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KITEC-II Phase 2 Model Homes at Risk—The REHAU Plumbing Problem
While Phase 1 homeowners have been suffering with the uncertainty of a potential KITEC plumbing problem and Pulte’s “non-repair” response to that problem, Phase 2 homeowners were comforted by the fact that they were not exposed to the same problem. As explained by Pulte’s Associate General Counsel Mike Laramie at that KITEC residents meeting, the use of the KITEC plumbing system was abandoned in 2003. That left Phase 2 model homeowners in a reasonable state of certainty and calm concerning the status of their plumbing system. But that sense of comfort and calm would not last long for many Phase 2 homeowners. But before we get into that, first the good news. At some point during the 2005-06 period, Pulte abandoned the use of the REHAU plumbing system in favor of WIRSBO’s all plastic plumbing system. Both are installed in the walls and the attic as opposed to the KITEC system, which was installed in the walls and underground. However, in the case of the WIRSBO system, it's all plastic—plastic pipe, plastic manifolds, plastic T’s, plastic fittings. If your home was plumbed with an all plastic plumbing system like WIRSBO's, you should enjoy a sigh of relief and go back to what you were doing. With WIRSBO, your home should NOT be experiencing the type of dezincification plumbing problem that this report will discuss below. On the other hand, if your home was plumbed with REHAU, there is good reason for you to be concerned about that plumbing system. Homes built in the 2003-05 period were plumbed with REHAU. The cut off date for a REHAU plumbing system is unknown at the present time. Why the switch from REHAU to WISBRO? Either Pulte was acutely aware of the dezincification problems associated with the use of REHAU based on their own experience, or they were reacting in response to an industry-sponsored plumbing alert of the type issued by Quality Built, which you can read here by clicking on this Link. That alert advised builder in the Las Vegas area to use an all plastic plumbing system, such as WIRSBO, to avoid the dezincification problems occurring in the Las Vegas area. Either way, Pulte moved to an all plastic plumbing system.
What about Phase 1 homes? Some Phase 1 model homes built in 2003, such as in Meadow Vista and elsewhere, did not get KITEC plumbing, while others did. Those Phase 1 homes that did not get KITEC plumbing were plumbed using either WIRSBO or REHAU. If the sticker in the electrical panel fails to indicate whether REHAU or WIRSBO was used, an attic inspection might be required to determine which plumbing system was used. The REHAU Plumbing System (some photos)
In some homes, the fittings have already started leaking onto the attic floor and the home's ceiling beneath the manifold.
Brass Fittings. In the absence of contrary information, we assume that the installation was made with REHAU's brass fittings. As a matter of practice, however, the company performing the installation may have used different brass fittings other than REHAU's Everloc brass fitting. In either case, the fittings that were used are showing signs of dezincification. Do You Have REHAU or WIRSBO? If you are currently in a Phase 2 home, you should determine whether your home was plumbed using the REHAU or the WIRSBO plumbing system. If you do not know whether your model is a Phase 2 model, you can do so by checking this list of Phase 2 models. These model homes were constructed in the 2003-2006 period. For a list of Phase 2 model homes, click here. To determine whether your home was plumbed using REHAU or WIRSBO, there are two methods: Method 1. The sticker method. There should be a WARNING sticker on the inside of the DOOR of the electrical panel in the garage. Open the panel door and check to see what the sticker shows. The warning sticker should say REHAU or WIRSBO, or it may be blank, with the name cut off of the bottom. To see a WIRSBO sticker, click here. Ordinarily, if the home was built using the REHAU plumbing system, there will be a WHITE warning sticker that says REHAU. However some REHAU built homes have no sticker attached, or may have a YELLOW warning sticker with no company name identified at the bottom of the sticker. Method 2. The ladder method.Note that if you are at all uncertain about using a ladder for this purpose, and assuming you have one that reaches all the way to the attic, do not attempt to do so as it can be dangerous and your health and safety is much more important. Moving around in the attic on ceiling joists can be very tricky, and extreme caution is recommended. If going up into the attic is not a problem for you, fine. Observe the color of the plumbing lines (assuming they’re visible and are not covered by insulating foam). The hot water lines are always RED and this is true for both REHAU and WIRSBO. On the other hand, in the case of REHAU, the cold water lines are CLEAR (WHITE), while in the case of WIRSBO, the cold water lines are BLUE.
A WIRSBO word of caution. There has been at least one report of a WIRSBO attic leak stemming from an alleged defective manifold. We assume that this is an isolated case, but you should be aware of that possibility. Once you have determined that your home was plumbed with REHAU, you may need to consider taking some type of action, the sooner the better, as your plumbing system has the appearance of breaking down due to the same dezincification process that is currently affecting Phase 1 homes. For information on what dezincification is all about, click here. Whether or not this particular plumbing problem involving the REHAU plumbing system constitutes a potential construction defect under Nevada law is unknown. Those matters are better left in the hands of those who are qualified to answer those questions. If you have any further interest or concern about this potential problem, the homeowner should first contact Del Webb Customer Relations and alert them to this potential problem in your home. How to contact Pulte Homes' Customer Relations?1. By telephone: 914-4864 or 2. By mail:
When you learn how Pulte is proposing to address this potential plumbing problem, please let me know so that we may let others know. Ron Johnson, 18 January 2007 For additional information in a Q & A format concerning the nature of this problem, initially published in response to the KITEC problem, click here.
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Cold (CLEAR/WHITE) and hot (RED) water lines connected to their respective manifolds (Construction phase).
Hot water lines with brass fittings connected to a manifold showing considerable evidence of corrosion of REHAU's Everloc brass fittings. (Sun City home.) 
Cold water lines with brass fittings connected to manifold showing no evidence of corrosion, demonstrating that the corrosion process is greatly accelerated in hot water lines compared to cold water lines. (Same Sun City home.) However, we have received reports of cold water line fittings as badly corroded as the hot water fittings. 
REHAU's Everloc Brass Fittings 
This illustrates the REHAU water lines, RED top for hot and CLEAR (WHITE) for cold. 
This illustrates WIRSBO's water lines, on the left covered with some type of foam insulating material, or on the right, with water lines that are RED for hot and BLUE for cold.