Rest of the house generally had copper or poly because of the multiple renovations. No issues at all. It stood the test of time for about 15 years, until we demolished it. Avoid needing to digging under the driveway. It was single storey on stumps.

        • jlim87 on 21/02/2021 - 16:37

          Thanks for the insights. I hope that's the case so It's an easy fix. I see you're from Melbourne, any chance u got recommendations for the plumber who did yours, and any idea what price range you paid so I know what to look out for?

          • spal on 21/02/2021 - 17:52

            @jlim87: My guy has retired. My job was easy about 10 meters needed to be replaced. If I remember correctly paid about $700. Large part of this was because of the trench digging, plus I put in a pressure reduction valve. I will send a pm to you later.

      • Stewardo on 22/02/2021 - 14:20

        Galvanised copper?

  • Presence on 20/02/2021 - 23:09

    It's going to vary considerably on the size and makeup of your house. Single storey house on stumps is gonna be a lot easier than a two story house on a concrete slab.

    • jlim87 on 20/02/2021 - 23:33

      Sorry, should have noted this. It's approx 350sqm house. Single story house, build in the 1980s. I could be wrong, but I assume it's build on wooden stumps. There's a crawl space in the backyard to under the house. Never been under there so Im making an assumption.

      The pipe burst is at the front of the house, which I assume is where the main water coming in from.

      • Muzeeb on 20/02/2021 - 23:36
        +1

        You're not sure if your house is on a slab or stumps?

        And if it is stumps you're not sure if they're wood or concrete?

        • jlim87 on 20/02/2021 - 23:39

          Yes I know nothing about houses. Theres concrete at the front of the house and house is brick veneer, and a tiny crawl space at the back of the house.

          • Muzeeb on 20/02/2021 - 23:41
            -4

            @jlim87: TIL that some people don't know if their house is on a slab or stumps.

          • p1 ama on 21/02/2021 - 01:33
            +3

            @jlim87: Jump up and down, do you feel resonant vibration or is it just dead?

            If it's just dead, you're on concrete (which is bad because it's hard to service anything). If there's vibration going through the house, then you're on stumps.

            • jlim87 on 21/02/2021 - 16:33
              +1

              @p1 ama: Yup, definitely on stumps. Thanks for being helpful.

  • BigBirdy on 21/02/2021 - 09:02
    +2

    Galv pipe rusts on the inside, slowly blocking the flow, tinting/browning your water, staining toilet, etc. It’s particularly noticeable if you go away for a few weeks, so no flow in the pipes, then on your return your water runs brown for a bit. If you have galv pipes through your house, consider replacing it all as part of fixing your connection to the meter/street. It is a big investment, but a half fix will always be an irritant and eventually you’ll be forced to fix it anyway.If pipe is galv it will be thick (~40-60mm) and silvery, copper is thinner (~20mm) and copper colour, or plasticy PVC.

  • bigticket on 21/02/2021 - 10:20
    +2

    All I can say is that you were ripped hard by your previous plumber. 3k to spot repair a gal pipe is ridiculous.
    As far as I know, most houses built in the 80's (as well as the 70's) were fitted with copper, so most likely the gal pipe is a remnant of the previous dwelling. Check the pipes at your water heater and the backyard garden hose. If they are copper, there is a mixture of copper/gal and the cost to upgrade cost will be lower.

  • Jugganautx on 21/02/2021 - 13:54

    You paid 3k on a bandaid for a plumber to say it might hold?

    shouldn't have paid anything without guarantees.

    • jlim87 on 21/02/2021 - 16:35

      i agreed to the quote before they came in to put gas into the pipes to locate the leak. once they did, they had to drill in, and then fix it. And when they tried to, he said it was gal pipe and he did what he could but because they were all so old and badly conditioned, there's likely to be another burst and the fix may not hold up well due to the age of the pipes. Probably got ripped hard. If anyone got any good recommendations for south east melbourne that would be great

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