Whole-Home PEX Repipe — Arroyo Grande, CA

1970s single-family home with original galvanized supply lines. Chronic low pressure and rust-colored water at multiple fixtures.

Job details

City

Arroyo Grande, CA

Home

3 bed / 2 bath, built circa 1972

Old material

Galvanized steel

New material

Uponor PEX-A, ProPEX fittings

On site

3 working days

Permit

County of San Luis Obispo

Warranty

25-year manufacturer warranty on pipe

What we did

• Full repipe in Uponor PEX-A
• Trunk-and-branch layout sized per fixture unit count
• New quarter-turn shutoffs at every fixture
• New main shutoff and hose bibb connections
• Permit pulled with County of San Luis Obispo
• Drywall patched and textured to match
• Pressure test and final inspection passed

Why did this Arroyo Grande home need a repipe instead of a repair?

The homeowners had already paid for two separate pinhole-leak repairs in eighteen months. When galvanized pipe starts leaking in one place, the rest of the system is the same age and the same thickness — patching it buys months, not years. We cut a short test section out of the hot line under the house and the interior was closed down to roughly the diameter of a pencil with scale and rust.

That single cut answered the question. A repair puts new pipe next to failing pipe and leaves the flow restriction in place. A repipe replaces every supply line in the house at once, which is why pressure came back everywhere instead of at one fixture.

What does a whole-home repipe actually look like day by day?

Day one is layout and access. We map the trunk line, mark small openings where branches drop to fixtures, and cover floors and furniture. Water stays on until late in the day.

Day two is the pipe. New PEX-A trunk runs through the attic, branches drop to each fixture group, and every fixture gets a new quarter-turn shutoff. We pressure-test the whole system with air before anything gets closed up, then reconnect the water so the family has a normal evening.

Day three is closeout: drywall patched and textured, inspection with the County, and a walkthrough where we show the homeowner the new main shutoff and every fixture valve.

• Water off for roughly four hours total across the job, not three days
• Every opening cut is patched and textured by us — no separate drywall contractor to schedule
• Attic-run trunk keeps slab and finished-wall work to a minimum

Why PEX-A instead of copper for a coastal Central Coast home?

Uponor PEX-A with expansion ProPEX fittings has no soldered joints, does not corrode, and tolerates the mineral content of local water better than thin-wall copper. Near the coast, the combination of hard water inside the pipe and salt air outside the building shortens copper's service life, and every soldered joint is a future failure point.

PEX also runs in longer continuous lengths, which means fewer fittings inside the walls and fewer openings to cut. We still use copper where code or exposure requires it — water heater connections, exterior stub-outs, and anywhere the pipe is visible.

What changed for the homeowner after the repipe?

Static pressure at the hose bibb came back to normal city pressure, both showers now run at the same time without either one dropping, and the rust color is gone because the source of the rust left the building. The homeowner also has a labeled shutoff at every fixture, so the next toilet or faucet repair no longer means turning off the whole house.