Found out the hard way that poly B plumbing isn't the same as PEX

Was helping a buddy reno his basement in Airdrie last month when I noticed the old grey pipes and figured I'd just swap in new PEX like I always do. Cut into it and realized it was polybutylene, which is a whole different beast with those brittle fittings that can burst without warning. Now I'm debating whether to replace the whole house system piece by piece or just bite the bullet and repipe everything at once. Has anyone else dealt with poly B in their Alberta home and what did you end up doing?

2 comments

2 Comments

skyler_kim1mo ago

Yeah I dealt with poly B in my place in Calgary a few years back. I just did it room by room over a year, way easier on the wallet than paying someone to rip it all out at once and honestly the fittings scared me enough that I slept better knowing they were gone.

patel.daniel1mo ago

Room by room over a YEAR? No way. You've got more patience than I do, I would have lost my mind with that slow drip of a project hanging over my head. I get the wallet thing though, paying someone to repipe a whole house at once is brutal money. But man, I'd be sweating every time I turned on a tap knowing there was still poly B in the walls somewhere. Those fittings are like ticking time bombs, I've heard too many basement flood stories from friends who waited too long. Different strokes I guess, but you're a tougher person than me for dragging it out that long.