Deciding to replace your Poly B plumbing is the straightforward part. The unknown is usually what makes this feel more daunting than it needs to be. This guide walks the full process from the first call to the closed permit so you know exactly what is coming.
Step One: The On-Site Assessment and Written Quote
Every Poly B replacement begins with a licensed plumber walking your home in person. This step cannot be done accurately by phone or photo.
What Happens During the Assessment
The plumber identifies every Poly B run in the home and checks accessibility behind walls, under sinks, in the mechanical room, and in the basement. They assess the condition of the existing system for any signs of active leaks or existing water damage and note anything that will affect the complexity of the job. Homes with fully finished basements, tiled bathrooms, or vaulted ceilings require more careful access planning than open or unfinished spaces. This visit typically takes 45 to 60 minutes.
What Your Quote Should Include
You should receive a written quote within 24 to 48 hours of the assessment. The quote should clearly state the replacement material being used, the full scope of the plumbing work, what drywall restoration and finishing is included, and the total fixed price. Read every line. Ask specifically whether patching, mudding, texturing, and painting are all part of the scope or whether any of those finishing steps are left to you. Some companies patch holes but leave the rest to the homeowner. Knowing this upfront prevents surprises at the end of the job.
At Quicker Rooter Plumbing and Heating the estimate is free, the quote is written and upfront, and the price on the quote is the price on the invoice.
Step Two: The Permit
Before any crew arrives and before any wall is touched, your plumber applies for a City of Calgary plumbing permit. These are two separate steps: the permit is issued before work begins, and the City inspection happens after the work is complete. Both are required.
Why a Permit Is Non-Negotiable
Under the Safety Codes Act and the Alberta Building Code, all plumbing system replacements in Calgary require a permit and a City of Calgary inspection. Only a licensed plumber can apply for this permit. Unpermitted Poly B replacement creates serious problems at insurance claim time and at resale, and the liability for unpermitted work sits with you as the homeowner. Never hire a contractor who suggests starting before the permit is issued.
What the Permit Stage Covers
Your plumber submits the permit application and manages the process on your behalf. Once the permit is issued, the job is scheduled. Most Calgary homeowners are booked within one to two weeks of accepting a quote. After the work is complete, the City of Calgary inspector visits to verify the installation is code-compliant before the permit is formally closed.
Step Three: Preparing Your Home Before Day One
A focused preparation before the crew arrives makes the job run faster and protects your belongings from construction dust and disruption.
Clear the Work Areas
Empty the cabinets under every sink in the home, including all bathrooms, the kitchen, and the laundry room. Remove toiletries, personal items, and anything stored on shelves along walls where plumbing runs. Clear a working space around your hot water tank and mechanical room. Move furniture away from bathroom walls and any wall where supply lines travel, particularly exterior walls in older homes where pipes often run close to the surface. For large furniture that cannot be moved, the crew will cover it with drop cloths and plastic sheeting.
Protect Walls and Valuables
Remove mirrors, framed pictures, and any wall-mounted items in rooms where plumbing work will happen. Vibration from cutting tools can loosen fixings, and it is easier to take things down in advance than to deal with them after. Cover electronics near work areas with drop cloths regardless of whether the crew provides protection.
Plan for Pets, Children, and Water Access
Arrange for pets to be out of the home during working hours. The crew moves constantly between rooms, doors stay open throughout the day, and the noise from cutting tools is genuinely stressful for animals. For households with young children, having a secondary space to retreat to during the most intensive cutting work makes the days more manageable.
On multi-day jobs, water is restored to the home at the end of each working day so your household has full use through the evening and overnight. Plan morning routines around a brief period without water at the start of each day while the crew confirms the system before resuming work.
Day One: The Repipe
Day one is the most intensive day of the project.
How the Crew Works Through the Home
The crew begins in the mechanical room, where the water main is shut off and the existing system is drained. From there they work outward following each supply line run through the home. Old Poly B is systematically removed and new piping is installed using strategic access points cut into the drywall. An experienced crew minimizes the number of wall cuts by knowing exactly where each pipe runs and cutting directly to it, because every cut is a patch that needs finishing later.
Where Access Holes Are Made
Access holes are cut precisely, not broadly. In bathrooms, cuts are typically made at baseboard level or in less visible locations such as inside vanity cabinets. In kitchens, access is often taken from inside cabinets where the finish restoration is more straightforward. In unfinished basement spaces, no wall cuts are needed at all since the pipes are accessible without opening anything. The less finished the home, the less restoration work the job involves.
How Long the Repipe Takes
For a standard Calgary home the full repipe is completed in one day. Larger homes, multi-storey homes, homes with complex plumbing layouts, or homes where significant sections of the system are in difficult-to-access locations may require a second day. Your plumber will have been clear about this in the assessment. The overall replacement including all stages typically takes two to four days.
The Pressure Test
Before the water is restored at the end of day one, the new system is pressure-tested. The system is sealed and held at elevated pressure to confirm there are no leaks at any connection or fitting before walls are closed. This step is not optional. Ask for confirmation that a pressure test was performed and documented. It is the step that catches installation issues before they are hidden behind drywall, and a repipe should never be signed off without one.
Day Two and Beyond: Drywall Restoration
Once the plumbing is complete and pressure-tested, the focus shifts entirely to restoring your home.
Patching and Mudding
The access holes are patched with drywall board, taped, and mudded. Drywall mud requires drying time between coats. Rushing this stage produces visible ridges and uneven surfaces that show through paint. A quality restoration involves at least two coats of mud with proper drying time between them before sanding begins. This is why restoration typically spans a day or more rather than happening the same afternoon as the pipe work.
Texture Matching
Many Calgary homes built in the Poly B era have textured walls or ceilings. Orange peel, knockdown, and skip trowel textures each require different application techniques, and matching an existing texture closely enough that the patch is not obvious from across the room is a skilled task. It is worth asking your plumber specifically how texture matching is handled during the quote stage rather than finding out at the end.
Paint
Once patches are mudded, sanded, and textured, the affected areas are painted. For standard white or off-white walls, paint matching is straightforward. For homeowners with custom or darker wall colours, providing your paint details or any leftover paint to the crew helps achieve the closest possible match. Quicker Rooter’s process includes restoring affected areas, repainting, and leaving your home in its original condition.
What Happens If Something Unexpected Is Found
Opening walls during a Poly B replacement sometimes reveals conditions that were not visible during the assessment.
Discovering an Active Leak
It is not uncommon for a crew to open a wall and find a slow leak already in progress that the homeowner had not noticed. When this happens, the plumber documents it, addresses any water-damaged materials in that area before closing the wall, and notes the finding in the job record. Any existing water-damaged drywall or framing is discussed with you before the wall is closed.
Unexpected Pipe Routing
Occasionally, supply lines run differently than the assessment anticipated, particularly in older homes where renovations have moved walls or added fixtures over the decades. When a run takes a different route, the plumber adjusts the access plan. Most experienced crews handle this without it materially affecting the timeline. If additional access points are needed beyond what was quoted, a reputable plumber discusses this with you before cutting.
Discovering Kitec or Mixed Materials
Some homes built in the late 1990s have a mix of Poly B and Kitec, another plastic pipe material that carries similar insurance complications and failure risks. Kitec is typically orange on hot lines and blue on cold lines, and is often found at hot water tank connections or manifolds.
If Kitec is discovered during a Poly B replacement, your plumber should identify it clearly and discuss whether it makes sense to include it in the current scope. Replacing both materials at the same time is almost always more efficient than returning for a second repipe later.
The City of Calgary Inspection
After the work is complete, a City of Calgary inspector visits to sign off on the job.
What the Inspector Verifies
The inspector confirms the work was completed by a licensed plumber, that code-approved replacement materials were used, and that the installation meets Alberta Building Code standards. For larger jobs a rough-in inspection may occur before walls are permanently closed, followed by a final inspection at completion. Your plumber schedules both stages and is present for them.
What You Receive When the Permit Closes
Once the inspection is passed and the permit is formally closed, you receive documentation confirming the work is complete and compliant. Keep this alongside your written invoice and pressure test confirmation. These three documents are what your insurance broker needs to update your policy and what a home inspector or buyer will ask to see when you sell.
Updating Your Insurance and Disclosing to Future Buyers
Notifying Your Insurer
Contact your home insurance broker as soon as the permit is closed. Provide the invoice from your licensed plumber and the closed permit documentation. Most Alberta insurers update your policy immediately on receipt of this. If your existing policy had a surcharge, exclusion, or non-renewal notice tied to Poly B, this documentation is what resolves it. Some insurers also request before and after photographs of the work, which your plumber should be able to provide from the job record.
The Repipe as a Selling Point
When you eventually sell, the completed and permitted repipe is a genuine advantage. A full Poly B replacement with a closed permit eliminates one of the most common conditions buyers write into purchase contracts on homes in Poly B-era neighbourhoods. Have your documentation ready as part of your disclosure package and treat it as the asset it is.
From First Call to Closed Permit: The Full Timeline
For most Calgary homes the process looks like this: the assessment and written quote take one to two days from your first call. Permitting and scheduling typically mean the crew arrives within one to two weeks of you accepting the quote. The on-site work, from the repipe through to drywall restoration, takes two to four days depending on the size and layout of your home. The City inspection and permit close follow once the work is done, with timing depending on inspector availability. From your first call to a closed permit, most homeowners complete the full process in two to three weeks.
Less Disruptive Than You Are Expecting
Most homeowners who have been through a Poly B replacement describe a few days of managed disruption followed by a permanent result they never have to think about again. The walls go back together, the insurance complication disappears, and the plumbing system they are left with will outlast their time in the home.
Quicker Rooter Plumbing and Heating has been replacing Poly B across Calgary for over 30 years. Our licensed plumbers handle the full scope from assessment through drywall restoration and repainting, back every completed job with a one-year warranty on parts and labour, and provide the written documentation your insurer needs.
If you want to understand more about what the replacement involves before you commit, learn more about how our Poly B replacement process works, or get in touch to book an assessment or to have your questions answered.
