Ottawa Poly B Plumbing Replacement

Poly-B stands for PolyButylene piping and is a type of grey plastic supply line used to distribute the hot and cold water to the different fixtures and appliances within your home.

Poly B piping is problematic due to its tendency to degrade and leak over time, causing significant water damage and other issues. Factors like chlorine in water supplies, water pressure, and temperature fluctuations can contribute to this degradation, leading to cracks, pinholes, and ultimately, pipe bursts.

Polybutylene pipes cannot be repaired to a degree restores reliability. Therefore they must be replaced. Home insurance companies are also no longer covering homes with Poly B plumbing.

No. Home insurance companies will not issue new policies to homes with polybutylene plumbing in it. The risks are too great to the insurance company.

The Drywall repair cost necessary after a Poly B plumbing replacement can range anywhere between $2,000 and $6,000. This depends on the amount of holes cut and whether they’re on flat surfaces or stipple (popcorn) or some other material.

PatchBoyz Red Seal Plumbers always do their very best to make as few holes as possible to save its client’s money. Another way to save thousands is by bundling. See below.

Since there is a lot of cutting into ceilings, many clients use this opportunity to remove the popcorn ceilings at the same time. This can often save hundreds if not thousands and is a great way to turn a negative into a positive.

Poly B was banned in Canada due to its poor reliability and almost certain failure over time due to its degradation caused by chlorine and other oxidizing chemicals in our water supply as well as installation issues.

Poly B was banned from use by the National Plumbing Code in 1997 and removed from the NRC-CNRC National plumbing code’s acceptable materials in 2005. This means that while your house may have finished building in 1998, it may still have Poly B if the build started in early 1997.The ban was as a result of the increasing number of lawsuits and manufacturers no longer able to hide its obvious unreliability.

You can expect a buyer to ask for a discount of $20,000 to $35,000 off the fair market value (not asking price) of the property. It is also common for the sale of the home to be conditional on the replacement of the plumbing, since insurance companies would not insure the home.

Poly B can be replaced with either copper or PEX. Most folks choose PEX for the following reasons.

• Durability: All the flaws of Poly B were considered when designing PEX.
• Temperature Resistance: PEX is less susceptible to cracking and breaking in cold.
• Cost Effective: More affordable than copper without compromising quality.
• Flexibility: PEX is backwards compatible with existing copper you may already have in areas.