How much drywall gets opened for a Poly-B repipe in Calgary?

Whole-house Poly-B replacement in Calgary typically means opening drywall in dozens of spots, and how much depends almost entirely on how the house was built and how the plumber runs the new pipe.

What actually drives the wall opening

Supply lines run through wall cavities, across floor joists and up through interior partitions. A plumber replacing Poly-B has two broad approaches. The first is fishing new PEX through existing cavities with minimal cuts, which works well in open-concept homes or where the pipe routing is straightforward. The second is cutting access holes wherever a fitting, a tee or a change of direction sits, which can mean many individual openings in a two-storey home. Many jobs mix the two approaches.

The factors that push toward more opening are: multiple bathrooms on different floors, a finished basement with drywalled ceilings, pipe that runs horizontally across studs rather than vertically through them, and older homes where the framing leaves little room to fish. Homes with a crawl space or an unfinished basement ceiling give the plumber easier access to the lower runs, which reduces cutting upstairs.

The typical Calgary whole-house repipe runs $8,000 to $15,000, with most homes landing around $10,000 to $13,000 and larger two-storey homes reaching about $18,000. Drywall patching and painting are often quoted separately, and that is where the real variation hides: a job with 40 small patches and a job with 10 large ones cost very different amounts to make good.

A permit is required. The City of Calgary issues plumbing permits for this work. A homeowner who owns and lives in the home may apply for the plumbing permit if they do the work themselves; when you hire a plumber, the plumber takes it out, because whoever does the work holds the permit. Rough-in and final inspections follow.

What a fair quote for this job includes

Ask for the quote to spell out: the pipe material and fittings being used, which fixtures and branches are included, how access holes will be made and by whom, whether drywall patching and painting are in scope or excluded, removal and disposal of the old Poly-B, the permit and both inspections, and the warranty on parts and labour. Before signing, ask to see the plumber's trade certificate and a WCB-Alberta clearance letter, and check whether a deposit triggers the need for an Alberta prepaid contracting licence from Service Alberta.

Watch for a quote that says "drywall repair by others" or simply leaves patching unmentioned; get a clear written answer on who patches, to what standard, and at what price before the first hole is cut.