The homeowner was a retired engineer who had done his research. He knew his 1953 Arcadia bungalow had original galvanized supply. He knew the galvanized was at end of life - the rust-colored water on first draw every morning was the giveaway. He had had two pinhole leaks in eighteen months, both in the galvanized branches feeding the kitchen and the hall bath.
He also did not want a whole-house repipe. The budget was real, the rest of the house had been repiped in copper in 1987, and only the original galvanized runs to the wet rooms were still in service. We gave him the partial repipe option, sized it to the actual scope, and did it in three days.
What the House Actually Had
The plumbing history of most California bungalows from the 1950s follows a pattern. Original galvanized supply throughout, installed when the house was built. A partial repipe in the 1980s or 1990s that replaced the most failure-prone sections - usually the horizontal runs in the crawlspace - with copper. A remaining 200+ lines from the manifold to the wet rooms that were never replaced because they had not failed yet.
This house followed that pattern exactly. The crawlspace runs had been replaced in copper in 1987. The vertical drops from the manifold to the kitchen, the hall bath, and the master bath were still original galvanized. The hose bibs were still galvanized. The laundry was copper (it had been added as part of a renovation in the 1990s).
The pinholes were appearing in the galvanized drops - the sections that had lived the longest and seen the most water hammer over seventy years.
Why a Partial Repipe Was the Right Answer Here
A whole-house repipe would have meant opening walls in rooms where the supply lines were already in copper. That is wasted money. The supply lines that were already in copper are not at risk of pinhole leak in the way the galvanized sections are. They are modern copper, properly installed, with decades of useful life left.
A partial repipe addressed exactly the sections that were failing. Galvanized drops from the manifold to the wet rooms, plus the hose bibs. The rest of the supply system stayed in place.
The cost was about half of a whole-house repipe. The disruption was lower - we opened walls in three rooms (kitchen, hall bath, master bath) plus the manifold location, rather than every wall in the house. The warranty applied to the work we actually did.
What We Replaced and What We Did Not
We replaced the galvanized drops to the kitchen. New PEX-A from the manifold to the kitchen sink and the dishwasher supply. The old galvanized was visible at the sink base, rusted on the outside and scaled on the inside. We cut it back at the manifold and abandoned the rest in the wall cavity.
We replaced the galvanized drops to the hall bath. New PEX-A from the manifold to the sink, the toilet, and the tub/shower. Same approach - cut back at the manifold, abandon the galvanized in the wall.
We replaced the galvanized drops to the master bath. Same scope as the hall bath.
We replaced the hose bibs. New frost-proof hose bibs with vacuum breakers, mounted through the exterior wall. The old galvanized hose bibs were seized and would not have closed fully in an emergency.
We replaced the main shutoff and added a pressure reducing valve. The existing main shutoff was a multi-turn gate valve that did not fully close. The static pressure was running 88 PSI. New full-port ball valve on the main, new PRV set to 65 PSI.
We did not touch the copper supply in the crawlspace. It was sound, modern, and not contributing to the failures. Leaving it alone saved the homeowner several thousand dollars.
What the Job Looked Like
Day one. Walked the house, marked every section that was being replaced, mapped the routing for the new PEX-A. We do not open any wall until the routing is planned, because the wrong opening costs the homeowner a drywall patch that did not need to happen.
Day two. Cuts at the manifold and at each fixture. We opened small sections of wall at the top of each fixture location and at the manifold. The PEX-A runs were routed through the attic where access allowed, then dropped down inside the wall cavities to the fixtures.
Day three. PEX-A connections at each fixture. New angle stops under each sink. New supply lines to each toilet. Pressure test at 80 PSI for 30 minutes on the new system. Inspection. Wall patches at every opening - square and flat for a finish finisher.
The Number
| Line item | What it covered |
|---|---|
| PEX-A partial repipe | Drops to kitchen, hall bath, master bath, hose bibs |
| Manifold connections | New connections at the existing manifold |
| Pressure reducing valve | New PRV sized to demand, set to 65 PSI |
| Main shutoff | New full-port ball valve |
| Hose bibs | Two frost-proof hose bibs with vacuum breakers |
| Wall patches | Six access openings patched flat |
| Permit and inspection | City of Arcadia plumbing permit and final |
Total: $4,650 flat-rate, including the PRV, hose bibs, and patches. A whole-house repipe on this same house would have been about $8,400. The partial repipe addressed the actual failures without paying for work that was not needed.
What This House Got That the Fourth Pinhole Would Not Have Given It
Predictable plumbing for the next twenty years. The new PEX-A will not corrode, will not pinhole, and will not scale shut. The pressure reducing valve is regulating the system to the design pressure. The hose bibs are actually operational in an emergency. The main shutoff actually closes.
The copper in the crawlspace stays in place because it is doing its job. The PEX-A drops do their job. The two systems are connected at the manifold and they last for different reasons at different price points.
What We Tell Homeowners Considering a Repipe
A whole-house repipe is the right answer when the supply system is uniformly at end of life - when the original copper is failing in multiple rooms, when the original galvanized has lived past its service life everywhere, when patching is buying weeks or months rather than years.
A partial repipe is the right answer when the failures are localized. Galvanized drops on a copper main. Soft copper in a single wet room. A manifold-to-fixture run that has lived longer than the rest of the system. The scope matches the failure pattern, the cost matches the scope, and the rest of the system stays in place.
The diagnosis is the same either way: pressure-test the system, walk the house, identify every section of original supply, and recommend the smallest scope that addresses the failures. Sometimes that is a whole-house repipe. Sometimes it is three drops and a PRV.
If you have had pinhole leaks in galvanized or original copper - request a repipe assessment or read more about when a partial repipe is the right answer.
