A decision table for older houses in Leander, Liberty Hill and Cedar Park, and the two things to check before anyone opens a wall.
For an older house in Leander or Liberty Hill, one isolated leak in otherwise sound copper is a repair, and two or three leaks inside a few years in galvanized steel or polybutylene is a repipe. Age alone does not decide it. What decides it is the pipe material, the leak history, and the static water pressure, in that order, and two of those three can be checked in a single visit before anyone opens a wall.
| Situation | Usually the right call |
|---|---|
| One isolated leak, sound copper elsewhere | Repair it and check the pressure |
| Two leaks many years apart | Repair, and start budgeting |
| Two or three pinhole or slab leaks in a few years | Price a repipe now |
| Original galvanized steel supply lines | Strong case for a repipe |
| Grey polybutylene supply lines | Strong case for a repipe |
| Copper with repeated slab leaks | Reroute overhead or repipe |
| Good copper with no leak history | Leave it alone |
A second slab leak in the same house is very often a pressure problem wearing a pipe problem’s clothes. The 2021 International Plumbing Code, which the City of Leander has adopted, requires an approved pressure-reducing valve wherever static pressure inside the building exceeds 80 psi, and it caps the building at 80 psi. Central Texas systems routinely deliver more than that at the meter. If your house has no regulator, or a regulator that has failed open, every joint in the house is being pushed harder than the code allows, and a repipe into that pressure will start leaking too.
A pressure gauge on a hose bib takes a minute and answers the question. It is the first thing we do on a leak call, and it is on the leak detection visit whether or not a repipe follows.
The material sets the ceiling. InterNACHI’s standard life expectancy chart for homes puts copper water lines at 70 years and PEX at 40, with the caveat that life varies with usage, installation, maintenance and the quality of the materials. Galvanized steel corrodes from the inside and closes down over decades, which shows up as low flow at the farthest fixture before it shows up as a leak. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency adds a second reason to retire it: galvanized pipe that is or ever was downstream of lead can adsorb lead particles and keep contributing lead to drinking water after the original source is gone.
Polybutylene is the grey plastic supply pipe installed from the late 1970s into the mid 1990s. When you find it, the decision is made; it is replaced rather than repaired.
Hardness is the local factor. The City of Leander’s 2024 drinking water quality report measured 194 parts per million of calcium and magnesium, and the City of Cedar Park’s 2024 report measured 183; Liberty Hill buys Lake Travis water from Leander and runs four wells of its own in the Trinity aquifer. The U.S. Geological Survey classes anything over 180 milligrams per liter as very hard and notes that the scale it leaves can clog pipes. On galvanized steel the scale and the rust work together.
The other local factor is the ground. Texas A&M Transportation Institute research on expansive clay puts it simply: an expansive clay soil does not change volume unless its moisture content changes, and when it does, the movement distorts the slab above it. A supply line run through or under that slab moves with it. That is the mechanism behind most of the slab leaks we repair, and it is why an overhead reroute through the attic is often the better repipe for a slab house.
The Insurance Information Institute reports that water damage and freezing were 22.6 percent of homeowners insurance claims in 2023, with about 1 in 60 insured homes filing one each year. Each repair on an old system also carries the cost the estimate never shows: the drywall, the flooring, the cabinet base. Until you decide, the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety’s advice stands: know where the main shut-off is, and turn it off when you travel.
A repipe is permitted work. The City of Leander’s permit page lists plumbing remodels and water connections and asks homeowners to confirm with a city building inspector; we pull the permit and meet the inspector. The Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners requires a Responsible Master Plumber to supervise and manage plumbing work performed under the licence, to make sure everyone on the job holds a current licence or registration, and to carry at least $300,000 of commercial liability insurance. Vaquero Plumbing repipes homes in Leander, Liberty Hill and Cedar Park under RMP 15304. Bring us the year built, slab or pier-and-beam, the pipe material if you know it, and the leak history, and we will tell you which row of the table you are in. Call 512-893-8705.
Look where a supply line is exposed: under a sink, at the water heater, or in the attic. Copper is orange-brown metal, galvanized steel is grey metal with threaded fittings, PEX is flexible red, blue or white plastic, and polybutylene is grey plastic with crimped fittings. A licensed plumber can confirm it in one visit.
The City of Leander's permit page lists plumbing remodels among permitted work and tells homeowners to confirm with a city building inspector. Leander enforces the 2021 International Plumbing Code. Vaquero Plumbing pulls the permit and schedules the inspection under licence RMP 15304.
Usually. PEX runs through the attic and down to each fixture, so the openings are at the fixtures and the water heater rather than along every old pipe path. Drywall repair is part of the job and part of the quote.
From leaks and clogs to water heaters and repipes, our family-owned crew is ready with same-day service and honest pricing.