Re-piping Galvanized Supply Lines in Somerset County Homes — When, Why, and What It Costs
Galvanized steel supply lines were the standard for residential construction from roughly 1900 through the late 1960s. They were good pipes when new. They are not good pipes now, because every galvanized line in the country has been corroding internally for 50 to 120 years.
How galvanized fails
The zinc coating that gave galvanized its name corrodes from the inside out. Mineral deposits build up. The internal diameter of a 3/4-inch supply line shrinks to maybe 1/4 inch of actual flow area over decades. Eventually a section gives way. The first failure is usually a pinhole leak in a hidden run; the second failure is a major rupture.
Signs you are close to needing a re-pipe in Somerset County
- Brown or rust-colored water when you first turn on a tap, especially after the house has been quiet for a few hours.
- Pressure dropping when you run two fixtures at once.
- Hot water flow noticeably weaker than cold (galvanized fails faster in hot water lines).
- Visible green or white crusty deposits on exposed pipe joints in the basement.
- Any history of pinhole leaks anywhere in the house.
What re-piping costs in central NJ
Full residential re-pipe in PEX runs roughly $5,000 to $10,000 for a typical 3-bedroom Somerset or Franklin Township-area home, depending on size, accessibility, and how much drywall patching the walls need afterward. Copper is usually 50 to 70 percent more. Most clients land on PEX — faster, less invasive, and a better track record over the past 25 years than copper has had over the same period.
Why this is more urgent than it sounds
Insurance companies are increasingly denying claims on water damage from "wear and tear" failures of original 1950s-1970s galvanized. If your insurer can show your house had original galvanized and you knew or should have known it was failing, you could be on the hook for the cleanup yourself. A pre-emptive re-pipe is cheaper than fighting an insurance denial after a major leak.