Repiping

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.

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.

Source: Public Justice, on Cox v. Shell Oil Company.

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.

Where to look and what each one looks like.

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 is happening inside it.

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.

How that works in full, and where we route.

Every page on this site

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