Fullbore Dallas Repiping

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Fullbore Dallas Repiping: Repiping in Dallas, TX

Pinholes that keep coming back, brown water after a weekend away, a warm spot on the tile where a line is leaking under the slab. Repiping Dallas homes fixes the cause instead of the next leak: we plan new water lines overhead through the attic, get the permit and inspections done, and give you a written estimate before a single wall is opened.

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New red and blue attic PEX run in a Dallas ranch house, strapped to the ceiling joists and dropping toward a hallway bathroom wall

New supply lines run overhead in the attic, so the slab below stays closed.

Section through a slab-on-grade houseNew hot and cold supply lines drop from the attic through interior walls to the kitchen, bath and laundry. The old supply line stays in the slab, out of service. The water meter and service line sit outside the house.KitchenBathLaundrynew drops come downinterior wallsold line in the slab, out of service

New lines go overhead

New PEX or copper runs through the attic, supported, shaded and insulated, then drops down interior walls.

Your slab stays closed

We cap the old lines under the floor and leave the concrete alone instead of chasing the next leak.

Walls opened only where drops land

Small, clean openings behind toilets, at shower valves and under sinks, each one listed before work starts.

Inspected before we close the wall

The City inspects the new pipe at rough-in, under the DallasNow permit, before any opening is patched.

What's in your walls, and what we replace it with

The pipe already in your house usually explains why it is failing and how far the fix has to reach. Here is what we do for each material, starting with the whole house.

Where each supply pipe material usually sits in a Dallas houseCutaway of a one-story slab house: PEX runs through the attic, copper and CPVC stubs at the water heater, polybutylene with crimp rings above a ceiling, galvanized steel in an older pier-and-beam crawlspace, and a whole-house boundary bracket from the main shutoff to every fixture.PEX run, supported and insulated in the atticcopper and CPVC at thewater heaterpolybutylene with crimp ringswhole house: main shutoffto every fixtureslab on gradegalvanized in an older crawlspace
Opened hallway wall in a Dallas slab-on-grade house showing new PEX hot and cold drops feeding a bathroom group

Whole-house repiping

When the leaks keep coming from different rooms, we replace every hot- and cold-water line in the house, from the main shutoff to the stop under each sink, in one planned job.

When it's time for the whole house

It is usually a pattern, not one leak: a third or fourth pinhole in the copper, galvanized lines so narrowed that every shower is weak, or a slab leak that tells you the lines under the floor are aging together.

On the first visit we count your fixtures, trace the route from the main shutoff, look at the pipe everywhere it shows and check the PRV, because a pressure problem upstream can look a lot like tired pipe.

What your written estimate covers

We name the new material and fittings, the layout (a home-run manifold or trunk-and-branch), new quarter-turn stops at every fixture, the water-heater connections, any expansion tank and what happens to the old pipe. In a slab house the old lines under the floor are capped and left in place.

The new ones run through the attic and drop down inside interior walls.

Openings, inspection and patching

We open small access points where each drop reaches a fixture, usually behind vanities, at shower valves and at the washer box. The new pipe is pressure tested, flushed and left visible until the City has inspected it under the DallasNow permit.

Patch, texture and paint are written in as their own line, so you know exactly what is closed up.

See how a whole-house repipe is scoped

Galvanized pipe replacement

Rusty water after the house sits and showers that get weaker every year usually mean galvanized steel. We replace it with new PEX or copper before the narrowing turns into leaks.

Why the water is brown and weak

The zinc coating wears through, the steel rusts, and scale builds up inside until a half-inch line has the opening of a pencil. You notice it as weak flow at several taps at once and a rusty tint when the water has been sitting. Leaks come later, usually at the threaded joints.

Galvanized was common in Dallas houses plumbed through about the 1950s and 1960s, but only the pipe itself confirms it.

How much of it has to go

First we check whether the trouble is really in the house, or upstream at the meter, the PRV or a clogged aerator. Then we look for mixed repairs: copper or PEX spliced into the steel over the decades.

If the main line is still galvanized and only some branches were replaced, the whole house is usually the right answer, because a narrowed main limits every fixture after it. Anything that stays is listed in writing.

Older houses, crawlspaces and plaster

Many galvanized houses in older Dallas neighborhoods sit on pier-and-beam floors, so we can run new lines through the crawlspace and keep more walls closed than in a slab house. Plaster takes more care to open and patch than drywall. Your estimate names each opening, who patches it, and how water gets back to each bathroom during the work.

More on the galvanized pipe replacement page.

Replacing galvanized supply pipe
PEX-A tubing with expansion fittings beside rigid Type L copper with soldered elbows near a Dallas garage water heater

PEX repiping

PEX is the most common choice for a Dallas repipe because it bends through an attic in long runs with few joints. We use listed PEX-A or PEX-B tubing, made to ASTM F876/F877, installed to the maker's instructions.

Why PEX suits slab houses

In a ranch house where the old lines sit in or under the slab, PEX lets us run new tubing through the attic and down interior walls with very few hidden fittings, so fewer openings are needed than with rigid pipe. It is not the answer everywhere. A short exposed run at a garage water heater may get copper instead.

We'll show you where.

Which fittings, which layout

PEX-A usually takes expansion fittings with rings; PEX-B usually takes crimp or clamp rings. The two systems don't mix, so your estimate names the tubing brand and fitting type for anyone who works on it later. We also choose with you between a home-run manifold, with its own line and shutoff for each fixture, and trunk-and-branch, which uses less tubing.

Where your heater sits usually decides it.

Built for a Dallas attic

Dallas attics bake in summer and still freeze in a hard cold snap like the February 2021 storm. We keep tubing out of sunlight, support it at the maker's spacing, sleeve it through framing and insulate it near the eaves. Then it is pressure tested and left exposed for the City's rough inspection before any opening is closed.

How a PEX repipe is planned in Dallas

Copper repiping

If you would rather have rigid metal pipe, we repipe in Type L or Type M copper tube, joined with soldered (sweat) or press-connect fittings and run along the same attic routes.

When copper is the better fit

Some owners choose copper because the sound parts of the house already have it, because a garage water heater has long exposed runs that call for metal, or simply because they prefer it. PEX and copper are both allowed in Dallas when listed and installed to the code and the maker's instructions.

Neither wins everywhere, and we will explain why copper does or doesn't fit your route.

If your old copper keeps pinholing

Before putting new copper back in, we look at where the old pinholes happened: clustered on the hot side, just past the fittings, or spread across the house. That pattern tells us more than the count does, and it can change what we recommend.

Type L has a thicker wall than Type M, and your estimate says which one goes where so there are no surprises later.

A little more room to work

Copper needs more working space than PEX: rigid lengths, an elbow at every turn and room to solder safely or close a press tool. That can mean slightly larger openings, or a few more of them, than a PEX plan in the same house.

Attic runs are strapped, insulated and protected where they cross framing, with dielectric fittings wherever copper meets steel that stays.

What copper repiping involves
Gray polybutylene supply line with copper crimp-ring fittings next to brittle tan CPVC at a Dallas water heater stand

Polybutylene pipe replacement

Gray plastic pipe with crimp rings at the water heater is the thing buyers' inspectors flag most. Once we confirm it really is polybutylene (PB), we replace it with new PEX or copper.

Is it really polybutylene?

PB went into some 1970s to 1990s construction, usually with acetal plastic or copper crimp-ring fittings. Color alone doesn't prove it, because gray PEX exists and CPVC can look similar in a dim closet.

We read the print line on the pipe, look at the fittings at the water heater and under the sinks, and ask about any earlier partial replacements before we call it PB.

Why we replace all of it

PB tends to fail at fittings and wherever the pipe was stressed, and that risk is spread through the whole house rather than sitting in one branch. That is why inspectors and insurers flag it, though nobody can promise what an insurer will decide.

Replacing part of it leaves the same pipe elsewhere, so if any runs stay, your estimate says exactly which ones and where they meet the new pipe.

Following the old route

In many slab houses PB already runs through the attic, so the new lines can follow the same path with fresh supports, sleeves and insulation. We plan an opening at each fixture drop, take the old PB out where we can reach it and cap it where we can't. Every step, down to the patch work, goes in writing.

Replacing polybutylene supply lines

CPVC pipe replacement

If the cream-colored plastic under your sink cracked when someone turned the stop valve, it may be brittle CPVC. We replace it before the next crack happens behind a wall.

Plastic that snaps when you touch it

CPVC is rigid, usually cream or tan, and joined with solvent cement. Heat and age can make it brittle, so a pipe that once flexed now snaps when a stop valve is turned or something bumps it. The hot lines near the water heater and the runs in a hot Dallas attic are usually where it shows first.

One cracked fitting is a repair; several in a year is a pattern.

Hot side only, or everything?

On the first visit we check how brittle the exposed pipe is, count the failed joints and look for CPVC mixed with copper or PEX from earlier repairs. If only the hot side is cracking, a hot-side or partial replacement may be enough. If the cold lines are failing too, the whole house is the better answer.

Any CPVC that stays is named in writing, along with its transition fitting.

Working around fragile pipe

Old CPVC can crack just from being moved, so we plan cuts and connections to avoid flexing any pipe that stays in service. Shutoffs are sequenced, and your estimate says whether water is back on at the end of each day. Nothing gets closed up until the rough inspection passes.

When CPVC needs replacing

What you're seeing, and what we do about it

Most repipes start with one of a few problems. Each points somewhere different, so on the first visit we check the cause with you before anyone talks about scope.

What you notice

A third pinhole leak in the copper in two years, each in a different room, each fixed with a coupling and a fresh hole in the drywall.

What the work looks at

On the first visit we map every leak against the pipe route with you and check the pressure at the PRV, then show whether the pattern calls for a partial repipe or the whole house.

Why copper keeps pinholing
What you notice

The water meter keeps turning with every faucet off, a warm patch has appeared on the tile floor, and the water bill jumped.

What the work looks at

Once leak detection confirms which line is leaking under the slab, we cap that line and feed the same fixtures from the attic instead of breaking up your floor.

Rerouting around a slab leak
What you notice

Rust-tinted cold water after a weekend away, and the shower and kitchen faucet both getting weaker in a house built around 1960.

What the work looks at

We rule out the aerators, the PRV and the meter side first, then check for galvanized steel. When it is narrowed galvanized, we usually replace the main line and branches together.

Replacing galvanized pipe
What you notice

The buyer's inspector flagged gray plastic pipe with crimp rings at the water heater, and the sale is waiting on an answer.

What the work looks at

We confirm the material from the print line and fittings first. If it is polybutylene, your written estimate lists every PB run we're taking out.

Polybutylene replacement

When it isn't the whole house

Not every job needs every pipe replaced. Sometimes one branch or one line is the whole job, and we handle those too.

Branch, slab and riser scopesLeft: a one-story slab house where a leaking line under the slab is abandoned and new hot and cold lines run through the attic and down a wall; one branch to a bath is replaced on its own. Right: a four-story building with hot and cold risers running floor to floor and a branch into each unit.Slab houseleak under the slab: line abandoned,new supply over the ceilingbranchhot lineMulti-unit buildingrisers run floor to floor;each unit branches off themrisersunithotcoldold line left out of service
Drawn to explain the scopes, not to scale.
Bathroom remodel in a Dallas home with bare studs and new PEX hot and cold lines tied into a retained copper branch

Partial repiping

When one bathroom keeps leaking or a remodel already has the walls open, we replace just that section, such as one bathroom group, a kitchen branch or the lines inside the remodel, and leave the rest in service.

When one section is enough

A partial repipe fits when the trouble is confined: one branch with repeated leaks, a remodel with the walls already open, or one bad run under the slab that can be bypassed overhead. It doesn't fit when the main line feeding that branch is the same failing pipe, because new pipe downstream still draws through old pipe upstream.

We trace what feeds the problem area before drawing the line.

Where the new pipe stops

Your estimate lists each run we replace, each run that stays and its material, the fittings where old meets new, and the fixtures on new pipe. That record pays off later, because the next leak can be traced to old or new work without guessing.

It also keeps the word honest: a partial repipe never means all the old pipe is gone, and the paperwork says so.

Fitting it into a remodel

When a kitchen or bath is being rebuilt, we put the new supply lines in while the studs are bare, before the drywall, and book the City's rough inspection to fit that window. Water to the rest of the house stays on except during the tie-ins.

How a partial repipe is bounded

Hot-water line replacement

When the leaks are all on the hot side and the cold lines are still sound, we replace the hot distribution on its own, from the water heater outlet to every fixture.

Why the hot side goes first

Heat speeds up the failure of most supply pipe: CPVC turns brittle, copper near the heater can pinhole, and galvanized hot lines scale faster.

Dallas water is moderately hard to hard, 120 to 155 mg/L as calcium carbonate in a December 2023 City memo, and that scale shows up in heaters and aerators, where it can pass for a pipe problem. We compare hot and cold flow at the same taps to tell them apart.

What the job includes

We cover the hot lines from the heater outlet to each fixture, the heater connections, any recirculation return line, and a check of the expansion tank and PRV that protect the new pipe. Replacing the water heater itself is a separate job.

The new hot lines are insulated, which also cuts heat loss on a long attic run from a garage heater to the far bathroom.

Will hot water arrive faster?

Not automatically. How far the tap sits from the heater, and how much water the pipe holds, decide the wait. A different layout or a recirculation loop may be the real fix, and we tell you which change we recommend and why. The testing and inspection don't get any lighter just because the job is smaller.

Replacing the hot side only
Capped copper stub at a Dallas slab floor beside a new PEX line dropping from the attic through an interior wall to a kitchen sink

Slab-leak rerouting

When a supply line is leaking under your slab, we cap it where it is and run a new line overhead through the attic, instead of breaking up the floor to repair it in place.

Signs the leak is under the floor

A warm spot on the tile, a meter that turns with every faucet off, hissing near the base of a wall or a sudden jump in the water bill all point to a pressurized supply leak below the slab. Leak detection confirms which line it is, hot or cold, and roughly where.

A wet floor alone can also be a drain leak, and drain or sewer work is outside what we do.

Reroute or break the floor?

Repairing one spot means cutting through flooring and concrete, and it leaves the rest of the aging line in the ground. A reroute isolates the failed line, caps it at both ends and feeds the same fixtures from the attic through a wall drop.

When more than one line under the slab is aging, we may suggest moving the whole house overhead instead. Post-tensioned slabs are never cut until the tendons are located.

What gets opened and closed

A reroute usually needs an opening where the new line reaches the fixtures, a path through the attic, and a tie-in near the water heater or main. The slab itself stays undisturbed. The new line is pressure tested and inspected before the walls close, and any flooring or foundation repair is a separate decision for you to make.

Rerouting a line out of the slab
Open pipe chase in a Dallas mid-rise with new copper hot and cold risers, branch takeoffs and restored firestopping at the floor

Apartment and condo repiping

When water shows up in the ceiling of the unit below, we start by working out whose pipe failed, then replace your unit's supply lines once the association or owner confirms what the unit is responsible for.

Your pipe or the building's?

In a condominium the governing documents usually split it: the association owns the risers and common mains, and you own the branches past your unit's shutoff. Large buildings are common in parts of Dallas; in ZIP 75201, Census Bureau estimates put 92.6 percent of housing units in buildings with 20 or more units.

We read that boundary with you instead of guessing at it.

Approvals and your neighbors

Associations commonly ask for insurance certificates, set work hours and elevator reservations, and require notice to neighbors before work starts. If your branches tie into a shared riser, a building shutoff may be needed for the tie-in, which reaches other residents. Our plan names that shutoff and tells your neighbors before it happens.

Working in a finished unit

Walls between units are often fire-rated, so any opening or penetration has its firestopping restored to the rating. Routes are tight: soffits, closets and ceiling chases rather than an open attic. We agree the patch and paint work against the association's finish rules before starting, and protect shared hallways and elevators. Patching follows the association's finish rules.

Repiping a condo or apartment unit

Plumbing riser replacement

When a building keeps leaking up the same stack, we replace the domestic water risers, the vertical hot and cold mains that feed each floor of a mid-rise or high-rise.

Why risers get replaced

Risers tend to fail stack by stack: one leak in a lower-floor chase, then another two floors up, often in galvanized or older copper. Each repair means another building shutoff and another round of notices to every resident on that stack.

We open access panels or chases at sample floors, check the pipe and branch takeoffs, and confirm whether the hot riser, the cold riser or both need replacing.

One stack at a time

We usually stage riser work stack by stack, adding isolation valves so only part of the building loses water at a time where the existing valves allow it. Our plan names each shutoff window, the units affected and who notifies residents.

At each floor, the branch connections are either replaced to the first unit shutoff or reconnected to the existing piping, and the plan says which.

Fire separation and finishes

Risers pass through rated floors and shafts. Every penetration we disturb gets its firestopping restored to the rating, and chase walls are closed to the building's standard. Ceilings or soffits opened inside units are listed along with who restores them. Waste stacks and fire sprinkler piping are separate systems we don't touch.

Replacing water risers

Commercial repiping

For offices, shops, restaurants and small mixed-use buildings, we replace the domestic hot- and cold-water lines on a schedule built around your business hours, so customers and staff still have working restrooms and sinks.

What usually starts it

Repeated leaks above a ceiling grid, discolored water at a restaurant's prep sinks, a build-out that exposes old galvanized mains, or an insurer's question after water damage usually start the conversation.

We map the main, the risers or branches, every fixture group and the existing valves, because a commercial shutdown plan depends entirely on where water can be isolated and which areas share a valve.

Keeping you open

We set shutdown windows with you, often after hours or on weekends, and add isolation valves early so later work affects smaller areas. Food-service, medical and restroom needs can set the order, and a restaurant may need hot water back before the next morning's prep. No area reopens until its piping has passed.

Permits and what's not included

Commercial repiping is permitted plumbing work in Dallas, filed through DallasNow and inspected at rough-in and final. Ceiling tiles, finishes and after-hours access are written into the plan. Where ceilings hold rated assemblies, disturbed penetrations are firestopped. Sprinkler, gas and drain lines are separate systems, and we leave them alone.

Where a kitchen or a medical office can't lose water, we plan that area's cutover around your hours.

Commercial repiping in Dallas

What a repipe costs in Dallas

Our typical range for a whole-house PEX repipe in Dallas is $4,500 to $15,000 and up. Our typical range for a whole-house copper repipe in Dallas is $8,500 to $18,000 and up. Two stories, more bathrooms, plaster or tile in the path, slab routes and full finish work push a house toward the top. We price every house after the first visit. The written estimate sets the number.

Plumber wages and City of Dallas permit fee componentsBureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025: plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters earn a mean $29.94 an hour in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and $34.70 nationally; medians $29.45 and $30.67. City of Dallas fee schedule: $25 trade review document handling, $75 reinspection, $200 per trade for covering work before inspection.Plumber hourly wage in dollars per hour (employee pay, not a billing rate)010203040Dallas-Fort Worth mean$29.94U.S. mean$34.70Dallas-Fort Worth median$29.45U.S. median$30.67City of Dallas fee components that can applyTrade review document handling$25Reinspection$75Covering work before inspection$200
Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters. Fees: City of Dallas Development Services fee schedule. A wage is what a plumber is paid, not what a repipe is billed at: a billed rate also carries licensing, insurance, vehicles, permits and overhead.
  • Fixtures and branchesEvery sink, toilet, shower valve, hose bib, ice maker and washer box is a drop, a stop and a connection.
  • Stories and route lengthA long ranch house with a garage heater at one end needs more pipe than a compact plan of the same size.
  • AccessOpen attic space, a crawlspace, a slab with no overhead path and finished walls each change the labor in a different way.
  • Material and fittingsPEX-A, PEX-B and Type L or Type M copper differ in material cost, fitting cost and working room.
  • Retained pipe and transitionsEach place new pipe meets pipe that stays needs a compatible transition, and a dielectric fitting where copper meets steel.
  • Valves, PRV and heater connectionsNew fixture stops, a main shutoff, a pressure-reducing valve, an expansion tank or a recirculation line add parts and time.
  • Permit and inspectionsDallas treats a repipe as permitted plumbing work with rough and final inspections, and a failed inspection adds a reinspection fee.
  • Restoration and keeping the house runningPatch, texture and paint, plus getting your water back on each evening, are real line items we write into the estimate.

How a Dallas repipe goes, start to finish

This is an illustrative example, not a real job: a 1960s three-bedroom, two-bath ranch on a slab in East Dallas whose copper has pinholed three times. It shows the order we follow when you choose a whole-house PEX repipe.

  1. First visit

    We count 14 fixture connections, trace the copper from the main shutoff in the garage, find the original lines running under the slab, check static pressure and the PRV, and look in the attic for headroom, insulation depth and a clear path from the garage to both bathrooms.

  2. Written estimate

    Your estimate names PEX-A with expansion fittings, a home-run manifold beside the garage water heater, new quarter-turn stops, the old under-slab copper capped and left in place, the number and location of wall openings, and whether patch, texture and paint are included.

  3. Permit

    Rearranging supply pipe is outside Dallas's limited exemption for stopping a leak, so the repipe is filed as permitted work through DallasNow before any pipe is cut. We keep the permit record with your estimate so you have both for your files.

  4. Protection and openings

    Floors along the work path are covered, furniture is moved back from the wet walls, and small openings are cut behind the toilets, at each shower valve, under the sinks, at the washer box and at the kitchen sink wall.

  5. Attic runs and drops

    Tubing runs from the manifold through the attic, low against the ceiling and under the insulation where the layout allows, supported at the maker's spacing and sleeved through top plates, then drops down interior walls to each stub-out.

  6. Test and rough inspection

    The new system is pressure tested while the old one is still in service, then we book the City's rough inspection with every opening still visible. Covering the work first would risk a $200 unauthorized-concealment fee per trade.

  7. Switchover

    Water goes off for the tie-in at the main. Each fixture gets its new stop, and we flush the system through every tap before checking for leaks.

  8. Close-up and final

    Openings are patched to the finish level we agreed, the final inspection is completed, and you get the records to keep with the house: the material, a manifold map showing which port feeds which fixture, and every transition point.

Want this order of work mapped for your house?

Get an estimate and on the first visit we will trace your route, count the fixtures and give you a written plan you can compare.

Get an Estimate

Fix the leak, part of the house, or all of it?

Each option fixes a different amount of pipe. We match it to what the first visit shows, not to the size of the last leak.

Repair, partial repipe or whole-house repipe
Targeted repairPartial repipeWhole-house repipe
Fits whenOne fitting, valve or short run is the confirmed problemFailures are confined to one branch, or a remodel has walls openFailures repeat across branches, or the material is failing throughout
What changesThe failed piece onlyA named section, from a defined tie-in to its fixturesAll hot and cold lines from the main shutoff to each stop
What staysEverything else, at its current ageEvery run outside the boundary, listed in writingOld lines under the slab, capped and left in place where planned
Wall openingsOne small access pointOpenings in the affected roomsOpenings at most fixture drops throughout the house
City permitA repair that only stops a leak may fall under the limited exemptionPermitted work with rough and final inspectionsPermitted work with rough and final inspections
Main riskThe next leak turns up somewhere else in the same pipeNew pipe still fed by an old main lineGaps in restoration or retained pipe if the estimate is vague

One confirmed failure in otherwise sound pipe is a repair. A confined pattern with a clean boundary is a partial repipe. Repeated failures across branches, or a material like PB or narrowed galvanized, usually mean the whole house.

What changes in each part of your house

A repipe touches the house from the meter to the attic. Here is the question each part of the house usually raises, with a full guide behind each answer.

Floor plan of a one-story slab house with guide topics markedGarage with the water heater and laundry on the left, kitchen in the center, bedrooms and baths on the right, an attic hatch in the hall, the main shutoff on the front wall and the meter at the curb.GarageLaundry andwater heaterHall and attic hatchKitchenLivingBathBedroomBedroom and bathstreet side: meter and service lineABCDEFGHIJ
A one-story slab house, simplified. Letters match the notes.

At the curb and the main shutoff

Main water shutoff with a brass ball valve where the supply enters an older Dallas house

  1. At the curb

    Does the repipe include the line from the street?

    No. A repipe replaces the water piping inside your house, from the main shutoff on. The underground service line from the Dallas Water Utilities meter to the house is a separate job with its own ownership and material questions, and it isn't part of our repipe.

    DWU has sent service-line material notices, and a notice that lists the material as unknown is not a finding of lead; it means the record is incomplete. If the service line needs work too, it is planned and permitted on its own.

    Interior repiping vs water service line replacement: where does each one start and stop?

  2. Main shutoff

    How long will we be without water?

    Less than most people expect, because we install the new lines alongside the old system while it keeps running. Water goes off for the tie-ins: when the new pipe is connected at the main and each bathroom or the kitchen is switched over.

    Your written plan says which fixtures lose water on which days, whether water is back on each evening, and where the new main shutoff and fixture stops will sit. In a condo, a riser tie-in can mean a building shutoff that needs association notice.

    Water shutoff during repiping: how long will the water be off?

At the water heater and the washer

Short metal connector, ball valve and expansion tank at the top of a tank water heater in a Dallas garage

  1. Water heater

    Why the hot tap can take longer on new pipe

    The wait for hot water depends on how much cooled water sits between the heater and the tap. A home-run manifold gives each fixture its own small line, which can shorten or lengthen the wait depending on run length, while a larger main line holds more water.

    Rerouting through the attic can add distance when the heater sits in a garage at one end of a Dallas ranch. A recirculation loop or a different layout is the usual fix, not a new heater. Your water heater is rarely the problem.

    Hot water takes longer after repiping: why, and what shortens the wait?

  2. Laundry

    A bang at the washer when the fill valve shuts

    That knock is water hammer: a fast-closing valve, often a washing machine or dishwasher, stops moving water and the pressure surge jolts the line. New pipe can make it more noticeable where runs are loosely supported, or where flexible PEX travels a long way to the laundry box without enough straps.

    High static pressure makes it worse, so the PRV setting matters as much as the pipe. The fixes are proper support, water hammer arresters at quick-closing valves and a pressure check. Most of the fixes are small and cheap once the cause is clear.

    Why is there water hammer after repiping, and how is it fixed?

What you see at the taps and in the attic

Parallel red and blue PEX lines clipped to attic joists below the insulation line in a Dallas house

  1. Kitchen

    Brown water from the tap?

    Where it comes from tells you a lot. Brown water from only the hot tap points toward the water heater. Brown water from the cold taps after the house has sat points toward corroded galvanized pipe, where rusty scale breaks loose when the water starts moving.

    Brown water up and down the street, after a main break or hydrant flushing, is a utility matter; Dallas Water Utilities treats its surface water with chloramine and corrosion control. Running the kitchen cold tap and noting whether it clears is a good first check.

    Brown tap water causes: is it your pipes, your water heater or the main?

  2. Bath

    A weak shower: pressure or the pipe?

    Pressure is the force in the system with nothing running; flow is how much water arrives when a tap is open. A house can show normal pressure at a hose bib and still have a weak shower, because the galvanized branches have narrowed inside. The reverse happens too: a failing PRV starves every fixture even when the pipe is fine.

    A gauge on a hose bib, a hot versus cold comparison and a clean aerator separate the two. Repiping fixes a restriction in the pipe; it doesn't raise low supply pressure.

    Low water pressure vs low flow: which one does your house have?

  3. Attic

    Will new pipe in the attic survive summer and freezes?

    It will if it is installed for both. Most repipes in Dallas slab houses go overhead, so the attic decides how well the work ages. Summer heat is hard on plastic left in sunlight near the gable vents, and NWS Fort Worth documents hard freezes such as the long February 2021 storm.

    We keep lines low under the insulation where the layout allows and support them at the maker's spacing. Sleeves go wherever a line passes through framing. Runs near the eaves or along an exterior wall get insulation, because that is where a hard freeze reaches first.

    Repiping through attic space in Dallas: how should new lines handle heat and freezes?

Walls, layout and what is already there

A narrow opening in hallway drywall with new red and blue supply lines dropping toward a bathroom

  1. Walls and ceilings

    Will you have to open walls?

    Some, in the places where each new line reaches a fixture: behind the toilet, at the shower valve, under sinks, at the washer box and at the water heater. The openings are small and cut cleanly so they patch well, but the count depends on the layout and the material, since rigid copper needs more room than PEX.

    Your estimate says who patches, whether texture is matched and whether paint is included, and the openings stay open until the City's rough inspection. Texture matching is the part worth asking about.

    Wall repair after repiping: where do the openings go and who patches them?

  2. Garage

    One central manifold or a main line with branches?

    A home-run manifold, usually mounted in the garage or a utility closet near the water heater, sends a separate PEX line to each fixture, each with its own shutoff. Trunk-and-branch runs a larger main with tees feeding fixtures along the way, the way most older houses were built.

    A manifold uses more tubing but fewer hidden fittings, and lets you shut off one fixture without losing the house; trunk-and-branch uses less tubing and suits compact, single-story layouts with short runs. In a garage-heater ranch, a manifold often sits right beside the heater.

    PEX manifold vs trunk and branch: which layout fits your Dallas repipe?

  3. Slab

    What kind of pipe do you have?

    Look where the pipe shows: at the water heater, under the sinks and at the main shutoff. Galvanized is dull gray steel with threaded joints, and a magnet sticks to it. Copper is reddish-brown with soldered or pressed fittings. PB is gray plastic with acetal or copper crimp rings and printed codes.

    CPVC is rigid cream or tan plastic with glued joints. PEX is flexible, often red, blue or white, and printed with its ASTM listing. A slab house can hold several, because the original lines in the slab may differ from later repairs above it.

    How to identify water pipe material in a Dallas house

Repiping across Dallas, district by district

We repipe homes and buildings throughout the city, from Lakewood bungalows to Far North Dallas two-stories: Central Dallas, East Dallas, Far North Dallas, Lake Highlands, North Dallas, Northwest Dallas, Oak Cliff, Southeast Dallas, Southwest Dallas and West Dallas. In City of Dallas open data, building permits since January 2024 include 100 records that explicitly describe interior water-supply repiping, with ZIP 75248 showing the most at 10.

Dallas districts served, schematicA schematic, not-to-scale arrangement of the Dallas districts this site covers, placed by their approximate centers: Central Dallas, East Dallas, Far North Dallas, Lake Highlands, North Dallas, Northwest Dallas, Oak Cliff, Southeast Dallas, Southwest Dallas, West Dallas.Trinity River (schematic)Central DallasEast DallasFar North DallasLake HighlandsNorth DallasNorthwest DallasOak CliffSoutheast DallasSouthwest DallasWest DallasPositions approximate. Not a boundary map.
Median year built, by ZIP code
DistrictZIP and median year builtBuilt before 1980
Central Dallas75201: 2004; 75204: 200426.4%; 16.4%
East Dallas75214: 1967; 75206: 199162.4%; 37.6%
Far North Dallas75248: 1980; 75252: 198950.2%; 9%
Lake Highlands75238: 1974; 75243: 198262.1%; 42.5%
North Dallas75225: 1989; 75230: 197938.6%; 52.8%
Northwest Dallas75209: 1977; 75220: 197852.4%; 53%
Oak Cliff75208: 1960; 75203: 196758.4%; 61%
Southeast Dallas75217: 1968; 75227: 197668.5%; 57.2%
Southwest Dallas75232: 1967; 75237: 198576.1%; 31.1%
West Dallas75212: 200039.8%

Housing age comes from the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 American Community Survey estimates by ZIP: in ZIP 75218 the median home was built in 1960, and 79.4 percent of units predate 1980. Build era hints at what was common when a house was plumbed; only the pipe confirms it. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, by ZIP code. Housing age is context, not a reading of any one home's pipes.

All service areas

Decisions to make before the first wall is opened

Cost, permits, material and timing are where most Dallas owners slow down. Each passage below gives you the short answer, with the full guide linked.

The whole decision, the price and the permit

Pressure gauge on a capped test fitting at a kitchen stub-out before the wall is closed

The whole decision for a Dallas house, in order

Repiping decisions run in a sequence: confirm the material, read the failure pattern, choose partial or whole-house, pick PEX or copper, plan the route, then permit, inspect and restore. Dallas adds its own facts at each step. Slab foundations push most routes into the attic.

The City uses the 2021 International Plumbing Code with Dallas amendments, and both PEX and copper are allowed when listed and installed to the maker's instructions. Permits are filed through DallasNow, and the underground service line is a separate job.

The Dallas home repiping guide

2021 IPCThe plumbing code Dallas uses, with City amendments

What moves the price of a Dallas repipe?

We price each house from its scope: fixture and branch count, stories and route length, access over a slab or through a crawlspace, the material and fittings, retained pipe, valves and heater connections, permit and inspections, and the patch and paint work. Our typical whole-house ranges are above; the written estimate after the first visit sets your number.

Public figures help explain it. BLS puts the mean plumber wage in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington at $29.94 an hour, about 14 percent below the national $34.70, but a wage is not a billing rate, which also carries insurance, vehicles and overhead.

Repiping cost in Dallas: what sets the price of a repipe?

$29.94/hrBLS mean plumber wage, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, May 2025

Does a Dallas repipe need a permit?

Yes. The City of Dallas Building Inspection limits its permit exemption to stopping a leak; replacing or rearranging supply piping is outside it, so a repipe is permitted plumbing work. Permits are filed through DallasNow, and since June 1, 2026 the City coordinates the plumbing and mechanical rough and final inspections.

In practice that means a rough inspection with the walls open, then a final. The fee schedule lists a $75 reinspection and $200 per trade for covering work before it is inspected. Covering work before that inspection can bring a $200 fee per trade.

Do Dallas repiping permits apply to a repipe, and how do inspections work?

$200City of Dallas fee per trade for covering work before inspection

Repair or replace, and with what

Press-connect copper fittings on branch lines inside an opened wall above a vanity

One more patch or a new system?

The question is whether the next leak is likely to come from the same pipe. One pinhole in copper that is otherwise sound is a repair. Three in two years in different rooms suggests the system is aging together, and every patch adds an opening and a shutoff.

Galvanized narrowed by scale and confirmed polybutylene rarely justify more patching, because the problem is the whole material, not one spot. Insurers and buyers also notice repeated claims. If two repairs in a year sit on the same kind of pipe in different rooms, we usually price both options side by side so you can compare.

Should you repair or repipe a house with leaking pipes?

PEX or copper for your Dallas house?

Both are allowed in Dallas when listed and installed correctly, so the choice turns on your house. PEX suits long attic runs over a slab because it bends around framing with fewer hidden joints; it has to be kept out of sunlight and supported to the maker's spacing.

Copper suits exposed runs, garage water heater connections and owners who want rigid metal pipe, but it needs more working room and more fittings. A mix, PEX through the attic and copper at the heater, is common.

PEX vs copper pipes: which suits a Dallas repipe?

Pinholes keep coming back?

Pinholes usually start from the inside, where pitting corrosion eats through the wall, and they tend to recur in the same system. Where they happen tells you more than how many: leaks clustered on the hot side or just past elbows suggest velocity or installation causes, while leaks spread across both sides suggest the pipe is aging as a whole.

A December 2023 City memo puts Dallas water at 120 to 155 mg/L hardness, which explains scale in heaters but is not a proven cause of pinholes.

What causes recurring copper pinhole leaks?

Older houses, the schedule and the quotes

Old galvanized supply lines with threaded unions along the floor joists of a pier-and-beam crawlspace

Repiping a house built before the 1960s

Dallas's older districts, including one platted in 1908 per City historic-preservation pages, hold one-story bungalows and two-story Prairie houses with plaster walls, original trim and often a crawlspace. Those houses may still carry galvanized steel, sometimes spliced with copper from later repairs. In ZIPs 75223 and 75246 the median home was built in 1955, per Census Bureau estimates.

We can often route through the crawlspace, but openings in plaster and historic finishes need careful planning and a restoration plan agreed up front. Plaster takes more care to open and close than drywall.

What changes when repiping an older Dallas home?

From first visit to final inspection

A repipe follows a predictable order even though the calendar varies by house: first visit and written estimate, permit through DallasNow, protection and openings, new runs installed alongside the old system, pressure test, City rough inspection, switchover and flush, patching, and the final inspection.

How long each stage takes depends on fixture count, access, the material, inspection scheduling and how much restoration is included. Most families stay in the house during the work when the plan gets water back on each evening. Booking the rough inspection is usually what sets the pace.

How long does repiping take in a Dallas home?

Comparing two repipe estimates

Estimates only compare when they cover the same work. Line up the fixture count, the material and fitting system, the layout, what happens to old pipe, valves and heater connections, who pulls the permit, and exactly which patch, texture and paint work is included.

Coverage needs the same care: a tubing maker's warranty on its product is separate from the installer's workmanship terms, and only the written terms count. An estimate that leaves out restoration can look cheaper and finish costlier. Ask every contractor to describe the job in the same terms, so the totals mean the same thing.

How to compare repiping quotes and warranties line by line

What to have ready for the first visit

Nothing here needs tools or opened walls. A few notes and photos let us go straight to the questions that set your scope.

  • A leak historyDates, rooms and what was done each time, including any slab leak repairs.
  • Photos of exposed pipeAt the water heater, under the kitchen sink and at the main shutoff, with any print lines visible.
  • Which fixtures are weakNote whether hot, cold or both are affected and whether aerators were cleaned.
  • The water heater locationGarage, closet or attic, plus whether a recirculation pump is installed.
  • Attic accessWhere the hatch is and anything stored that would need moving.
  • Any DWU service-line noticeIt belongs to a separate job, but it helps to have it on hand.
  • Inspection or insurance paperworkA buyer's report or insurer letter that names the pipe material.
  • Remodel plansOpen walls during a remodel can change the route and the sequence.
  • Association rules, for condosWork hours, insurance requirements and who controls the building shutoff.

Get an estimate for your Dallas repipe

Tell us what you are seeing and roughly when the house was built. We will follow up to set up your first visit.

Step 1 of 2

The building and the work

Dallas repiping questions

  1. How do Dallas repipes avoid breaking the slab?
  2. How much does it cost to repipe a house in Dallas?
  3. Which pipe materials turn up in Dallas houses of different ages?
  4. Does a Fullbore repipe include sewer, gas or the service line from the street?
  5. How long is a Dallas household without water during a repipe?
  6. Does Dallas's hard water cause pinhole leaks in copper?
  7. Can PEX in a Dallas attic handle summer heat and winter freezes?
  8. Which parts of Dallas does Fullbore Dallas Repiping cover?
  9. Is there a City of Dallas program that helps owners pay for major plumbing?
  10. What does the first visit for a Dallas repipe actually check?

How do Dallas repipes avoid breaking the slab?

Most Dallas houses sit on a slab, and the original supply lines often run in or under it. We leave those lines where they are, cap them, and run the new pipe through the attic, dropping down interior walls to each fixture. That trades a few small wall openings for no concrete cutting. Where a house has no usable attic path, we explain the alternative before any work starts.

How much does it cost to repipe a house in Dallas?

Our typical range for a whole-house PEX repipe in Dallas is $4,500 to $15,000 and up. Our typical range for a whole-house copper repipe in Dallas is $8,500 to $18,000 and up. Two stories, more baths, plaster or tile in the path, slab routes and full finish work push a house toward the top. We price every house after the first visit, and the written estimate sets your number.

Which pipe materials turn up in Dallas houses of different ages?

As general trade history, galvanized steel was common in Dallas housing plumbed through roughly the 1950s and 1960s, copper after that, CPVC and polybutylene in some 1970s to 1990s construction, and PEX in newer work. Many houses mix several after decades of repairs. Build year only suggests what to look for; the pipe itself, at the water heater and under the sinks, confirms it.

Does a Fullbore repipe include sewer, gas or the service line from the street?

No. Our repipe covers the interior hot- and cold-water piping, valves, testing, reconnection and the wall restoration we agree. Sewer and drain piping, gas piping, the underground water service line, standalone water heater replacement and epoxy lining are separate jobs. If one of those also needs attention, it is planned and permitted on its own, and your estimate says where our work stops.

How long is a Dallas household without water during a repipe?

Usually only for the tie-ins. We install the new lines alongside the old system while it keeps running, then shut the water off to connect at the main and switch each bathroom or the kitchen over. Your written plan says which fixtures are off on which days, so you can plan around it.

Does Dallas's hard water cause pinhole leaks in copper?

Not on the evidence. A December 2023 City memo puts Dallas Water Utilities water at 120 to 155 mg/L hardness as calcium carbonate, which is moderately hard to hard. That explains scale in water heaters, aerators and showerheads. Pinholes come from pitting corrosion, and the causes vary by house, so we read a pinhole pattern from where the leaks happen rather than blaming hardness alone.

Can PEX in a Dallas attic handle summer heat and winter freezes?

Listed PEX is rated for hot water service, but an attic is still hard on it. We keep it out of direct sunlight near the gable vents, support it at the maker's spacing and sleeve it through framing. Freezes still happen, as NWS Fort Worth documented during the February 2021 storm, so we keep runs on the warm side of the insulation where possible and insulate them near the eaves.

Which parts of Dallas does Fullbore Dallas Repiping cover?

We work across the City of Dallas, organized into ten districts: Central, East, Far North, North, Northwest and West Dallas, Lake Highlands, Oak Cliff, and Southeast and Southwest Dallas. Each district page lists its neighborhoods and housing-age figures by ZIP. Properties just outside the city limits may fall under a different permit authority, so we confirm that by address.

Is there a City of Dallas program that helps owners pay for major plumbing?

The City's Home Improvement and Preservation Program, run by Volunteers of America Texas, offers major-systems repair help of up to $24,000 as a forgivable loan for eligible owner-occupied homes. The City opens short application windows, so check the program page for its current status. We are not a program participant and can't tell you whether you qualify.

What does the first visit for a Dallas repipe actually check?

We confirm the pipe material at the water heater, under the sinks and at the main shutoff, count your fixtures, and trace the route from the main to each bathroom and the kitchen. We check static pressure and the PRV, so a supply problem isn't mistaken for tired pipe, and look in the attic for a clear overhead path. That tells us whether a repair, a partial repipe or the whole house fits.

Keep the slab closed. Replace the pipe.

Get an estimate and a written plan that names the route, the material, every opening and who closes it, anywhere in Dallas.

Get an EstimateCall (469) 846-9377