Repiping
Repiping is a decision about a system, not about a leak. What your pipes are, what the polybutylene dates mean, and why we publish no service life.
Free to homeowners — the contractor pays us for the introduction, you never do.
The summary
Repiping is a decision about a system rather than about one leak. Polybutylene, installed between about 1978 and 1995, was the subject of a class action settled in 1995 whose claims program has since ended. Galvanized steel fails from the inside, closing the bore.
Go straight to the one that sounds like yours:
- Identifying What Your Water Pipes Are Made OfCopper, galvanized steel, polybutylene, CPVC and PEX look different and behave differently.
- Polybutylene Plumbing: the Dates, the Case, and What Has ClosedInstalled between 1978 and 1995, covered by a class action settled in 1995, and administered for about fifteen years.
- Galvanized Steel Supply Pipe: What Goes Wrong Inside ItGalvanized pipe fails from the inside out, which is why the outside can look sound while the flow disappears.
- Why We Publish No Service Life for Any Pipe"Copper lasts 50 years" is everywhere and we will not print it.
- How PipeRenew WorksHow a repiping referral is funded, and why a site paid per call still refuses to print a service life for any pipe material.
- Where We Route, and the State Pages We Decided Not to BuildRouting runs on ZIP codes.
- You are never chargedContractors pay us when we route them a call. There is no cost to the homeowner, ever.
- Every figure names its sourceThe numbers on this site come from public data and the page says which, so you can check them.
- We say where we coverCalls are routed by ZIP code to independent contractors.See the coverage
- We say when not to callIf the fix is a few minutes of your own time, this site tells you that instead of selling you a visit.
Nobody sets out to repipe a house. They set out to fix a leak, and somewhere in the conversation the question quietly changes shape. This site is about that moment.
What this site is
PipeRenew is a referral service, not a contractor. We connect homeowners with independent contractors. Contractors are required to hold whatever credential their state or municipality demands, and replacing a water distribution system is a permitted alteration nearly everywhere — ask to see the permit. We carry out no work, we sell no materials, we do not set prices, and we never charge homeowners anything — the contractors in our network pay us when we route them a call. Nothing here is legal advice about any claim.Start by finding out what you have
Copper, galvanized steel, polybutylene, CPVC or PEX. You can usually tell in five minutes at the water heater and under a sink, and a photograph of the printing along a plastic pipe is the most useful thing you can have ready before calling anybody.
One material has exact dates on it
The Cox v. Shell Oil Company class notice covers polybutylene plumbing installed between 1 January 1978 and 31 July 1995, with judgment entered on 17 November 1995. The court-supervised claims program ran for about fifteen years and has ended.
That last part is the bit people are not told. The dates, the case, and why we will not tell you whether you have a claim.
Source: the court-approved class notice, Cox v. Shell Oil Company, administered by the Consumer Plumbing Recovery Center; Public Justice, on Cox v. Shell Oil Company.
And one material fails where nobody can see it
Galvanized steel corrodes inward. The pipe looks unchanged from outside while the bore closes up, which is why the complaint is faded flow rather than leaks, and why patching the length that finally failed often changes nothing.
What we will not print
A service life for any material. Every article about repiping has a table of how long each one lasts; none of those numbers survives contact with water chemistry, pressure and installation quality, and we could not find a body publishing one we were willing to stand behind.
That refusal has its own page, along with the price and the verdict on your house that we also decline to invent.
What happens here
We connect homeowners with independent contractors who cover their area, and the contractors pay us when we route them a call. You are never charged.
Every page on this site
Where we route calls
Tap your state for the towns and ZIP codes we route in, and the figures behind them.
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this site is public and attributed. You can go and check any of them.
- HousingUS Census BureauAmerican Community Survey 5-year estimates — the housing figures on every town page, and the table each one comes from is named on the page.
What happens when you call
No form, no quote tool, no waiting for an email.
- You tell us what the water is doingOne short conversation. If it turns out to be something you can fix in five minutes, we will say so.
- We route the callWe match your ZIP code to an independent contractor who already covers your area — not a call center three states away.
- They quote, you decideWe do not set prices and we never charge you. The contractor pays us for the introduction.
What to do first
Four things worth doing first. They cost nothing and they can keep a small problem small.
- Shut off the water closest to the problemUnder a sink or behind a toilet there is usually a small valve on the supply line. Turning it clockwise stops that fixture without shutting off the rest of the house.
- If you cannot find it, use the mainUsually where the supply enters the building — a basement wall, a crawl space, or a covered box near the street. Then open the lowest tap in the house, which drains the standing water out of the pipes instead of out of the leak.
- Water and electricity: stay out of the roomIf water has reached an outlet, a panel or an appliance, switch that circuit off at the breaker before going near it. If you cannot do that safely, do not go in, and say so when you call.
- Photograph it before anything is movedInsurers ask for it, and a contractor can tell more from a photograph of the leak than from a description of it.
And one case where the answer is not to call us. If the water is surfacing on the street side of your meter, that is the utility's line and not yours. Report it to your water utility — they do not charge a homeowner to repair their own main.
Photograph the printing on the pipe before you call.It names the material and often the year, and it is the single most useful thing you can have ready. We route to contractors who do this work in your area, picked on the ZIP code you give, and you are never charged. Repiping is just what we write about — any plumbing work at all can be routed.
Call (888) 834-6040
