Calgary Real Estate Blog

Kitec has a worse reputation online than it deserves, and a more complicated reality than most articles admit. Search it and you'll find plenty of pages telling you it's defective plumbing that's guaranteed to burst. That isn't what the class action settlement said, and it isn't what the inspectors who see the most of it say either.

What's also true is that Kitec can affect whether you can insure a house, and that's a real problem that has nothing to do with whether the pipe in front of you is actually going to fail. We've seen the insurance answer decide a deal before anyone got around to asking a plumber a single question.

Here's what we walk our buyers through when Kitec comes up.

What is Kitec plumbing?

Kitec is a composite water line, introduced in Canada around 1995 and used until roughly 2007, though it has turned up in homes built as late as 2012. It was used for hot and cold domestic water, for radiant in-floor heating, and in some hot water heating systems.

The pipe itself is layered. Polyethylene on the inside and outside with a thin aluminum layer in the middle, which is what gave it the flexibility that made it attractive to install. It was cheaper than copper and faster to run, which is why so much of it went into homes during that stretch.

In Calgary, pay particular attention to homes from that era with in-floor radiant heating or a boiler system. That application draws more scrutiny than a straight domestic water installation, both because heat is one of the things Kitec tolerates poorly and because remediation is a different job when the pipe is in a slab.

How do I know if a home has Kitec?

The classic installation uses blue pipe for cold water and orange for hot, with brass fittings at the connections. That's the first thing people look for, and it's a reasonable starting point, but colour on its own doesn't settle it. Plenty of other plumbing products come in blue, red, and orange.

What actually confirms it is the markings printed on the pipe. Look for Kitec, KTC, IPEX AQUA, PlumbBetter, WarmRite, AmbioComfort, XPA, Kitec XPA, KERR Controls, or Plomberie Améliorée. Those are all names the system was sold under, and they're the ones named in the settlement. A CSA B137.9 or B137.10 marking is another indicator worth noting.

The easiest places to look are around the hot water tank, in the mechanical room, under sinks, and where the plumbing runs into a wall. On a home from that era, it's worth taking two minutes with a flashlight before you write an offer rather than finding out at the inspection.

Is Kitec the same as PEX?

No, and this is worth being clear about because it causes real confusion.

Kitec contains PEX-type material, but its layered construction and its fittings make it a different system than the PEX being installed in homes today. Modern PEX is a standard, widely used plumbing product with no relationship to the Kitec problem. Finding flexible plastic water lines in a house does not mean you've found Kitec.

It's also not Poly-B. Poly-B is a grey pipe from an earlier era, roughly the late 1980s through the late 1990s, and it fails for different reasons. We wrote about Poly-B separately if you're looking at a home from that stretch instead. Read the Poly-B guide here.

Why is Kitec considered a problem?

The main concern is the brass fittings rather than the pipe.

Brass is made of copper and zinc. Under certain conditions the zinc can leach out of the fitting, a corrosion process called dezincification. That weakens the fitting itself, and it also produces deposits that build up and restrict water flow. So you can get two different problems out of the same process: a fitting that eventually gives out, and reduced flow through the system before it does.

There have also been concerns about the pipe deteriorating under excessive temperature and pressure, which is part of why Kitec paired with a boiler or in-floor heating gets more attention than a straight domestic water installation.

Two signs the settlement administrator specifically tells homeowners to watch for: white residue on the outside of a fitting, and blackening of the pipe. If you own a home with Kitec, those are worth knowing.

Does finding Kitec mean the plumbing is going to fail?

No, and this is the part that gets overstated everywhere online.

A home can have Kitec that has run for twenty years without a known leak. What's true is that the system has a documented history of failures, and that you generally cannot look at a fitting and predict whether or when that particular one will go. Those are two different statements, and the difference matters when you're deciding what to do about a house.

You'll find sources saying the question isn't if your Kitec will leak but when. I'd be careful with that framing. The settlement itself doesn't make that claim, and what the settlement administrator actually recommends is having a licensed plumber evaluate the system when there's a suspected problem, not immediate replacement of every intact installation. Carson Dunlop, a firm that has been inspecting homes since 1978 and that trains home inspectors through a program developed with the American Society of Home Inspectors, has taken the position that Kitec's reputation is largely unwarranted and that actual failures are rarer than the internet suggests, with most problems traceable to poor installation or unusual conditions.

That doesn't mean ignore it. It means find out what you're dealing with in that specific house rather than reacting to a search result.

What happened with the Kitec class action lawsuit?

IPEX and related companies faced class action litigation over Kitec in both Canada and the United States. In 2011 courts in Ontario, Quebec, and the Northern District of Texas approved a settlement establishing a fund of US$125 million to pay for repairs to buildings plumbed with the system.

Two things about that settlement are worth understanding.

The defendants settled without admitting the system was defective. That's a normal feature of settlements, and it's why "there was a class action" isn't the same as "a court found this product defective."

And the claims deadline has passed. It was January 9, 2020. If you're buying a home with Kitec in it today, there's no claim to file, and a seller telling you the settlement will cover it is working from outdated information. Notably, a large portion of that fund went unclaimed, which tells you something about how many homeowners never knew what was in their walls.

Will insurance cover a home with Kitec?

It depends on the company, and this is where I'd be careful about the wording you'll see elsewhere.

A home with Kitec is not uninsurable as a blanket matter. Some insurers will decline it. Others will insure it but attach conditions, most commonly a higher deductible on water damage claims, and some will want it replaced within a set period. At least some Canadian insurers continue to write these homes under the right circumstances.

What that means practically is the same thing it means with Poly-B: the answer depends on which company you're dealing with, so find out during your condition period rather than assuming either way. You'll also need to disclose it on your application. Not disclosing a known plumbing system is the kind of thing that gives an insurer grounds to void a policy later, which is a far worse outcome than a higher deductible.

I've seen the insurance answer, not the plumbing, be the thing that decides how one of these deals goes.

What if I'm buying a condo with Kitec?

This one deserves its own conversation, because the answer to "who pays" isn't automatic.

Kitec can be inside an individual unit, in the building's common plumbing or heating system, or both. Whether replacement is the corporation's responsibility or yours depends on the condominium plan, the bylaws, and whether the affected components are part of the unit or common property. The original settlement recognized this directly, allowing either a condominium corporation or an individual owner to claim depending on who was responsible for the plumbing.

So if you're looking at a condo from that era, the condo documents matter more than usual. The financials, the reserve fund study, the board minutes, and any engineering reports are where you'll find out whether Kitec has come up, whether there's remediation planned, and whether the corporation has budgeted for it. A building that already knows about it and has funded a plan is in better shape than one where nobody has looked. A special assessment for a full building repipe is not a small number.

This is the kind of thing a good condo document review catches and a rushed one misses.

What does it cost to replace Kitec in Calgary?

It depends enough on the specific house that a published number isn't much use to you.

Remediation means replacing the Kitec piping and fittings with a modern product, usually PEX. What drives the cost is the size and layout of the home, how much Kitec is actually in it, how accessible the runs are, and how much drywall and ceiling has to come out and go back in afterward. A bungalow with an open basement is a different job than a two storey with finished ceilings and multiple bathrooms, and on that second house a real share of the bill is drywall, paint, and cleanup rather than plumbing.

In-floor heating is its own situation, since the pipe is in the slab and the approach differs from swapping out supply lines.

Published estimates for Kitec replacement vary enormously, which is exactly why I'd rather you get a quote on the actual house than work from a number someone posted about a different one. Get that quote inside your condition period, while it can still affect your decision.

What should I do if Kitec turns up at my home inspection?

Don't panic, and don't walk on it before you know what you're actually looking at.

Have your inspector identify where it appears to be present and how much of the system it makes up. If there's any reason for concern, have a licensed plumber evaluate it. Confirm with an insurance broker that you can get coverage and at what cost. If replacement is on the table, get a real quote on that specific house. Then factor all of it into whether you proceed, what you ask the seller for, or whether you walk.

That's four phone calls inside your condition period, and they'll tell you more than a week of reading online will.

How we handle it

We try to identify Kitec before the offer where we can, so it's something you've already factored in rather than a surprise partway through your conditions. If it does come up at inspection, we help you line up the plumber, the quote, and the insurance calls while your conditions are still in place, and then the decision is yours.

If you're looking at homes from that era in Calgary and want to talk through what you're actually dealing with, give me a call. No pressure, no obligation...

Calgary's housing stock spans more than a century, and most of what you need to know about an older home comes down to two questions: when was it built, and when was it last renovated. Certain materials and systems were standard in certain decades, fell out of favour for good reason, and now turn up as questions at inspection or with your insurance broker.

None of what's below is a reason to walk away from a house on its own. Most of it is manageable once you know what you're looking at and what it costs to deal with. What matters is knowing before you write your offer, not finding out after your conditions are off. Here's what we look for, organized by the era it usually shows up in.

What should I check in a Calgary home built before 1940?

The main thing is knob and tube wiring, which was the standard household wiring from the early 1900s until the late 1940s. Two wires ran separately along porcelain knobs and through porcelain tubes rather than bundled together the way modern wiring is. The original insulation was rubber, tar, and cloth, and it gets brittle with age. Once it cracks, the bare wire underneath is exposed.

For a buyer, insurance is the bigger issue. Most companies won't cover a home with knob and tube still in service unless there's a plan in place to replace it. If a home this age hasn't had its wiring updated, budget for an electrician's assessment and factor a rewire into your offer.

Does my older Calgary home have asbestos?

Possibly, and the most common place it turns up is vermiculite attic insulation. Vermiculite was common in Calgary attics through the 1950s and 1960s, often added to older homes that were poorly insulated to begin with. Some of it, particularly vermiculite from a mine in Libby, Montana, was contaminated with asbestos. You cannot tell by looking at it whether a given batch is contaminated.

If a home has vermiculite insulation, the standard advice is to leave it alone and have it tested before anyone disturbs it, including before an electrician or anyone else works in that attic. If it tests positive, it needs a certified abatement company to remove it safely. It's not a reason to walk away, but it is something to know before any renovation work happens up there. Asbestos also shows up in other materials in homes built up to about 1980, including some floor tile, duct wrap, and textured ceilings.

What kind of water pipes are in a Calgary home built before 1960?

Usually galvanized steel, which was the standard water supply line before copper took over. The zinc coating inside the pipe corrodes over time, and as it does the inside diameter narrows and water pressure drops. This is less a safety issue than a maintenance one: low pressure at the fixtures, discoloured water in some cases, and eventually a supply line that needs replacing.

What is Orangeburg pipe, and is it in Calgary homes?

Orangeburg is a sewer line made of wood pulp bound with coal tar pitch, and it is genuinely one of the worst things to find at an inspection. It's black, it looks almost like tarpaper rolled into a tube, and it's named after Orangeburg, New York, where the Fibre Conduit Company manufactured most of it. It was used across North America into the 1970s, when PVC and ABS replaced it.

It fails two ways. Roots get into it, because it's soft enough to penetrate. And it deforms under soil load, going oval and eventually collapsing. Rated life is around 50 years under good conditions, but it has been known to fail in as little as 10. Any Orangeburg still in the ground in Calgary today is well past its service life.

We've had it turn up on inspections. If a home is from that era, a sewer scope is the only way to know what's actually under the yard, and it's worth the cost every time on an older home. A scope will tell you the material, the condition, and whether there's root intrusion or a belly in the line, which is a much better basis for a decision than the home's age.

Cast iron from the same period is a different situation. It corrodes from the inside and can crack or admit roots over the decades, but it doesn't collapse the way Orangeburg does, and plenty of cast iron lines are still serviceable.

Is aluminum wiring in a Calgary home dangerous?

Aluminum wiring became common when copper prices spiked in the mid to late 1960s, and it shows up mostly in homes built between about 1965 and 1974. The wiring itself isn't the danger. Aluminum expands and contracts more than copper does with temperature changes, and that movement can loosen the connections at outlets and switches over time. A loose connection creates resistance, resistance creates heat, and heat at a connection point is how you get arcing and fires. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has found homes with aluminum wiring from that era are far more likely to reach fire hazard conditions than homes wired with copper.

There are two fixes. A full rewire with copper is the expensive option. "Pigtailing," where an electrician installs approved copper connectors at each aluminum connection point, costs considerably less and is the more common approach. Insurance companies vary: some will cover a home with aluminum wiring if it's been inspected and the devices are rated for aluminum, others won't touch it. Confirm with your broker before your conditions come off.

Is a Federal Pioneer Stab-Lok panel a problem in a Calgary home?

Worth noting, worth a call to your insurer, and usually not a reason to walk away from a house you otherwise want.

There's an important distinction that gets lost online. Federal Pacific Electric, the American product, has the serious documented history. In 2005 a New Jersey court found the company had violated that state's Consumer Fraud Act by cheating on the testing it used to obtain UL approval for its breakers. Federal Pioneer is the Canadian version. It shares the Stab-Lok design, but it was manufactured in Canada under separate quality control, and it does not carry that same documented history. Most of the alarming material you'll find in a search is describing the U.S. product.

Age matters in practice. The panels that draw the most attention from electricians and insurers are generally those installed from the 1950s through the 1980s. By the 1990s a lot of the older installations had already been phased out, though Stab-Lok breakers remained available in Canada for existing systems, and Schneider Electric still manufactures certain replacement breakers for Canadian Federal Pioneer panels. That's part of why you still run into them.

Insurance is where this differs from Poly-B. There is no universal rule. Some insurers will ask about an older Federal Pioneer Stab-Lok panel, or require it be replaced. Others will insure it without issue, sometimes after an electrical inspection. Requirements vary considerably between companies, so the answer for your deal depends on which insurer you're dealing with. Have that conversation before you waive conditions.

If you want to budget for eventual replacement, a panel swap in Calgary generally runs in the $2,500 to $5,000 range, higher if the home needs a full service upgrade rather than a straight panel replacement. Knowing that number ahead of time usually takes the drama out of it.

Should I be worried about a preserved wood foundation?

Not automatically, and this one gets more negative press than it deserves.

Preserved wood foundations, sometimes called PWF, show up in Calgary and across Western Canada from the late 1970s into the early 1990s. They're built with pressure-treated lumber and depend on proper drainage, grading, and moisture control. They're less forgiving of neglect than concrete, and they need an inspector who actually knows what to look for rather than one who just flags it as unusual.

There's a fair argument on the other side that doesn't get made often enough. A preserved wood foundation has to be engineered and inspected as a condition of being built, which is more scrutiny than a typical concrete foundation gets. They also run warmer than concrete, which matters in a Calgary basement. A well-built PWF that's been maintained is not a defective foundation.

Prior to writing an offer on a home with a preserved wood foundation, check with your mortgage broker or specialist to see whether it will affect your mortgage approval. While our clients have been able to secure mortgages in the past, we have heard of lenders requiring an engineer's report or a larger down payment.

The more consistent effect is on resale. Fewer buyers and fewer agents understand these foundations, which narrows the buyer pool and can soften the price. That's a knowledge gap rather than a structural problem, but it's still real when it comes time to sell.

Does Poly-B plumbing have to be replaced?

Not according to the City of Calgary, which says it isn't necessary to replace Poly-B if you haven't had problems with it. Poly-B is a grey plastic water line common in Calgary homes from the late 1980s through the mid to late 1990s. Manufacturing stopped in 1998, and the Canadian plumbing code removed it as an approved material in 2005.

Insurance is the part that catches buyers off guard. Many companies won't insure a home with Poly-B at all, and others will insure it only on the agreement that you replace it within a year of taking possession. That's usually what decides how a deal goes, not the plumbing itself.

We wrote a full breakdown of Poly-B, including what the City of Calgary actually recommends for maintenance, how insurance companies are handling it right now, why Alberta installations differ from the ones in the class action lawsuits, and what to do if it turns up at your inspection. Read the full Poly-B guide here.

What is Kitec plumbing and why does it matter?

Kitec is a plastic and aluminum composite water line, easy to spot by its orange and blue pipes with brass fittings. It was introduced in Canada around 1995 and used until roughly 2007, though it has turned up in homes built as late as 2012. It's often paired with in-floor heating or a boiler system, which is part of the problem, since heat is one of the things it doesn't tolerate well.

Kitec fails differently than Poly-B. The brass fittings corrode from the inside through a process called dezincification, which restricts water flow and eventually gives out. When Kitec goes, it tends to burst rather than seep, so the water damage is sudden rather than gradual.

Insurance companies treat Kitec seriously. Coverage is often available, but expect to disclose it on your application and expect a higher deductible on any claim connected to the plumbing. We wrote a full breakdown of Kitec, including how to identify it, what the class action settlement actually said, and what it costs to replace in Calgary. Read the full Kitec guide here.

What should I do if one of these turns up at my home inspection?

Find out what you're actually looking at rather than reacting to the era alone. Get the specific system assessed by the right professional, whether that's an electrician, a plumber, a sewer scope, or an abatement company. Talk to your insurance broker while you're still inside your condition period, because coverage and cost is usually what decides these situations, not the repair itself. Get a real quote on the actual house rather than a number you found online for a different one. Then decide whether to proceed as-is, ask the seller for something, or walk, with real numbers in front of you instead of a guess.

We try to identify these things before the offer stage where we can, so they're a factor you've already thought about rather than a surprise three days before conditions come off.

If you're looking at an older home in Calgary and want to talk through what you're actually looking at, give us a call. No pressure, no obligation...

Quick reference: Calgary home defects by era

Before 1940, knob and tube wiring. Roughly 1950 through 1980, asbestos in various materials, with vermiculite attic insulation most common in the 1950s and 1960s. Before 1960, galvanized water supply lines. Into the 1970s, Orangeburg sewer lines, with cast iron through the same period. Roughly 1965 to 1974, aluminum wiring. The 1950s through the 1980s, Federal Pioneer Stab-Lok panels. Late 1970s to early 1990s, preserved wood foundations. Late 1980s to late 1990s, Poly-B water lines. Roughly 1995 to 2007, Kitec water lines, occasionally as late as 2012.

One thing worth repeating: the year a home was built tells you where to look first, but it doesn't settle the question. A house from the 1950s that had a basement developed in 1992 can have Poly-B in the renovated portion. Renovation dates matter as much as build dates.