Selling or buying an Ottawa home with Poly B

It rarely kills a deal. It almost always costs someone money at the negotiating table — and which side pays depends on who raised it first.

If you are selling

Assume it will be found. Home inspectors in Ottawa look for grey supply pipe as a matter of routine, and it goes in the report in plain language. Once it is in the report, you are negotiating against a buyer’s worst-case estimate rather than a real quote.

You have three realistic options:

1. Replace before listing. The cleanest outcome, especially in a slow market. You control the contractor and the finish, and the invoice becomes a selling point rather than a discount.
2. Get a quote and disclose it. Cheap, fast, and it caps the conversation. A $6,800 quote in the listing package beats a buyer’s guess of $20,000.
3. Price it in and say so. Works, but expect the deduction to exceed the actual cost of the work.

If you are buying

Poly B in an inspection report is a budget item, not a reason to walk. Do three things before your conditions expire:

• Call your insurer with the address, not a hypothetical. Ask directly whether they will bind coverage and on what terms. This is the step that actually surprises people.
• Get a written quote, not the inspector’s ballpark. Inspectors flag; they do not price. A plumber can usually quote from photos and the floor plan.
• Find out whether it is all of it or some of it. Partially repiped houses are common, and the remaining scope changes the number a lot.

Then negotiate with the quote in hand. A real number is far more persuasive than a worry, in either direction.

Realtors and closing timelines

Repipes can be scheduled tightly when they have to be — a bungalow with an open basement is a two to three day job — but drywall, primer and paint need their own days after that. If the work has to finish before closing, start the quote the week the condition is signed, not the week before the deadline.