In Depth
Poly-B Replacement In Calgary: How It Actually Works
Poly-B replacement is two jobs that people often mix up. The first is the emergency: a grey plastic fitting or a brass Kitec fitting lets go, water comes through a ceiling, and you need the leak stopped and the water back on. The second is the planned repipe: taking every old supply line out of service and replacing it with PEX, with a permit and an inspection. We do both, but we will not use a leak at midnight to sell you a repipe at midnight. Fix the leak now, decide on the rest in daylight.
What Poly-B and Kitec actually are
Poly-B is polybutylene, a grey plastic water supply pipe installed in millions of homes in Canada and the US from around 1978 to 1997. It fails at the fittings and along the runs. In Calgary that period covers a lot of the suburban building of the late 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Falconridge, established in 1979, sits right in the Poly-B era, and in the earliest phases of Tuscany, established in 1994, Poly-B is possible. Possible is the honest word: plenty of houses from those years were plumbed in copper, and plenty were partly redone since. The only way to know is to look.
Kitec is a different product: IPEX PEX-AL-PEX pipe, plastic with an aluminium layer, joined with brass fittings, sold from 1995 to 2007. It is often orange and blue. The pipe itself is not usually the problem. The brass fittings are, because they can fail.
Both show up in the same places: at the hot water tank, in the unfinished part of the basement ceiling, under sinks, behind toilets and at the laundry taps.
The class actions are closed
People still ask whether a settlement will pay for replacement. It will not. The Canadian Poly-B class actions were settled (DuPont in 2002 to 2003, Shell in 2004) and all of them are closed. The Kitec settlement was US$125 million in 2011, with a claims deadline of January 9, 2020, and it is closed as well. If someone offers a repipe “covered by the settlement”, walk away.
Tonight: the emergency repair
When a Poly-B or Kitec line is leaking, the order of work does not change:
- Shut off the main valve. In most Calgary houses the main shut-off is inside, in the basement, next to the water meter. Turn it clockwise until it stops. If it will not move, do not force it until it snaps; tell us on the phone.
- Turn off the hot water tank if the leak is on the hot side and you will be without water for a while.
- Open a tap on the lowest floor to drain pressure off the system.
- Move what you can and take photos for your insurer.
The plumber then cuts out the failed section or fitting and joins new PEX to the existing line with approved transition fittings. A leak repair like this does not need a permit, so you are not waiting on the City to get water back. The price for the section is typically $275 to $1,200 when it is reachable, or $650 to $2,500 when a ceiling or wall has to be opened to reach it. If the leak is hidden and all you have is a stain, leak detection is $300 to $700. The full sequence for a failed pipe is on the burst pipe repair page.
After hours, the call-out is $175 to $395 on top of labour, explained on the phone before anyone is dispatched. If the main is off and the leak is contained, you may be better off waiting for business hours. We will say so.
Later: the planned repipe to PEX
A repipe replaces every supply line in the house: cold from the main shut-off, hot from the tank, and the branches to each fixture and outdoor tap. New PEX runs in the basement ceiling where it can, then up through walls into bathrooms and the kitchen. Every fixture gets a new shut-off valve.
Replacing supply lines alters the plumbing system, so the City requires a plumbing permit, and the work is inspected. The contractor pulls that permit. To do so a business needs a City Contractor business licence and registration as a City Qualified Tradesperson. Calgary also requires low-water-use fixtures on permitted work, which matters if you are swapping fixtures in the same project.
What drives the price
The typical Calgary range for a Poly-B or Kitec whole-home repipe is $6,500 to $16,000, before GST, with drywall repair not included. Where your house lands depends on:
- Size and number of bathrooms. More fixtures, more runs.
- Access. An unfinished basement under a bungalow is the easy case. A finished basement or bathrooms stacked over finished rooms means more openings.
- Mixed systems. Houses that were partly repiped before sometimes have copper, Poly-B and PEX all spliced together; each transition gets checked.
- The hot water tank connections, which are often replaced at the same time. If the tank itself is near the end, see hot water tank repair before you decide.
Repair or repipe: side by side
| Emergency section repair | Whole-home repipe to PEX | |
|---|---|---|
| When | The night it leaks | Planned, on a date you choose |
| Typical Calgary range | $275–$1,200 accessible, $650–$2,500 with drywall/ceiling access | $6,500–$16,000, drywall repair not included |
| City permit | Not needed for a leak repair | Plumbing permit and inspection |
| What it fixes | One failed section or fitting | Every Poly-B or Kitec supply line in the house |
| What is left | The rest of the old pipe | Nothing of the old supply system in service |
| Paperwork | Invoice and plumber’s note for your insurer | Permit record, invoice and written scope |
Insurance and selling
Some insurers ask about Poly-B, and the answer can matter when you apply or renew. Ask your own insurer what they need; we will not guess on their behalf. What does hold across the industry is that standard Canadian home policies typically cover sudden and accidental water damage from indoor plumbing. Keep the failed fitting, take photos, and ask for a written report. After a repipe, the permit record is the clearest proof that the old pipe is out.
Buyers ask too. If you are selling a house from the Poly-B years and do not know what is in the walls, a diagnostic visit ($99 to $199 in business hours, often credited toward the repair) answers the question before it comes up in a negotiation.
Hiring for a repipe
A repipe is a contract of several thousand dollars, often signed at your kitchen table and often with a deposit. In Alberta, a business that concludes a home repair contract away from its place of business and takes money before the work is finished needs a prepaid contracting licence from Service Alberta. Ask whether the contractor holds it. Consumers can cancel door-to-door or prepaid contracting contracts within 10 days in the cases the Consumer Bill of Rights describes.
Ask as well who will do the work. Plumber is a compulsory certification trade in Alberta, and our plumbers are Alberta-certified journeypersons, with certificate details available on request. Poly-B and Kitec pipes in Calgary homes covers the background in more depth, and the emergency plumber cost guide puts these numbers next to the rest of the trade.
Where we see it
Poly-B and Kitec turn up wherever houses were built or renovated in their years, across all four quadrants. In the northeast, 1980s communities like Falconridge are typical ground; see plumbers in NE Calgary. Houses in Signal Hill (established 1986) and Royal Oak (established 1997) are worth checking too. Wherever you are, if the pipe is leaking right now, shut off the main and call. You will get an honest arrival window on the phone, based on where the nearest plumber actually is and what the roads are doing.
Last updated September 26, 2026
