We are looking into buying a fixer upper, but do not want to put over 3,000 into fixing it up. The house is in good shape, the only thing wrong with it is some morons came and stole the copper piping from the ac/heat unit and water heater, and some wiring from the circuit breaker box. We are unsure if the stole any from the attic or not, we still have to check it. But we were wondering if anyone could give use a round about estimate on how much replacing some of what I named usually runs.
1/2 inch copper tubing costs anywhere from $12 to $25 for 10', depending on where you go and whether you use type M or L. Fittings are from about a dollar for a coupling to a few bucks for a union or a tee.
USA There is no way to estimate the replacement cost because you did not give enough information. For example, how many feet of copper tubing? How many valves were in the line? The best estimates you can get is to have a licensed plumber and electrician look at the job and give you the estimates. In lieu of copper tubing, PEX tubing for hot and cold water piping is being installed in many parts of the country. If you do not have an aversion to plastic piping, you should research PEX to replace the copper tubing. You can probably bet on $500 or more for the heating and plumbing, because the HVAC will have to be charged with freon. I don't know how much the electric will cost, but at least $200. Get 2 or more proposals from licensed contractors. DO NOT let the friend of a friend talk you into something that is cheap - you will pay enormously down the road. Do it right.
There's no way to begin to give an estimate on this, not knowing the house size, number of bathrooms, etc. I can say this: you won't have much choice about the refrigerant lines for the AC - that's going to be copper, and that's just the way it is. But the rest of the plumbing in the house you can do yourself with cross-linked polyvinyl chloride piping, CPVC. It's inexpensive, fast, easy, and you can use it on both hot and cold lines. As for the wiring, well - I just hope the bastards got the crap shocked out of them a few times. We were opening a store, getting ready to move merchandise in, only to discover that our 3/0 main service cables had been stolen. Not a happy day.
