Friends of ours are in a townhouse with polybutylene plumbing. Which was the subject of a class-action lawsuit some years back; unfortunately they didn’t know of that at the time so lost out on any settlement opportunities.
They’ve just had yet ANOTHER leak as a result of it (at least their third). I suggested they look into having the whole place replumbed - it might cost a lot up front but they’ve sustained so much damage over the years that I think it’d be cheaper in the long run.
So - any ballpark figures for what people have paid would be gratefully received. We’re in a major metropolitan area, so it’ll be pricier than for someone living in a low-cost part of the country I know.
It really depends on the size of the house and how centralized all the plumbing is. Also, is the house drywall or plaster? Drywall is going to be much easier and cheaper. Also going to be easier if the house has a basement.
My sister and I re-plumbed a house using PEX supply lines, and I’d say the total was around $600 or so (it’s been a while, I could be off on that figure) and it wasn’t a hard DIY job, but we had all the walls open anyway. Our neighbor did the same thing on his renovation, but paid $5000 to have pros do it.
Thanks! They’re in a townhouse with a walkout basement, and they do have drywall vs. plaster.
And I’m looking for wide WAGs - e.g. “oh, probably 2 to 4 grand” or “hmmm, probably 50 grand”. I suspect they’d have a pro do the majority of the work, maybe some drywall finishing themselves. Sounds like the 5,000 would suggest the lower range, which is a relief.
Last time I replumbed a townhouse, it cost roughly $1000 in supplies, plus the $20/hour I charged for my labor. (Don’t remember how long it took, but it was less than a day.) Most of it was pvc piping. Oh, that’s not including things like faucets, this was strictly pipes and such.
About 10 years ago I was doing a kitchen remodel and the plumber pointed out that with the walls and floor opened he had easy access to just about every pipe in the house. Because the pipes were galvanized steel and over 50 years old, he suggested we replace everything with copper. As I recall, it cost about $1500 and took two plumbers about a day and half of work. The house was small, two bedroom, one bath about 980 sq. ft.
I just replaced plumbing before I sold a house this past March. It cost about $2000 for materials and labor from a licensed plumber.
For comparison sake, the house was 1200 sf, single story, built in 1942, plaster walls (expanded metal mesh lathe – talk about a nightmare to work with!), but with a full unfinished basement (which made the plumbing very accessible). All the supply lines were replaced with copper (existing pipe appeared to be galvanized). All the drain lines were replaced with plastic (existing pipe was severely corroded cast iron).
The house only had one kitchen, one bathroom, a sump pump (which had to be redirected from the sewer to the storm drain, a clothes washer in the basement, and two hose bibs on the outside of the foundation.