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Call sheet: new supply lines

Whole-Home Repiping in Whitby

When leaks keep appearing in different rooms, or the water runs brown and weak, chasing leaks one at a time becomes poor value. A repipe swaps the supply network out in one planned job.

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  • Licensed & insured trade work
  • Scope agreed before we start
  • Urgent calls triaged first

Signs you need this

  • Brown rings growing on drywall under an ensuite
  • Water meter turning with every tap closed
  • Pinholes or green crust on copper
  • Low pressure at every fixture at once

Kit on the van, and the method

  1. Pipe cutters for copper, PEX and galvanized
  2. Torch, flux and lead-free solder
  3. Crimp and expansion tools for PEX
  4. Pressure gauge and moisture meter

Before we leave: Pressure-hold the repaired run and watch the gauge before walls close.

Signs it is time

  • Copper that has sprung three or more pinholes in recent years.
  • Steel lines giving weak flow and brown water first thing in the morning.
  • Polybutylene, the grey plastic supply pipe some homes received in the 1980s and 1990s, with a record of failed fittings.
  • A renovation that will strip most walls to the studs regardless.
  • A lead service line or lead in interior piping in very old houses.

Planning the run

We start by drawing the existing layout: where the main enters, where it splits to hot and cold, and the route to each fixture. Then we plan new runs that keep openings to a minimum. A basement with an unfinished ceiling makes the trunk lines easy. Upstairs bathrooms are usually reached by fishing pipe through interior walls and closets rather than tearing up outside walls.

Most of our repipes use PEX with a manifold or a branching layout, because it bends around obstacles, resists freezing damage better than rigid pipe, and needs fewer joints inside walls. Copper is still an option where a homeowner prefers it.

Field note. A home manifold with a labelled valve for each fixture isolates a single bathroom while the kitchen keeps running.

Sequence on the job

  1. Protect floors and furniture, and agree which rooms will be opened.
  2. Run new lines alongside the old so the house keeps water as long as possible.
  3. Switch fixtures over, room by room.
  4. Pressure-test the whole system before walls close.
  5. Remove or abandon the old lines and leave openings ready for drywall.

Permits and timing

Whole-house supply replacement normally needs a Town of Whitby plumbing permit, and an inspector signs off before drywall goes up. Our permits note covers what to expect. For one-off damage, pipe repair may be enough, and the street-side portion is covered on water line replacement.

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