Every whole house repiping job has a starting point, and it matters more than most owners expect. The new system begins where the water enters the house, usually at the main shutoff, and everything from there to the fixtures is replaced. What sits on the other side of that point, the pressure regulator and the buried line from the meter, may or may not belong in the job. Alpha Plumbing and Sewer makes that boundary clear for Hiram homeowners from the first visit.
Locating the water entry
In a house with a crawlspace or basement, the service line often comes through the foundation wall on the side facing the street. In a slab home it may rise inside the garage, a utility closet or near the water heater. A pressure-reducing valve is frequently installed close to that entry point. Some older houses have only an outdoor shutoff, which is inconvenient in an emergency. Knowing exactly where the water enters, and that the valve there actually works, comes before any other planning.
The main shutoff valve
Older gate valves with round wheel handles tend to seize or stop sealing completely after years of sitting open. A repipe is the right time to replace one with a full-port ball valve that closes with a quarter turn and does not restrict flow. If the valve is the only problem and the piping is sound, replacing the main shutoff on its own is a standard valve repair.
The pressure regulator and expansion
A pressure-reducing valve lowers the pressure arriving from the street to a level household plumbing can live with. New pipe and fixtures deserve that protection, so the pressure should be checked with a gauge before the tie-in, and an aging regulator can be replaced while the water is already off. Where a regulator or check valve closes the system, an expansion tank absorbs the extra volume as water heats. Both can be handled as part of pressure and PRV work booked alongside the repipe.
The line from the meter
The underground pipe between the meter and the house is not part of an interior repipe. The property owner is usually responsible for that stretch, while the meter and the street side belong to the water provider. If the service line is galvanized, polybutylene or leaking, replacing it falls under main water line repair, which involves trenching or a trenchless method in the yard. Doing both projects close together means the house ends up with new pipe all the way from the meter to the faucet.
From the shutoff to the fixtures
Past the main shutoff, the repipe should specify which trunk lines, branches, fixture stops, water heater connections and outdoor faucets are included, retained or excluded. The new system is pressure tested and inspected before the walls are closed, then flushed and checked fixture by fixture. Material choices and the order of the work are laid out on the statewide repiping page.
Questions about where a repipe starts in Hiram
Is the main shutoff valve replaced during a repipe?
It should at least be evaluated, and replacing an old gate valve is common practice because the new system is only as easy to shut off as its main valve. The estimate should say whether the main shutoff is included, what type of valve will be installed and where it will sit.
Does a repipe include the pipe from the meter to the house?
Not normally. The repipe stops at the main shutoff, and the buried line out to the meter needs digging or a trenchless method in the yard, so it is priced and scheduled as its own project. If both are aging, separate quotes let you book them back to back or a few months apart.
Start at the main shutoff
To learn where a repipe would begin in your Hiram home and what it should include, call Alpha Plumbing and Sewer at (404) 409-4448.