Slab Leaks
Water leaks are annoying and frustrating. Slab leaks are among the worst of them and are especially more difficult and costly to repair than your typical leak. However, chances are that if you are a homeowner in the southwest, you have already experienced a slab leak or you will eventually encounter one in the future.
What is a slab leak?
A slab leak is simply a leak within your home’s plumbing system that arises underneath the flooring, occurring from the use of old soft copper piping embedded into the concrete slab that forms your house’s foundation. This tends to be a common problem in southwest homes built in the 1980s due to the fact that builders at the time were laying the plumbing network for homes in the concrete foundation using soft copper piping instead of hard copper piping as per code of the time. The plumbing pipes only surfaced where there was a need for water such as in the bathroom.
Both the building process of pouring concrete over the soft copper pipes as well as time takes it toll on the plumbing. The pipes are weakened from the beginning and thus, imperfections in the pipes lead way to small leaks and pipe damage, thus, a slab leak.
How to know if you have a slab leak?
There are several ways to know if your home suffers from a slab leak. We like to use something we like to call the three “S” for checking for slab leaks. The first is sight. If you see or feel dampness on the floor, it is an indication of a slab leak. This may be anything from physically seeing water on the floor to just feeling warmer temperatures at your feet, usually from a leaking hot water pipe underneath the surface. The second is sound. If you are hearing the sound of running water through your home even while all the faucets are turned off, you may be suffering from a slab leak. The third indication is shock. If you are shocked that your water bill is significantly higher than usual, this may also be a sign of a slab leak. Slab leaks are hidden but can still be located using this method.
You can also contact Vortex Plumbing for a service call to test your pipes for any leaks using a water leak isolation test.
What to do in the event of a slab leak?
As far as slab leaks go, there isn’t much you can do on your own as a homeowner but to call in a seasoned, experienced professional. The process to repair slab leaks requires the removal of flooring and demolition of the concrete foundation to access the soft copper piping that is causing the trouble.
Vortex Plumbing offers full slab leak services including leak detection of the slab leak, repair of the piping, and replacement of your concrete foundation.
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