Complete Plumbing Overhaul in West Terrace
When Marcia decided to upgrade the plumbing in her West Terrace home, she took a comprehensive approach. Rather than addressing issues piecemeal, she chose to tackle multiple projects at once: replacing the original Poly B plumbing, installing a water softener to address Cochrane’s hard water, running a new gas line for a range upgrade, and relocating her kitchen sink as part of a broader renovation. By bundling these services together, Marcia avoided the disruption of multiple contractor visits spread across weeks or months.
The Urban Piping team arrived on September 13th and began the Poly B replacement with thorough site preparation. High-impact Ram Board protected all tile and hardwood surfaces, while professional-grade carpet liner covered traffic areas. Light plastic sheeting draped over furniture in work zones, and the team carefully cut access points in the drywall, saving the pieces for reinstallation.
The repiping replaced all polybutylene lines with Rehau color-coded Class A PEX piping featuring UV barrier protection. Every fixture received new Dahl shut-off valves for both hot and cold supply lines, along with braided distribution hoses for faucets and toilets. Brass exterior garden faucets and a city-appropriate laundry box completed the plumbing upgrades. The piping routes in Marcia’s home proved relatively accessible, allowing the team to complete the Poly B replacement without extensive drywall repair—a significant advantage that streamlined the project timeline.
Alongside the repiping, Urban Piping installed a 34,000-grain water softening system. The cabinet-style unit, measuring just 18 inches deep by 12 inches wide by 36 inches tall, fits compactly in the utility area while providing softened water for up to six people. The system includes isolation for kitchen and outside lines, allowing untreated water where preferred.
The gas line installation required coordination with local authorities since Cochrane is outside Calgary’s city limits. The team handled the permitting process, including the inspections and wait times involved with out-of-town projects. This allowed Marcia to upgrade from an electric to a gas range—a popular choice among homeowners seeking more precise cooking control.
Finally, the venting and drainage work for the sink relocation enabled Marcia’s kitchen layout changes. Moving a sink requires proper venting to ensure drainage flows correctly and meets code requirements, and the team completed this work as part of the overall project scope.
A professional-grade four-stage HEPA air scrubber ran throughout the project to maintain indoor air quality. The Poly B portion wrapped up on September 15th—just three days from start to finish—with a thorough cleanup that left Marcia’s home ready to use. For homeowners considering Poly B Replacement in the Calgary area, this project demonstrates the efficiency possible when piping routes are accessible and when a skilled team handles multiple services in a coordinated effort.
About West Terrace and Cochrane’s Poly B History
West Terrace is a well-established neighborhood in Cochrane, Alberta, situated along the Bow River west of Highway 22. The area features winding residential streets lined with single-family homes, many enjoying proximity to Mitford Park’s riverfront green space and extensive trail network. Most homes in West Terrace were built in the late 1990s, with layouts typically ranging from 1,100 to over 1,800 square feet, featuring three to five bedrooms and two to three-and-a-half bathrooms.
This construction timeline places West Terrace homes squarely within the final years of polybutylene pipe installation, which occurred in Canadian residential construction from approximately 1985 to 1997. Homes built during the mid-to-late 1990s represent some of the last properties to receive Poly B plumbing before the industry transitioned away from the material. For West Terrace homeowners, this means many properties may still contain original polybutylene piping now approaching or exceeding 25 years of age.
Cochrane has experienced remarkable growth over the past two decades, transforming from a small ranching community into one of Canada’s fastest-growing towns. Many newer Cochrane neighborhoods feature modern plumbing, but established areas like West Terrace—developed during the Poly B era—require attention from homeowners concerned about aging pipe systems.
The town’s water supply also presents considerations. Like many communities drawing from the Bow River watershed, Cochrane experiences harder water than some urban centers. This explains why water softener installations frequently accompany repiping projects in the area.
Unique Considerations for West Terrace Plumbing Projects
West Terrace homes present specific considerations that set them apart from typical Calgary-area projects. As an out-of-town location, any permitted work requires coordination with Cochrane’s municipal authorities rather than Calgary’s permitting system. This affects gas line installations and other work requiring inspections, adding logistical steps that experienced contractors know how to navigate efficiently.
The late-1990s construction typical of West Terrace means these homes often feature more accessible pipe routing than older properties. Builders during this era increasingly ran plumbing through utility chases and accessible ceiling spaces, reducing the need for extensive drywall access during replacement. This accessibility can significantly streamline Poly B replacement projects, as seen in Marcia’s three-day timeline for the repiping portion of her work.
West Terrace homes still present challenges common to two-story construction. Pipes running between floors require careful access point planning, and bathrooms stacked above kitchens create vertical runs that must be addressed systematically. Finished basements add another layer of consideration—while main-floor piping may be accessible through ceiling spaces, basement pipe runs can be hidden behind finished walls.
The neighborhood’s proximity to the Bow River and surrounding green spaces attracts families who value comprehensive home improvements, addressing multiple systems simultaneously rather than deferring maintenance. Urban Piping’s ability to handle diverse plumbing needs—from repiping to water treatment to gas lines—makes coordinated projects like Marcia’s possible, minimizing disruption while maximizing the value of each contractor visit.
West Terrace Project Photos
Urban Piping documents the work completed on every job site. Below are the project photos from Marcia’s West Terrace repiping and plumbing upgrade project.
