# Repiping Guides for Indianapolis Homes > Repiping guides for Indianapolis homes: galvanized pipe, PEX and copper, costs, City permits, Citizens service lines, leaks and pressure. Find your question. URL: https://circlecityrepipeindy.com/guide/ Plain answers about repiping and the water pipe in an Indianapolis-area house: what it is made of, why it fails, what the City and Citizens Energy Group require, and what replacing it costs and involves. Start with the complete guide, or go straight to your question. Start here ## The complete guide Learn 01 What is repiping, and how does it work? The whole picture in one place: what the water supply system is, what Indianapolis houses were piped with and why it fails, how to tell what you have, the Indiana rules on permits and licensing, and how a repipe is scoped, installed and tested. Guide → Topic 01 ## Galvanized pipe replacement Learn 01 Are galvanized pipes safe? Galvanized steel is not lead pipe, but it can carry a lead problem, and it wears out in ways that matter for flow, leaks and water quality. Here is what the risk actually is, how Indianapolis utilities treat galvanized lines, and how to decide what to do. Guide → Decision Guide 02 Buying a house with galvanized pipes: what to check before closing Old pipe is a common finding in an older Indianapolis house and rarely a reason to walk away on its own. What a home inspection can see, what it cannot, how to check the pipe and the service line yourself, and how to turn the finding into a number before closing. Guide → Learn 03 Why am I getting brown water from my faucet? Brown or rust-colored water has three usual sources: the street, the water heater and the pipe in your walls. A few checks at the tap sort out which one, and only one of them is a repiping question. Guide → Topic 02 ## Lead service line replacement Learn 01 How does the Citizens Energy lead service line replacement program work? What Citizens' letter means, how to look up your own line, what happens when the program reaches your street, what it costs if you go first, and what it leaves inside the house. Guide → Topic 03 ## Water line replacement Learn 01 Citizens meter pit relocation: when the meter moves outside and who pays Why a service line replacement in Citizens territory brings the basement water meter outside, what the pit and the new line involve, what sets the cost, and what an outside meter changes for the owner. Guide → Topic 04 ## Whole-house repiping Learn 01 Do you need a permit to repipe a house in Indianapolis? Yes, almost always. What the City's rule says, where the 20 percent exemption stops, what the permit costs, what the inspector checks and when, who is allowed to pull it, and which nearby cities and towns run their own permit offices. Guide → Learn 02 Does homeowners insurance cover repiping? Usually not the repipe itself, though the damage a failed pipe causes is a different question. How homeowners insurance policies tend to treat pipe, water damage, freezing, slab leaks and the service line, and what to keep on file so a claim can be judged on the facts. Guide → Learn 03 How invasive is repiping a house? A repipe opens walls and ceilings, but at planned points rather than everywhere. How many openings a house needs depends on its basement, stories, walls and the pipe going in, and the patching scope matters as much as the plumbing. Guide → Learn 04 How long does it take to repipe a house? The pipe work is only one stage. A repipe also has a first visit, a permit, an inspection before the walls close, and patching. Here is what each stage involves, what stretches it, and how the water outages are planned around the people living in the house. Guide → Cost Guide 05 How much does a repipe cost in Indianapolis? The typical Indianapolis-area range for a whole-house repipe, what sits inside that number, the City permit fee, why local labor costs more than the national median, and how to read two quotes for the same house. Guide → Learn 06 How to identify lead pipes and the other pipe in your house A step-by-step check you can do at the water meter with a coin and a magnet, the way Citizens Energy Group and the EPA describe it, then how to read the rest of the pipe in the house and what each material changes. Guide → Learn 07 Indianapolis hard water and your pipes Indianapolis water is very hard by any standard. What the utilities' own reports say about hardness and corrosion control, where scale actually does its damage, how it bears on copper, PEX and old galvanized, and what to plan for a softener during a repipe. Guide → Decision Guide 08 PEX vs copper: which is better for repiping a house? Neither pipe wins everywhere. This guide goes factor by factor through what decides the choice in a real Indianapolis house: the water, the winters, the framing, where the pipe will be exposed and how much of the house has to be opened. Guide → Decision Guide 09 Pipe lining vs repiping: how do they compare? Epoxy lining coats the inside of the existing pipe; repiping replaces it. How lining works, where it is pitched as an alternative, what it leaves unchanged, and what an Indianapolis owner should ask before choosing between the two. Guide → Topic 05 ## PEX repiping Learn 01 Is PEX safe for drinking water? What the standards printed on PEX tubing actually test, what new tubing can do to taste and odor, how Indianapolis's chloramine-treated water fits in, and the real limits of the material: sunlight, heat, rodents and fittings. Guide → Decision Guide 02 PEX manifold vs trunk and branch: which layout is better? PEX can be laid out as a trunk with branches, as home runs from a central manifold, or as a mix. This guide works through what each does to hot water waits, pressure, shutoffs, recirculation and the number of openings in an older Indianapolis house. Guide → Topic 06 ## Pipe repair Decision Guide 01 Repipe vs repair: which does the house need? A leak is a symptom. Whether the answer is a repair or a repipe depends on what caused it, what the pipe around it looks like and how many more leaks are coming. Here is how to tell the difference before spending money on either. Guide → Topic 07 ## Copper repiping Decision Guide 01 Type L vs Type K copper: which is used for water lines? Types K, L and M copper share the same outside size and differ only in wall thickness. This guide explains what that changes, how to read the color stripe, where the Indiana code and Citizens Energy Group draw lines, and which type fits each part of a house. Guide → Learn 02 What causes pinhole leaks in copper pipes? There is no single cause of copper pinholes, and anyone who names one without looking at the pipe is guessing. This guide goes through each mechanism, the clues that point to it, what a temporary fix can and can't do, and when the pattern says repipe. Guide → Topic 08 ## Burst & frozen pipe repair Learn 01 What to do when a pipe bursts The order matters: stop the water, make the room safe, drain the lines, then record and dry. Where the main shutoff usually is in an Indianapolis house, what to do if it won't close, and what the repair involves once the water stops. Guide → ## Get an estimate