How to Price a Whole-House Repipe | Reddit & LinkedIn

Two things move a repipe price the most: how many fixtures you are connecting and how hard the pipe runs are to reach. A single-story home on a crawlspace with open access is far quicker than a two-story home on a slab where you are opening finished walls and ceilings to route new lines. Fixture count sets the base scope, and access sets the labor multiplier. Judge them separately, because a low fixture count in a hard-access house can still be a big job, and a high fixture count with open access can go fast.

A whole-house repipe runs about $6,000 to $16,000 in 2026. PEX repipes sit at the lower end because the material is cheaper and the flexible runs install faster. Copper repipes run higher on both material and labor, and multi-story or slab homes add access cost. Quote the pipe material as its own choice so the client can weigh PEX against copper, and separate the drywall repair, since patching, texturing, and painting the access holes is often as much labor as the plumbing itself.

Drywall is where repipe bids get uncomfortable. To run new lines you open walls and ceilings, and someone has to close them back up. Decide up front whether you patch, texture, and paint as part of your scope, or whether the client arranges a separate drywall and paint contractor. Either way, put it in writing. The worst outcome is a client who expected a paint-ready finish and a plumber who quoted bare patch. Line-item the drywall work or clearly exclude it, so the final walkthrough is not an argument.

A repipe is a multi-day job with real material cost up front, so milestone billing protects your cash flow. Collect a deposit to cover material, a progress payment at rough-in or after the pressure test, and a final payment at completion and inspection. That structure means you are never floating thousands in copper or PEX on net-60 terms. It also gives the client clear checkpoints tied to visible progress, which reduces the friction that comes from a single large invoice at the end.

ContractShield lets you save repipe templates by home size and pipe material, with your per-fixture labor, access multipliers, and drywall handling, so a quote comes together in about 25 minutes. Snap photos of the access points, set the fixtures and material, apply your markup, and send a signable quote the same day. You run the job and bill on milestones through Stripe for a flat 2% per job (1% each side), capped at $250, no per-lead fees.