When is it worth replacing all the plumbing?
When leaks keep appearing in different places, the water runs brown after standing for hours, the pressure has dropped for no obvious reason, or the pipes are galvanised steel or lead. In those cases each repair fixes one spot and leaves the rest of the system to keep ageing. A replumb replaces the hot and cold water pipework with new pipe and manifolds and, where it makes sense, the internal drainage as well. It is done in stages, with the house occupied.
- Warning signs: repeated leaks, cloudy or rusty water, low pressure, water hammer and noisy pipes
- Always replace: lead and galvanised steel pipes
- New system: multilayer pipe with manifolds; drainage in PP or PVC (Uponor, Geberit, Wavin)
- Licence: as a rule not needed for interior works that do not touch the structure (RJUE, article 6)
- Duration: 7 to 10 days in an apartment, 2 to 3 weeks in a three-bedroom (T3) villa
- Quote: free, after a technical visit, with a reply within 24 working hours
Contents
Repair or replace
A single leak on a pipe that is otherwise in good condition can be repaired, and that is the end of it. The trouble starts when the leak is a symptom. In a galvanised steel system, corrosion eats away at the inside of every pipe at the same time: after the first leak come others, in different places, and each one can ruin a ceiling, a floor or the flat of the neighbour below.
These are the signs that lead us to recommend a full replacement, and what each one usually means:
| Sign | What is usually going on |
|---|---|
| Brown or yellowish water after hours without use | Corrosion inside galvanised steel pipes |
| Low pressure at several points in the house | Limescale and rust narrowing the inside of the pipes |
| Leaks in different places within a few years | The system has reached the end of its life; this is not a one-off fault |
| Banging or whistling when taps are turned off | Badly secured pipes, wrong pipe sizes or excessive pressure |
| Hot water takes a long time to arrive | Long pipe runs in series, with no insulation |
| Damp patches on walls or ceilings | A hidden leak, often at an old joint |
If you recognise two or more of these, every new repair is money spent while the underlying problem stays where it is.
What is usually inside the walls
In houses built up to the 1990s we almost always find one of these materials. Often we find several, the result of repairs made over the years.
| Material | Where it turns up | What happens over time | What we recommend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Galvanised steel (ferro galvanizado) | Villas and apartment blocks up to the 1990s | Rusts from the inside and builds up limescale; the bore gradually narrows | Replace |
| Lead | Old buildings and historic town centres | Can release lead into the water, especially when it stands in the pipes | Always replace |
| Glued PVC on the hot water | Some work from the 1980s and 1990s | Heat ages the pipe and the glued joints; leaks appear at the joints | Replace |
| Copper | Better-quality installations | Lasts for decades; the weak points are soldered joints and aggressive water | Assess case by case |
Lead pipes
EU Directive 2020/2184, transposed into Portuguese law by Decree-Law no. 69/2023, sets a limit of 10 micrograms of lead per litre of water at the tap and requires it to come down to 5 micrograms by 12 January 2036. With lead pipes inside the house, that limit is hard to guarantee, especially for the first water of the morning, which has spent the night standing in the pipes.
How to recognise a lead pipe: it is dull grey and soft, and if you scrape it with a key it turns shiny and silver. A magnet will not stick to it (on galvanised steel, it does). The joints often have a rounded, bulb-like look. We find lead mostly in old houses in historic centres, such as Tavira's.
Limescale and borehole water
Algarve water is hard. Limescale clings to the walls of old pipes and, together with rust, squeezes the bore until the pressure drops. In houses supplied by a borehole (furo), the water can carry sand or be more aggressive towards metals. On the visit we always ask where the water comes from, because that affects the choice of material and the protection where the supply enters the house, such as a filter or a pressure-reducing valve.
What the new system is made of
Almost all water systems are now built in one of these four materials. All of them are good when properly installed. The difference is in how well they adapt to a house that already exists and that people will be living in during the work.
| Material | How it is joined | Strengths | Limitations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multilayer (PEX-AL-PEX) | Press fittings | Bends and holds its shape; expands little; follows the routes of the old pipes | Needs quality fittings and the right press tool |
| PEX | Press or compression fittings | Very flexible; good for awkward runs | Does not hold its shape; needs more fixings |
| PPR | Fusion welding (termofusão) | Tough and widely used in new builds | Rigid; expands a lot with hot water; the welds need room to work |
| Copper | Soldered joints or press fittings | Copes with high temperatures; lasts for decades | More labour; sensitive to aggressive water |
In an occupied home our default choice is multilayer pipe with manifolds, from brands such as Uponor. We use PEX on awkward runs and copper where the temperature calls for it, as in solar panel circuits. For internal drainage we use branded PP or PVC (Geberit, Wavin). We compared the four materials in detail in our guide multilayer, PEX, PPR or copper (in Portuguese).
Manifolds instead of pipes in series
In old houses the water runs in series: the same pipe goes on from tap to tap. In the new system each outlet has its own pipe, running from a manifold. A leak then affects a single outlet, which you can shut off at the manifold without cutting the water to the whole house. And the shower pressure no longer drops when someone starts the washing machine.
Not sure what pipes you have?
On the technical visit we identify the materials in your system, see where the pipes run and tell you whether it is worth replacing everything or only part of it. The visit and the quote are free.
Decisions to make before the work starts
With the walls open, adding or moving an outlet is simple. Once the tiles are on, it is not. These are the questions worth answering before you start:
- Where will the manifold go? It has to stay accessible, in a cupboard or behind an access panel, close to the bathrooms and the kitchen.
- Do you need new outlets? A kitchen island, a dishwasher, a second bathroom, a tap on the terrace.
- Are you changing how you heat your water? If you are thinking of replacing the gas water heater with a heat pump or installing solar thermal, we leave the pipework ready for the tank's new location.
- Are the bathrooms a long way from the hot water? In large villas, hot water recirculation (in Portuguese) saves the wait at every shower.
- Do you want any pre-installations? A condensate drain for air conditioning or a central vacuum system are much easier with the walls open.
- What about the drains? If the waste pipes are old (cast iron, fibre cement or thin-walled PVC), this is the right time to replace them. Fibre cement pipes may contain asbestos; removing them is subject to its own rules and is done by an authorised specialist company.
Apartment or villa: where your pipework ends
In an apartment building, your home's plumbing starts at the meter. The risers that run up through the building and the soil stacks are common parts, belonging to the condominium. We can replace everything inside your flat (the fração), but any work on the risers, or a shutdown of the building's water supply, has to be agreed with the administration. It is also worth warning the neighbour below before any chases are cut in the floor.
In a villa, the internal system runs from the meter to every outlet. The connection to the public mains is the responsibility of the municipal water utility (entidade gestora).
Do you need a licence?
In most cases, no. Article 6 of the Legal Regime for Urbanisation and Building (RJUE, Regime Jurídico da Urbanização e Edificação) exempts conservation works, and alterations inside buildings that do not touch the structure, the façades or the roof, from licensing. Replacing the plumbing along the same routes falls within this. In listed buildings or in protected areas of historic centres, check with the town hall (câmara municipal) first.
How the work goes while you live there
Replacing the plumbing is one of the most invasive jobs we do, alongside underfloor heating. With a clear method, the house keeps working:
- Technical visit. We identify the materials, the pipe routes and what needs replacing.
- Quote, detailed room by room, with a diagram of the new system.
- Work in stages. We install the new system while the old one keeps supplying the house.
- One planned water shutdown, agreed with you, for the final connections. There is always a working bathroom before and after.
- Pressure test at 10 bar for 24 hours, before the walls are closed.
- Photographs of every pipe route before closing up. You will want them the day you hang a cupboard or drill into a wall.
- Chases filled, ready for the builder or tiler to do the finishes.
We reuse the routes of the old pipework wherever possible, to cut as few chases as we can, and we seal off the work area to keep dust under control. In a three-bedroom villa the work usually takes 2 to 3 weeks. In an apartment, 7 to 10 days.
What we don't do
To save everyone time: we do not do one-off repairs or drain unblocking. If you have a single leak in a system that is in good condition, a repair plumber will sort it out faster. We also do not do tiling, painting or finishing masonry; we leave the chases filled and ready for whoever does that part.
We come in when the decision is to replace the whole system, or at least a full floor or a complete area of the house. That is where doing the job once works out better than ten repairs.