It could be reasonable not to replace the house main. For one thing, these are two different jobs, one below ground and one within the building. As such, the overlap of work time and readiness of the plumber is a small savings compared to the investment in excavation.

Pipe replacement in the house is often done because of a great reduction in flow, due to calcification in old iron pipes. That issue is not likely to be so for the customer line, because it is much larger.

Sometimes the condition of IP plumbing that is replaced is so awful it is disgusting to think that it was recently used for potable water. But, in reality, to the extent they supply water, and when undisturbed, they supply virtually the same quality that is available at the source.

In fact, the accumulation of solids in a supply line is evidence that the water is somewhat cleaner after leaving deposits behind.

It is entirely possible that  while you may see immediate benefits from re-piping to house  you may never realize a benefit from re-piping the supply line. Of course, one way to test that theory is to do them in two separate operations.

Cost-wise, the contractor said, "Â it's cheaper to do it now while they're doing the house re-piping." Is this supported by real-number estimates? I suspect their argument is like all business: "Save money by buying."

Now, if you want a really good job, have the city replace all the piping from their supply to your house.

Just another point of view. Operates on the nostrum, "If it ainÂt broke, donÂt fix it."

Pinoke

Most re-piping is bid where I live by what the owner wants. If you want it all replaced you have to tell the bidder. It's common practice to have a separate bid for exposed pipe, concealed pipe, and underground. "Most" local water suppliers will only work on the line to the property line. It comes down to your call. Luck

Save your money on the plumbing from your house to the street. Tell your plumber that if he can prove that the street plumbing is blocked, you will consider it. The test is simple. Have him disconnect the house plumbing at the meter on the house side and measure the flow rate out of a test spigot. I will bet it is ok. Sooo, don't do it.

It would be a good idea to test that line...but, if I had to make a bet, without testing, I'd say replace the galvanized. If that line isn't compromised now it will be at some point in the future. You don't say how old your plumbing is. But I can tell you that I replaced the main supply line to my 40 year old house (10' sections of galvanized) and it was totally corroded: I tried to look through one 10' long section and there was no light coming through. If it had been a human, it would have needed a bypass operation.

I forgot to mention that the main supply line from the meter is the chokepoint for the rest of your system, so redoing your house with all copper may only make a modest improvement if the water has to go through a compromised galvanized pipe to get to the rest of the system.
If it's a money issue, do what I did: I hired a couple of teenagers to dig down and unearth the line (about 2' down) and then I bought a roll of 1" copper supply line that I laid out in the ditch and hooked up to the meter. The water company was even willing to give me a new fitting to connect up to the meter.

I REALY need to repipe. What material is the best/cost efficient and how about this outside stuff you are talking about? I certainly can't do it. What is that and is it an extra cost? What kind of estimates should I expect for a northern CA tract mosest house? And ...where are the hidden costs in all of this. Please help-I am not sure where to start-I hear ads on the radio ALL of the time.

In my jurisdiction I generally don't recommend replacing the supply line from the street to the house. Why? Because our local natural gas supplier offers what they call a "Line Backer Policy". In essence for an additional $5 month on your gas bill the offer an insurance on all buried utility lines except telephone and cable TV. This means that if you have gas line, sewer line or water supply line fail they replace it under the service agreement.

You should replace all the pipe in your home starting for the meter at the street to get the best result. You have 2 choices either use Copper pipe or Pex pipe (plastic) both is very good. Copper is a bit more expensive but worth the money. Pex pipe is also very good and cost less the copper. The only difference is copper has a longer warranty than Pex pipe does. Copper is warranty for 50 years where Pex is warranty for 25 years. For more information you can call Ameri-Cal Repipe and Plumbing (626) 610-3015 or (877) 789-7786. They have over 15 years experience in the field and they come highly recommended.

Here is a link that might be useful: americalplumbing.com

If the mainline is galvenize, then is best to replace it.

Hey Jenning, you're only 6 years late!

6 years since the last spam post, but 10 years since the original!

Hi, I'm in the process of repiping my house including the supply line from the street. I live high up off the street and have about a 5' retaining wall from the street and then another 2-3' on top of that. My plumber wants to put the pipe on the outside of the taller wall ( with some type of cover of course, not exposed copper) rather than dig down so far from the top to the street. Does this sound ok?

dbilder: It's best to start a new thread instead of gloaming on to one that is 11 years old.

It what part of the country do you live? You clearly can't have a pipe above the frost line if you are exposed to freezing at all. Your water supplier will likely have the say about how it's done.

Be aware that ahorizontal drill (directional drilling / boring) would probably be much more effective than trenching in your situation. I know nothing about the company in the link, I just provided it as an example.

thank you Jake, you've given me some things to think about.

I live in California.

It's a big state. Does it get below freezing ever where you are in California?

I have a rental in NC and there is a leak in my side yard and had a plumber come out. He said it would be about 3,500 to replace the galvanized pipe that went from the house to the street. I was wondering if I could just have the portion that was leaking fixed which is underground. The whole pipe being replaced goes under cement which would need to come up. Someone mentioned to me if it was a host bed line that it could just be sealed. Does this sound correct? And, can I just patch part of the galvanized pipe that is leaking?

No, do not do a patch job, that is just asking for a redo soon in the future. Repipe is your only real solution. Most of the cost is the labor in trenching. If you are willing to do a lot of digging the price might go down, you can ask that.

If you are handy and able to cut the concrete and demo, that will also bring down the price. Obviously not for everyone.

Thanks! in CA and rental in NC so helping with work at this point not an option...but appreciate the advice:) What is an average cost for a repipe of main line? And, should I consider copper or is there something cheaper?

The concrete does not necessarily have to come up. If it is, for example, a driveway, there are ways to go under it with a hydraulic tool that will bore a channel that new copper pipe could go through. You could just abandon the old, galvanized pipe in place. However, without a more complete description of the layout and dimensions, it's hard to give you any more info about what is actually possible.

kudzu9: "You could just abandon the old, galvanized pipe "

Ye gads - what would the abandoned pipe feel like?

Also, I have heard that you can push through a copper pipe inside the galvanized....is that true and is that a good and cheaper option?

Carlene-

I don't think that's an option. First, galvanized pipe is typically so corroded that there are big protrusions of rust and mineral deposits inside, which would make getting anything pushed through nearly impossible. When I replaced my corroded, galvanized pipe years ago, it consisted of ten foot long sections screwed together. I tried to look through one of the sections and it was like the plumbing version of arteriosclerosis: there was so much obstruction that I couldn't see light at the other end of the pipe. Second, even if you were able to get a copper pipe through the inside of the galvanized pipe, it would need to be such a smaller diameter that it would be unlikely to meet code requirements. I think you may be conflating this with the option of placing a plastic liner inside old sewer pipes, which is a real thing.

For a main water line replacement do you recommend PEX or Copper and what might be an estimated cost?

OK - Carlene: It will be $99 dollars.