Looking to potentially re-pipe an old house (over 100 years old) with galvanized steel pipes. Would like to re-pipe with PEX rather than copper since it's cheaper. Any recommendations on a reputable, honest, trustworthy, and insured independent plumber that can do this job? Not looking to go with one of the big plumbing companies in town because I know they'll overcharge. The plumbing currently works just fine: 52 psi and good water pressure, no leaks. Planning on doing some electrical work followed by some additional rehab so the walls will already be open and now seems like a good time to update the galvanized steel pipes as well. Should I do it? Or is this a case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it?". TIA.
Southern Plumbing. Talk to David. Do it. Don't even bother with anyone else. He replaced our old galvanized pipes with Pex and couldn't be more impressed with his honesty and quality work, especially with how they were very conscientious about minimizing drywall damage. Our pipes were old galvanized and the pressure was still good. The problem was that there are small pinhole leaks that develop and then reseal themselves due to the rust. You could easily have small leaks and never know. We debating on patching but when 2 or our neighbors both had busted water pipes ( same style and age of houses) i decided I'd rather be early to the party than late. I thought the water pressure was good before, but it was great after. Also, i didn't realize how rusty the old pipes could make the water.
Thanks for the rec. If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay and what's the size of your house?
I can't remember the cost now, but i think it was $6.5K, give or take $500. I had some quotes more and some quotes less. I think the cost is more about the amount of faucets/fixtures rather than house size. We only had to do about 1500 sqft because the addition done to the house in the early 2000s was piped with PVC and there was no need to replace that. Within that 1500 sqft, there was 1 kitchen (sink and dishwasher), 2 full bathrooms, 1 laundry room (with sink), and 2 outside bibbs. I have no skin in the game, but I can't say enough about how helpful David was. A year later I was going through a bathroom remodeling nightmare and needed a qualified plumber's opinion, I called him and remembered our house. He spent the time talking through the issues and sent over a guy free of charge in a couple hours. He helped us catch and fix the problem, which was huge because they contractor was about to put up the shower walls the next day.
Oh, one other thing. They do not do drywall repair, so you will have to call in a drywall person to come in and patch the holes (we only 5 holes to patch and they were fairly small. That's the only downside to them.
https://www.texasmasterplumberllc.com/ The owner is an old friend of mine -- i've recommended him on the board before and he will definitely treat you right. E: Posted without reading the other replies if David doesn't work out for some reason give TMP a call.
Getting this done right now on my house -- similar experience to poster above. Several holes in the wall (have to find the pipes) and you have to get a dry wall guy in after. Hit me up through the board if you want more info.
I used these guys for a complete repipe and other plumbing jobs. Their price was competitive with others I received a quote from and they seemed more knowledgeable and friendly. http://www.cleanteamplumbing.com/houston-pex-repiping/
Would you guys still recommend re-piping my galvanized steel pipes with PEX, even though I currently have no leaks and good water pressure? From everything I read, galvanized is more of a ticking time bomb situation.
I'm about to go through it now. My previous house (sold two years ago) had all galvanized and there were multiple times I had to get up in the attic to put a clamp on a leak and then repair the area where the leak happened. Sometimes it was minor, once it was the entire ceiling of my laundry room that caved in from the saturation (the paint used in there was like vinyl and didn't show any water stains at all, so the water just built up until it collapsed). My current house also has galvanized. No leaks so far in two years but I've learned my lesson and we are getting bids right now to have it all re-piped with pex. I've got the available funds and I'm not interested in wiggling around my attic to put on more clamps.
Good insight - thanks. I got a quote yesterday from David (mentioned earlier in this thread). $5,000 for a complete PEX re-pipe. 1400 sq foot, 2 bed, 2 bath (one of which is upstairs) with washer/dryer, dishwasher. What part of town are you in? Maybe we both contact the same plumber and work out a referral bulk discount?
I'm south east. Clear Lake area. My house is like 1960 sq ft, one story, 2 bath, kitchen, laundry room. We had one quote yesterday from Space City Plumbing that was a little higher than I was expecting ($8100 I believe). We have 4-5 more other contractors coming out based on recommendations I got off the Next Door website for my community (Alliance Plumbing, James Plumbing of Pasadena, Polar Bear Plumbing and All About Plumbing).
No, I wouldn't recommend doing it now if you have no problems. I just paid $9800 to re-pipe a 3,100 SF 2-story house, which included three (3) new Toto toilets ($) that they replaced and hauled off old ones. They finished yesterday. Our water pressure was bad throughout, we had little to no water coming from an upstairs bath tub, and hot water took a while to get to the upstairs. Previously when we had guest, they would stay in one room and go across the hall to the other room's bathroom to shower, so we needed to re-pipe. The price doesn't include the money I'll now spend patching the holes and painting. Aside from my guest's new found happiness, the new piping doesn't give daily joy like a remodeled kitchen would, for example. It's money you know you need to spend but don't actually get to see the value. So with all that said - I wouldn't spend the money on it unless you need to, and it sounds like you don't. Gives you more time to save money so the $5k won't be as big of a hit. EDIT: I found my plumber by a family friend who is a contractor and works with him. I found him to be very straight forward and honest; I would imagine he would tell you not to re-pipe as well, but I can give you his contact if you want a second quote.
I recently had some plumbers in just to do an inspection of my plumbing for the insurance company. We talked about my galvanized pipes. They told me up until mid 70's to 80's, the galvanized pipe in homes were american made (Murica!) and built to last. But after that, they came from China and would get a lot of pin hole leaks. He told me that pinholes are still possible, but not very likely. So a re-pipe isn't on the top of my list after that (I figured he'd try to sell me on it, but since he said it wasn't an issue, I figure he's actually telling the truth). So if you're house is pre-1970, it may not be a big deal to get it done right away. But if you're in an 80's home, maybe better to do it now. I know you said your home was 100+ or whatever, but putting that out there for anyone else.
