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If you have Kitec plumbing in your Cedar Flat home, you’re living with a ticking clock. These pipes don’t get better with time. They fail – completely, catastrophically, and without much warning.
The fittings contain high zinc content that breaks down over time, especially in California’s hard water conditions. What starts as a slow weakening turns into burst pipes, flooding, and thousands in water damage. Your insurance company knows this, which is why many either charge higher premiums or refuse coverage entirely for homes with Kitec systems.
Replacement isn’t optional maintenance. It’s damage prevention. Once your Kitec is gone, you’re back to normal insurance rates, normal home values, and normal peace of mind. No more wondering if today’s the day your pipes give out.
The class action settlement deadline passed in January 2020. There’s no compensation coming. But waiting only increases the risk that you’ll be dealing with emergency water damage instead of a planned replacement.
We’ve handled plumbing work throughout El Dorado County and the greater Sacramento area since before Kitec was even recalled. We’ve seen what happens when these systems fail, and we’ve replaced dozens of them in homes just like yours.
We’re not new to Cedar Flat or the Lake Tahoe area. We know the homes here, the water conditions, and what it takes to do a complete replacement correctly. Our crews show up when we say we will, give you the exact cost upfront, and finish the job without surprises.
You’ll find us available 24/7 for emergencies, but honestly, the best call is the one you make before your Kitec becomes an emergency. That’s when we can plan the work around your schedule, not around a flooded house.
First, we come out and assess your entire system. Kitec was typically used for both hot and cold water lines, so we need to see where it runs throughout your home. We’re looking at access points, how much wall or ceiling work might be involved, and what replacement material makes the most sense for your house.
Then we give you a complete price. Not an estimate that changes later – the actual cost. You’ll know what the replacement involves, how long it takes, and what your home will look like when we’re done.
During the replacement, we’re usually working with PEX or copper piping, depending on your home’s setup and your preference. Both are proven, reliable materials that won’t have the same failure issues Kitec has. We handle all the permits, do the work to code, and make sure your water is back on as quickly as possible.
After installation, you get documentation for your insurance company and any future buyers. The work is warrantied, and your home’s plumbing is back to being something you don’t have to think about.
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Complete Kitec removal means every fitting and pipe section comes out. We’re not patching problem areas – those fittings aren’t even manufactured anymore, and the sizing doesn’t work with standard plumbing parts. Partial repairs just delay the inevitable.
You’re getting new supply lines throughout your home, installed with materials that have decades of proven reliability. In Cedar Flat’s climate and with the hard water common in Placer County, PEX and copper handle conditions that Kitec simply can’t. Water heater connections get special attention since Kitec failures happen most often on hot water lines where temperatures exceed what the pipes were rated for.
The replacement also includes proper pressure testing, inspection-ready installation, and documentation that proves to insurance companies your Kitec problem is solved. Many homeowners see immediate insurance premium reductions once the work is verified.
For homes in Cedar Flat built between 1995 and 2007, this kind of work isn’t unusual. We’ve handled Kitec water heater plumbing repair and full system replacements throughout the area. The homes here were built during peak Kitec installation years, and many are just now hitting the failure window where problems start showing up in large numbers.
Look for orange or blue plastic pipes, usually marked with “Kitec” or “KTC” on the pipe itself. The fittings are brass-colored and the pipes are flexible, not rigid like copper.
Check near your water heater first – that’s where Kitec is easiest to spot. Also look in your basement, crawl space, or anywhere pipes are exposed. If your home was built or renovated between 1995 and 2007, there’s a higher chance Kitec was used.
The orange pipes were typically used for hot water lines and the blue for cold, though not always. If you’re not sure what you’re looking at, we can come out and identify your system. It takes about ten minutes and there’s no charge for us to tell you whether you have Kitec or not.
No, and here’s why: the fittings that connect Kitec pipes aren’t made anymore. The sizing doesn’t match standard plumbing parts, so you can’t just swap in a new fitting.
Even if you could patch one section, the problem isn’t isolated. The dezincification process that causes Kitec to fail is happening throughout your entire system. Fixing one leak doesn’t stop the next one from developing somewhere else.
Insurance companies know this, which is why they treat partial repairs the same as having Kitec still in your home. You won’t see premium reductions or coverage improvements until the entire system is replaced. Partial fixes are throwing money at a problem that’s only going to get worse.
Most full replacements in Cedar Flat run between $4,000 and $12,000, depending on your home’s size, how accessible the pipes are, and how much drywall or ceiling work is needed to reach everything.
Single-story homes with crawl space access tend to be on the lower end. Two-story homes where pipes run through walls and ceilings cost more because of the additional labor and repair work involved.
We give you the exact price before any work starts. No estimates that change later, no surprise charges when we’re halfway done. You’ll know what it costs, what’s included, and how long it takes. Many homeowners find that their insurance premium savings over just a few years offset a significant portion of the replacement cost.
Most insurance policies won’t cover Kitec replacement itself because it’s considered a maintenance issue, not sudden damage. However, if your Kitec has already failed and caused water damage, your policy might cover the damage – though many insurers are now excluding Kitec-related claims entirely.
The bigger insurance issue is what happens if you don’t replace it. Many companies either increase your premiums significantly or refuse to renew your policy once they know you have Kitec. Some won’t insure homes with Kitec at all.
After replacement, you’ll typically see your rates return to normal, and you’ll have documentation proving the Kitec is gone. That paperwork matters when you’re shopping for better insurance rates or when you eventually sell your home. The class action settlement that might have helped with costs ended in January 2020, so current replacement expenses fall on the homeowner.
Most replacements take two to four days, depending on your home’s layout and how much wall or ceiling access we need. Smaller homes with good pipe access can sometimes be done faster. Larger homes or those where pipes are harder to reach take longer.
You’ll have water shut off during active work hours, but we make sure you have running water overnight. We’re not leaving you without basics like toilets and showers for days at a time.
The timeline also depends on inspection requirements and any drywall or ceiling repairs needed after the pipes are in. We handle all of that as part of the job – you’re not coordinating with multiple contractors. One crew, one timeline, and we clean up when we’re done.
Call us immediately at our 24/7 emergency line. We’ll get someone out to shut off your water and assess the damage. Emergency Kitec leak repair in Cedar Flat typically means stopping the flooding first, then figuring out next steps.
If it’s a full burst, you’re likely looking at water damage remediation on top of the plumbing work. That’s why we push for replacement before failure – it’s always cheaper and less disruptive to plan the work than to react to a flood.
In an emergency, we can often do temporary repairs to get your water back on while you arrange for full replacement. But those are short-term fixes. The rest of your Kitec system is still failing, and the temporary repair is just buying you time to schedule the complete job. Most homeowners who call us after a Kitec failure wish they’d done the replacement earlier when they could control the timing.
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