What does a whole-home repipe really cost?
Real San Antonio numbers: $6,500–$15,000, and the handful of factors — material, access, drywall, permits — that decide where you land.
It's the question we get on every repipe estimate, so here are real numbers. In San Antonio, most whole-home repipes land between $6,500 and $15,000, and the spread comes down to a handful of knowable factors — not mystery.
What moves the number
- Size and fixture count. A 2-bath, 1,600 sq ft ranch is a different job than a 4-bath two-story. Plumbers price by fixture runs, not just square footage.
- Material. PEX is the standard for repipes — flexible, quiet, freeze-tolerant, and it snakes through walls with far fewer cuts. Copper runs 30–60% more in materials and labor; we install it when owners want it, but PEX is what we'd put in our own homes.
- Access. Pier-and-beam homes with a crawlspace repipe faster and cheaper than slab homes, where lines route through the attic and down walls.
- Drywall. A repipe means access holes — dozens of them. The quote should say plainly whether patching and texture are included. Ours does; many don't, and that's a $1,500–$3,000 surprise.
- Permits and inspection. A legitimate repipe is permitted and city-inspected. If a bid skips the permit, that's the discount explained.
The cheapest bid usually excludes drywall, permits, or both. Compare scopes, not bottom lines.
What a repipe actually buys
Most of the repipes we do replace 1960s–80s galvanized steel (rusting shut from the inside) or gray polybutylene (a known-failure material insurers dislike). After a repipe: full pressure at every fixture, clear water, no more pinhole-leak roulette, and — often overlooked — a homeowner's insurance conversation that gets easier instead of harder.
How long it takes
Two to four days for most homes: one to two days of pipe work with water back on each evening, then patching. You stay in the house the whole time.
Getting a real number
Any repipe quote worth signing follows a walkthrough with a fixture count, includes materials, drywall, and permit in writing, and carries a long warranty — ours is 5 years on the whole system. A phone estimate is a starting range; the written number is the one that matters.
