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If your North Auburn home was built between 1995 and 2007, there’s a real chance you have Kitec plumbing. These brass fittings corrode from the inside out, and the orange and blue pipes become brittle over time. The failure rate keeps climbing, and experts say it’ll eventually hit 100%.
You’re not imagining the risk. A $125 million class action lawsuit confirmed what thousands of homeowners learned the hard way—Kitec fails, and when it does, it floods entire rooms in minutes.
The good news: you can replace it before it fails. Most residential Kitec repiping in North Auburn takes just a few days. You stay in your home, go about your routine, and when we’re done, you’ve got copper or PEX piping that’ll last 50 to 75 years. Your insurance company stops penalizing you with higher deductibles. Your water pressure improves. And you sleep better knowing your largest investment isn’t one burst pipe away from a five-figure repair bill.
Murray Plumbing is a family-owned company that’s been serving North Auburn and El Dorado County for over 24 years combined experience. Ryan Murray started this business to do plumbing the right way—show up on time, explain what’s actually wrong, and charge what we quoted.
We’re not the biggest operation in the area, and that’s intentional. You get the same crew from start to finish. You get our cell numbers if something comes up. And you get transparent pricing before we touch a wrench—no surprise charges when the job’s done.
North Auburn homes have their quirks, especially the ones built in the late ’90s and early 2000s when Kitec was being installed everywhere. We’ve repiped enough of them to know where the problems hide and how to replace your system with minimal disruption. Our 4.7-star Google rating comes from showing up when we say we will and doing the work right the first time.
First, we inspect your entire plumbing system to confirm you have Kitec and map out where it runs. You’ll know exactly which pipes need replacing and which ones don’t. We give you a written estimate that covers everything—materials, labor, wall repairs, the whole job.
Once you’re ready to move forward, we schedule the work around your life, not ours. Most residential Kitec repipes take two to four days depending on your home’s size and layout. We shut off water to specific sections as we work, so you’re not without water for days at a time.
We remove the old Kitec pipes and fittings, then install new copper or PEX piping that meets current code. Any drywall we open gets patched and textured to match your walls. We test every connection for leaks, check your water pressure, and walk you through what we did before we consider the job complete. You’re left with a plumbing system that’ll outlast your mortgage and a home that’s insurable without penalties.
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A complete Kitec repipe in North Auburn means we replace every inch of that failing pipe—hot and cold water lines, supply lines to fixtures, everything with those brass fittings that corrode. We don’t patch problem areas and hope for the best. You get a complete system replacement with materials that have proven track records.
Most North Auburn homes built in the Kitec era are single-story or split-level layouts, which actually makes the repipe process cleaner than you’d think. We access pipes through attics and crawl spaces when possible to minimize wall cuts. When we do need to open walls, we’re strategic about it—and we repair everything before we leave.
The new piping we install—whether copper or PEX—comes with decades of reliable performance data. PEX is flexible, which means it expands and contracts with temperature changes instead of cracking. Copper is the gold standard that buyers look for when you eventually sell. Either way, you’re getting a 50 to 75-year solution to a problem that was only going to get worse. Your water pressure improves because you’re not dealing with corroded fittings restricting flow. And your homeowner’s insurance goes back to normal rates because you’ve eliminated the risk we were charging you for.
Look for orange and blue plastic pipes, usually in your water heater closet, under sinks, or in your attic or crawl space. Kitec pipes are stamped with “Kitec” or “KTC” on the pipe itself. The brass fittings connecting these pipes have a yellowish color that distinguishes them from other plumbing materials.
If your home was built or renovated between 1995 and 2007, you’re in the highest risk window. Kitec was popular with builders during this time because it was cheap and fast to install. Many North Auburn developments from that era used it extensively.
Can’t find any visible pipes? We can inspect your plumbing system and tell you definitively whether you have Kitec. It’s worth knowing either way—if you do have it, you can plan for replacement before it fails. If you don’t, you can stop worrying about it.
Most residential Kitec repiping projects in North Auburn run between $5,000 and $15,000 for a typical single-family home. Larger homes or properties with complex layouts can run higher, sometimes up to $30,000. The final cost depends on your home’s square footage, how many bathrooms you have, and how accessible your existing pipes are.
That might sound like a lot until you compare it to the alternative. One Kitec failure can cause $20,000 to $50,000 in water damage—and that’s after you’ve already paid higher insurance premiums for years. Many homeowners end up spending more on multiple emergency repairs than they would’ve spent just replacing the whole system.
We provide exact pricing before starting any work. You’ll know what the job costs, what’s included, and what your payment options are. We also offer in-house financing to make the investment manageable, because we’d rather see you replace Kitec on your timeline than deal with an emergency at the worst possible moment.
Most residential Kitec repiping projects take two to four days from start to finish. You can stay in your home the entire time and maintain most of your normal routine. We’re not tearing your house apart—we’re working methodically through your plumbing system section by section.
Smaller homes or condos might be done in two days. Larger properties with multiple bathrooms and complex layouts might take closer to a week. The timeline also depends on how much drywall work is needed and whether we’re replacing just the Kitec sections or doing a complete whole-house repipe.
We’ll give you a specific timeline during your estimate so you can plan accordingly. Most of our North Auburn clients are surprised by how non-disruptive the process is. You’ll have water off for short periods while we work on specific sections, but we coordinate with you to minimize inconvenience. No one’s going days without a shower or a functioning kitchen.
Probably not. Most homeowner’s insurance policies don’t cover the cost of replacing Kitec plumbing because it’s considered a maintenance issue, not sudden damage. They’ll cover the water damage if your Kitec fails and floods your home, but they won’t pay to prevent the problem.
Here’s the catch: many insurance companies in California either won’t insure homes with Kitec at all, or they apply significantly higher deductibles to any water damage claims. Some require you to disclose Kitec during your application, and if you don’t, they can deny claims later. Once you replace your Kitec system, those penalties disappear and your premiums typically drop.
The math usually works in your favor. You’re paying extra every year in insurance costs, you’re at risk for a massive out-of-pocket expense when the pipes fail, and you’re dealing with the stress of knowing it’s coming. Financing a repipe now eliminates all three problems and costs less over time than waiting for the inevitable failure.
You can, but it’s like replacing one bad tire when all four are worn out. The problem with Kitec isn’t isolated to one section—it’s a system-wide defect in the brass fittings and pipe material itself. If one section is failing, the rest are on the same timeline.
Partial repairs buy you time, maybe a few months or a couple years. But you’re still living with Kitec, which means you’re still dealing with insurance penalties, you’re still at risk for the next failure, and you’re still going to need a full repipe eventually. Most homeowners who try the patch-and-pray approach end up spending more in total than if they’d just done the complete repipe the first time.
The only scenario where a partial repair makes sense is if you’re about to sell and you need to stop an active leak before closing. Even then, you’ll likely need to disclose the Kitec to buyers, which affects your sale price and negotiating position. A complete Kitec repipe in North Auburn removes the problem entirely and gives you documentation that the work was done right.
Both are solid choices that’ll outlast Kitec by decades. Copper has been the standard for 70+ years—it’s durable, heat-resistant, and most homebuyers recognize it as quality plumbing. It typically lasts 50 years or more and doesn’t degrade from water chemistry. The downside is it’s more expensive and takes longer to install because every joint needs to be soldered.
PEX is flexible plastic tubing that’s been used in the U.S. since the 1980s and in Europe even longer. It can last up to 75 years, it’s less expensive than copper, and it installs faster because we can run longer sections without joints. PEX expands slightly when water freezes, so it’s less likely to burst in cold weather—not a huge issue in North Auburn, but it matters in your attic or crawl space during winter.
We’ll recommend the best option based on your home’s layout, your budget, and your plans for the property. If you’re selling soon, copper might give you a slight edge with traditional buyers. If you’re staying long-term and want the best value, PEX delivers the same performance for less money. Either way, you’re getting a legitimate 50 to 75-year solution that eliminates your Kitec problem completely.
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