Whole House Repiping in Johns Creek, GA

Most families stay at home during whole house repiping, and with some planning the disruption is manageable. The crew works in a few rooms at a time, the old pipes usually keep supplying water until the switch-over, and outages are scheduled rather than sprung on anyone. Here is what Johns Creek households can expect when Alpha Plumbing and Sewer repipes a home that is still being lived in. If you are still deciding whether the house needs it, the usual triggers are leaks that keep coming back, rust-tinted water, weak flow at several fixtures and pipe materials with a poor track record, such as polybutylene.

A typical sequence of days

• The opening days: rooms are protected, access openings are cut, and new lines are run through the attic, crawlspace or basement. Water stays on for most of each day.
• The switch-over: the water is shut off while the new system is connected at the main and the water heater. This is the longest outage of the job.
• Inspection: walls stay open until the new piping passes.
• Closing up: openings are patched and sanded, and the work areas are cleaned.

How long each phase takes depends on the size of the house and the number of bathrooms, so ask for a written schedule before work begins.

Planning around water outages

Keep several jugs of drinking water on hand, plus a bucket or two of water for flushing toilets during a long shutoff. Run the laundry and dishwasher the day before the switch-over. Showers can be moved to early morning or evening if water returns at the end of the workday; ask whether it will. A cooler with a few ready meals makes the outage day much easier.

Keeping dust and noise in check

Cutting drywall makes fine dust, so the crew should seal off work areas with plastic sheeting and cover floors along the paths they use. Ask them to cover nearby return-air grilles so the heating and cooling system does not pull dust through the house. Saws and drills are loud in short bursts; if someone works from home, set up as far from the bathrooms and kitchen as possible.

Kitchens, children and pets

The kitchen sink is usually offline for a period while its new lines are connected. A temporary station in another room, with paper plates and a kettle or microwave, gets the household through it. Open walls and tools are not safe places for small children, so close doors to active rooms. Pets are calmer in a quiet room with the door shut, or with a friend for the noisiest days.

Keys, access and parking

Decide who will let the crew in each morning, or arrange a code or key. Clear a path to the water heater, the attic hatch and any crawlspace door, and leave room in the driveway for a work vehicle. Put away valuables and anything fragile in rooms where the crew will work.

Who may pull a Johns Creek permit

The city code calls for a permit before a plumbing system is installed, altered or replaced, and a permit can be issued to a contractor with a license or to an owner who occupies the home. The city's permit checklist treats work that alters piping as permitted work, while swapping a fixture in the same spot needs none. If the water heater is due for replacement, putting in a new gas water heater during the repipe keeps the permits and connections together. Fixture swaps that leave the piping alone are ordinary plumbing repairs, and the Georgia repiping overview explains the technical side of the work.

Questions about living at home during a Johns Creek repipe

Will we have water at night during the repipe?

Usually, yes. Most of the work happens while the old pipes are still connected, and many crews restore water at the end of each workday. The exception can be the switch-over to the new system. Ask for the outage days in writing so you can plan meals, laundry and showers around them.

How messy is a repipe in an occupied house?

There is some dust from cutting and patching drywall, plus tools and materials in the rooms being worked on. Plastic sheeting, floor protection and daily cleanup keep it contained. Expect the most dust during patching and sanding, and plan a final cleaning once the walls are finished.

Does someone need to be home while the crew works?

Not necessarily all day, but someone should be available to let the crew in, answer questions about fixtures, and check the work at the end. Many owners arrange to be home on the first day and on the switch-over day, and leave access arrangements for the rest.

Staying home through the work

Staying put while your Johns Creek home is repiped goes more smoothly with a schedule built around your household, and Alpha Plumbing and Sewer can plan one with you at (404) 409-4448.