Kitec Plumbing Question

[reddeerguy2015]

Hi guys

Looking at purchasing a home with Pex run throughout the house, however- the roughed in infloor heat piping is Kitec.

Obviously this has been discontinued, and from my research has gone the way of poly b...

Being that this was never hooked up, and most of it is in the slab, what would the chances of this actually holding up??

Would sure suck to drop 3 to 5 grand to hook it up and a year down the road it craps the bed...

Kinda seems it's not an "if" it's going to fail, but "when" ...

Anybody with experience want to give their $.02??

[Dewey Cox]

My understanding (and I might be understanding wrong) is the weakness in kitec is from the aluminum layer expanding at a different rate than the plastic layer.
So I would expect that kitec sitting dormant under a slab would be frozen in time, and in the same shape as when it was put in.
I would hook it up.

[dewalt18]

Isolate the individual loops and out an air test on them. If they hold they’re good, if they don’t they aren’t. Quick google or YouTube search can show you what you need.

[ghostguy6]

Check with your insurance company as well as it may void your policy. I got a letter some time ago from my company saying they would not honour any claims from leaks caused by poly B or Kitec.

Another thing to consider is if there is any gouges in the outer layer of the kitec the aluminum middle section could have been exposed to the concrete. Concrete causes aluminum to corrode quickly. Ive seen it a few times when I installed epoxy floors.

[birchbark]

We built a house in 1996 and put in kitec for basement and garage slab. Being a journeyman plumber I installed myself and was careful In doing so, making sure to not kink it etc. we no longer own the property but do know the new owners and it’s been trouble free.

[CaberTosser]

I'd dealt with a reasonable bit of Kitec of the years & until this past November had only dealt with leaking O-rings that had degraded in the fittings. This last November I had a client with Kitec in their floor heat system that needed some repairs to get it going when it was listed for sale. I replaced the accessible 3/4" tubing that was supplying the heat exchanger panel using Pex but obviously the Kitec tubing in the floor had to stay.

Based on what I've encountered over the decades, I think a system that's only operating at 15 PSI will be OK, it's when the tubing is subjected to domestic water pressure that issues arise.