We bought our first house (3BD/2Bath, 1400 sqft) which is 50 years old in SF Bay Area that probably needs the repiping (the sellers said that when they come back from vacation, they have seen yellowish water - this tells me the we might need to repipe).

I contacted a couple of repiping companies and the bids are way off (on the copper repiping). One company gave me a bid for $5200 and the other for $9500. When I asked the company with the higher bid to reduce their price, the guy talked about how companies use chinese made pipes (isn't this just copper ..how does this matter) and also the workman ship may not be good etc..

So, I am hoping the experts here can help me with the questions that I need to ask these companies to evaluate and find out he best plumber with the right price.

These are the questions I have so far:

- What kind of copper piping will be used ? The diameter of the pipes, guage (thickness) etc..

- Types of fittings, fixtures..

- How do you patch the holes that are made in the dry wall ?

- 3 references (customers)

Anything else ?

Thank you