If the flow/pressure on the outside faucet and the washer faucet are both an issue would that mean it's an issue in the line between the meter and the city?

Have you tried doing flow test for outside faucets? How about water heater or boiler. The result should help narrow down the location.

You should have something like this after the meter.
»www.watts.com/pages/_products_de···?pid=776

Well, even with the 1/2" - something's not right (which you know... otherwise, you wouldn't be here, like you said!) - you should be able to pull 7.5-8 gpm through that 1/2" You must have a restriction in the line somewhere.

I wouldn't have posted a thread if the pipe could be easily replaced. People just aren't reading or understanding the point of this thread. It's asking for alternatives period. Not to rehash what we already know. :)

I don't think it will do much for flow unless he removes the flow control orifices in his faucets and shower heads.

It's been said 3 times already but here's a 4th. Changing the 1/2 pipe is NOT AN OPTION.

Your real problem is the 1/2 pipe for your main runs. 3/4 or 1 inch would do much better for volume. My house (which I redid myself) is piped this way - 3/4 inch mainlines, then 1/2 to each fixture.

And yes - I know about the 1/2 inch. My brother re-did my mom's house plumbing (without talking to me or a licensed plumber) and used 1/2 copper all the way - she can't even run the washing machine and take a shower at the same time ! I can run 3-4 shower heads AND fill the washing machine (at least until the hot water tank runs out) AND have a hose bib filling the pool AND run the dishwasher on a well that puts out 13 gallons per minute.

You said the main lines are copper, are the stub outs copper as well? I've seen many cases where the entire home is done in copper but the 6" stub outs coming out of the wall are galvanized steel. Over time they fill up with deposits and almost completely close off. I've seen this on the galvanized piece connecting the copper hot line to the water heater as well.

They are .5 gpm in the bathroom sinks & 1.5 gpm showerheads.

The kitchen sink may have a flow restriction in it, hopefully the laundry tub or outside faucet won't.

Yes there is a restriction, the low flow aerators really suck. In this house and my previous residence the master bath was located on the opposite side of the house as the water heater. It took forever to get hot water. I replaced the aerators in my previous residence with full flow aerators and that mitigated the problem. I do not have the same luxury in this house. I cannot find a full flow aerator for the bathroom sinks in this house. It can take up to one minute to fill a gallon jug in the kitchen. You might check and find out what the rating is on the flow restriction on your aerators. They can vary from 0.2 GPM to 1.5 GPM. Check with the manufacture of your faucets to find out what aerator options that you have.

Any chance that your pipe is internally restricted somewhere?

Where and when are you seeing low volume?

Yes, a booster pump and tank would probably help, but it'd likely be simpler and less expensive to just replace that 1/2" main (which is way under-sized) with 3/4 or 1". PEX isn't expensive and is easy enough to DIY.

Just stumbled onto a pressure tank manufactures site. You can use a tank without a pump as well. The cities pressure fills the tank. Given the pressure is like 55ish psi from the city that might be a possibility as well.

That said I called a plumber to come out and look at it tonight.

The pressure tank and pump would only help for small uses of water. How much a small use would be is going to vary based on the pressure tank size. A shower for instance is likely to go through that capacity for modest sized tanks quickly and then you're right back to where you started.