Home Repiping Services in Nanaimo & Vancouver Island
P3 Mechanical & Electrical repipes houses across Nanaimo and central Vancouver Island, replacing failing polybutylene, corroded galvanized steel, and pinholed copper supply lines with PEX. A whole-home repipe is usually finished in a few working days with the water back on each evening, and every job starts with a free walk through the house and a written quote rather than a number over the phone.
When a repipe beats another repair
A repipe is the point where fixing the same system again stops paying for itself. Grey polybutylene went into BC homes from roughly 1985 through 1997, and it seldom bursts mid-run — the fittings let go instead, quietly, behind drywall or under a bathroom floor. One failed fitting is a repair. A second and a third in different rooms mean the whole system has reached the same age at the same time, and insurers now ask about Poly-B at renewal, which turns a plumbing decision into a coverage one.
Older pipe fails in its own way. Galvanized steel silts up from the inside until the hot side of an upstairs shower runs at a trickle, and no amount of clearing brings the bore back. Copper is tougher, but where water chemistry is aggressive it develops pinhole leaks, usually in a run that stays hot. If you are already opening walls for a bathroom or kitchen renovation, that is the cheapest hour a repipe will ever cost you — the access is free.
What's included
- A walkthrough of the crawlspace, attic, and mechanical room to identify what pipe is actually in the walls before anything is quoted
- Full repiping in PEX, from the main shutoff through to every fixture in the house
- Partial repipes where only one section is the problem — a crawlspace run, a laundry wall, a single bathroom branch
- New shutoff valves, hose bibs, and fixture supply lines fitted while the walls are open
- Wall and ceiling access cut at planned points, then patched back to a paint-ready finish or left open for your renovator, whichever suits the job
- A pressure test on the finished system before anything is closed up
- The permit and the municipal inspection arranged as part of the job, not left with you
Pricing & what's covered
Free estimate
We price the job after an in-home visit, once someone has seen what's there.
- One-year warranty on our labour. Equipment and parts are covered separately, under the supplier's or manufacturer's own warranty.
- We'll go over licensing and equipment with you at the visit.
How it works
Assessment — we trace the existing pipe, identify the material, and map where new runs can go with the fewest openings.
Written scope and quote — material, the number of access points, and exactly what happens to your walls, agreed before anything is cut.
Repiping — new lines go in section by section rather than all at once, so the house is not left without water overnight.
Pressure test and inspection — the system is tested and inspected before walls close, and every fixture is checked for flow and temperature.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to repipe a house in Nanaimo?
We publish no figure for it, though replacing a single run is a fraction of a whole-home repipe. Square footage matters less than the number of bathrooms and how much wall has to be opened to reach the pipe — a rancher on a full crawlspace is far easier than a two-storey on a slab. The walk-through is free and we quote in writing after it.
How long will my water be off during a repipe?
The whole job takes a few working days for an average house, but you are not without water for the duration. We isolate one section at a time and restore service at the end of each day.
Do I have to repipe the whole house, or can you just do part of it?
Partial repipes are a real option and often the right one — if a single crawlspace run or one bathroom branch is the trouble, replacing that section costs a fraction of a full repipe. The calculation changes once fittings start failing in more than one part of the house, because each further repair buys less time than the last.
Will you have to tear out all my drywall?
No. New PEX is routed through crawlspaces, attics, and interior wall cavities wherever the framing allows, so most of the openings are small and deliberate — at fixtures, at direction changes, and where a run crosses a wall. We agree those locations with you before cutting, and you see them on the quote.
Why is my insurance company asking about polybutylene?
Because the fittings on those systems have a documented history of failing without warning, and the resulting water damage claims are expensive. Some BC insurers now decline, surcharge, or limit coverage on houses that still have Poly-B, which is why a repipe often gets discussed at renewal rather than after a leak.
Is PEX actually better than copper for a repipe?
For a residential repipe it is the practical choice: it is flexible, so long runs can be pulled through existing cavities with fewer joints and fewer openings in your walls, and it tolerates freezing far better than rigid pipe. Copper remains excellent material, but it costs more to install and needs a joint at every change of direction.
Where we offer this
Ready to get it fixed?
Call now, or send us the details online and we'll follow up.