Repiping in Los Angeles

How much does it cost to repipe a house in Los Angeles?

A whole-house repipe in PEX runs $4,500 to $14,000 in the Los Angeles market. Copper runs $8,000 to $20,000 and up. Every quote for repiping in Los Angeles comes down to three things: how many bathrooms you have, how hard your walls are to open, and which material you pick. Once we walk the house, the range collapses to one written number. That number is free, and it does not move.

Typical repiping ranges for the Los Angeles market

These are typical Los Angeles ranges for orientation, not a quote. Every job is priced by its own conditions, so your exact number comes from a free on-site look. Get a free estimate in minutes, or call (818) 421-5290.

PEX or copper: which is right for a California home?

For most homes, we recommend PEX. It costs less, installs faster, and flexes instead of cracking when the ground moves. That flexibility matters in earthquake country. Copper still earns its place, though. It lasts decades, it shrugs off UV and rodents, and some buyers simply expect it. Both materials are approved for repiping across Los Angeles, so the choice is yours.

PEX vs copper at a glance

These are typical Los Angeles ranges for orientation, not a quote. Every job is priced by its own conditions, so your exact number comes from a free on-site look. Get a free estimate in minutes, or call (818) 421-5290.

Either way, every repipe we run uses home-run lines to a central manifold where it makes sense. So each fixture group gets its own shut-off. Because of that, a future faucet repair never kills water to the whole house again.

Do my galvanized pipes need replacing?

If your home went up before 1960 and still has its original galvanized steel supply lines, then yes, they are on borrowed time. Galvanized pipe rusts from the inside out. The zinc coating fails after 40 to 60 years, and most of these pipes passed that mark long ago. Homes in Van Nuys, North Hollywood, and Burbank from that era are our most common repiping jobs in Los Angeles.

• Water pressure drops when two fixtures run at once
• Brown or rusty water after a vacation or a shutdown
• Visible corrosion or white crust at joints and angle stops
• Pinhole leaks that keep appearing in different spots
• Hot water arrives slower and weaker than cold

One more reason not to wait: insurers increasingly ask about original galvanized plumbing. Also, a failed pipe floods first and asks questions later. If a line has already burst, our 24/7 emergency plumbers can stabilize things tonight and plan the repipe tomorrow.

How long does repiping a Los Angeles house take?

Plan for 2 to 5 days of work for a typical single-family home. A one-bath house often finishes in 2 days. A two-story, three-bath home runs closer to 5. Most importantly, you keep living at home: we restore water every evening, and the final inspection follows within days.

1. Walkthrough and written priceabout 1 hour

   We map every fixture, check access, and hand you the exact number. Free, no pressure.

2. Protect and openday 1 morning

   Floors and furniture get covered. Then we make small, planned openings instead of tearing out whole walls.

3. Run the new linesdays 1-3

   New PEX or copper goes in through the attic and crawl space, fixture by fixture. Water returns each evening.

4. Pressure test and inspectionday 3-5

   We test the whole system, then meet the LADBS inspector so you do not have to.

5. Patching1-2 days after

   Openings get patched to an agreed finish. Paint-ready smoothing is quoted up front if you want it.

Does the price include drywall repair?

Our repipe quotes include rough patching of every opening we make: backing, drywall, tape, and mud. In short, walls come back closed and paint-ready smoothing is listed as its own line if you want it. Some companies leave patching out entirely to look cheaper on paper. Ask any bidder that question before you compare numbers.

We also plan openings to be small and few. Because we route through the attic and crawl space first, a typical repipe needs modest access cuts at fixtures and manifolds, not open trenches through your hallway.

What about slab leaks in Valley homes?

Thousands of San Fernando Valley homes sit on concrete slabs with original copper lines running underneath. When one of those lines pinholes, you get a slab leak: warm spots on the floor, a hissing sound, or a water bill that jumps for no reason. We reroute the failed line overhead for $1,500 to $4,000 instead of jackhammering the slab.

However, a second or third slab leak is the house telling you something. At that point, a full repipe usually beats another spot fix on cost per year. We will show you both numbers and let you decide. The buried water line from your meter is a separate job too, since a repipe replaces the pipes inside the house, not the service line outside. Meanwhile, note that your sewer line is a separate system; if drains are the problem, start with a sewer camera inspection instead.

Do I need a permit to repipe in Los Angeles?

Yes. A whole-house repipe needs a plumbing permit and a final inspection. In the City of LA that goes through LADBS, while Burbank and Glendale run their own building departments. We pull the permit, schedule the inspection, and meet the inspector. The permit typically adds $150 to $500 depending on the city.

A permit protects you twice. First, an independent inspector verifies the work. Second, when you sell, escrow goes smoother because the upgrade is on record. Unpermitted plumbing is a classic deal-killer in LA real estate.

What does a full repipe actually replace?

Everything on the pressure side of your meter. That means every hot and cold supply line in the walls, ceiling, and crawl space, plus the small parts that fail most often. In most cases the quote also covers new angle stops under every fixture, new supply risers, new hose bibs, and fresh laundry valves. Old shut-offs that no longer close get retired with the pipe they served.

• All hot and cold supply lines, attic to crawl space
• New angle stops and flexible risers at every fixture
• New hose bibs outside and washer valves in the laundry
• A new pressure regulator when street pressure runs high
• Insulation on hot lines where code asks for it

Two things stay out of scope by design. Drains and the sewer lateral are a separate system, and gas lines are their own trade with their own permit. We will tell you plainly if either needs attention while we are under the house, because we are already looking.

Why do LA homes need repiping sooner than elsewhere?

Three local pressures shorten pipe life here. First, our water is hard, and decades of mineral scale narrow old galvanized lines from the inside. Second, the ground moves, and every small quake stresses rigid joints a little more. Third, the housing stock is old: whole Valley neighborhoods went up between 1948 and 1965 with the same steel pipe that is now failing street by street.

That is why repiping in Los Angeles is rarely a luxury remodel item. It is scheduled maintenance arriving 60 years late. The good news: prices for PEX work have stayed reasonable, and a repipe done once is done for the rest of the time you own the house.

How do I prepare for repipe day?

Not much, honestly. We handle protection and access, but a little prep the night before keeps the crew fast and your costs down. Fill a few jugs of drinking water for the daytime shutoffs, and plan showers for the evening once pressure is back.

• Clear the cabinets under sinks so the crew can reach angle stops
• Move fragile items off shelves on walls we flagged for openings
• Keep pets in a closed room or out of the house during work hours
• Leave a parking spot free for the truck and the pipe rack
• Point us to the attic hatch and crawl space entry before day one

During the job you will have water every evening. And if anything feels off at night, the emergency line answers 24/7 either way.

Which parts of the Valley call for repipes most?

The postwar tracts. Van Nuys, Panorama City, and North Hollywood filled with steel-piped homes in the early 1950s, and those systems are now 70 years old. Sherman Oaks and Studio City add the slab-leak pattern, because so many hillside-adjacent homes there sit on concrete slabs with copper underneath. Farther west, Woodland Hills and Northridge ranch homes mix both problems under one roof.

We schedule repiping in Los Angeles neighborhoods like these every week, so the crew knows the housing stock before the truck arrives. That familiarity shortens day one. It also means the quote you get reflects how these specific homes are built, not a national average. Glendale and Burbank owners: your cities issue their own permits, and we handle those counters too.

Why rewire while the walls are open?

A+ Electric & Plumbing, a licensed electrician and plumber serving Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley, runs both trades on one crew. That changes the math on a repipe. The same pre-1960 house that still has galvanized pipe usually still has original wiring too. Opening walls twice, in two projects, with two contractors, costs real money.

So we quote it as one job when it helps you: repiping now, rewiring through the same openings, one schedule, one invoice, one patching pass. The same logic applies to a water heater swap that needs a new circuit. One call covers it: (818) 421-5290.

Frequently asked questions