Every now & again, leaks can occur in the home. Unfortunately, leaks or slab leak can occur in even the most well-maintained homes. Thankfully, most of the leaks occur in easy-to-reach areas, such as in the shower or toilet or below a sink. These leaks are easy to spot & can often be fixed with a few ordinary household plumbing tools.
Sadly, some leaks can occur where they are very hard to detect. For example, when a pipe underneath a home’s slab foundation leaks, most homeowners may not notice they have a problem for a long time. The cracked water pipe lets water seep into the ground to the home’s foundation.
In addition to wasting water, the leak can damage the concrete & erode the soil around it. Over time, it may cause the foundation to buckle & shift, cracking the home’s floors & walls. In critical cases, it can even make portions of the home collapse.
If you suspect that your home’s slab foundation leaks, here are some pointers to help you find the leak.
1. Warm Spots On the Floor
If the warm water line in your house is the one that is leaking, you may be able to locate the leak’s location by monitoring the abnormally warm spots on the floor. If your home has a carpeted floor or very thin linoleum floors, locating leaks can be fairly easy.
However, this could be somewhat more difficult for a tile floor unless the leak is severe enough to make water flow into the space between the adhesive & the tiles. You may have some other warning signs for water damage in your tile flooring in such a case.
2. Raised “Dome” On the Floor.
If a leak is severe enough & lasts for a while, you may notice damage to your flooring in the form of warping the shape of the floor. A common phenomenon in severe water damage is forming a “dome,” or raised area on the floor.
While the appearance of a dome on the floor can give you a genuine sign of the leak’s location, it also indicates that there is severe damage befalling your home’s foundation.
3. Water Bill Increase
If your water bill undergoes a sudden spike without an increase in the cost of service or usage of water by your family, this can also be an early indication that you have a severe leak.
4. Slab Leak Detection Equipment & Professionals
If you can’t locate a leak through the methods above, it may be worth spending on some specialized tools or a professional plumber to find it. Professional plumbers will often drain the water from a building’s water lines & then pump in air to identify leaks. The plumber uses special sound equipment that helps them detect the leak’s precise location.
Calling For Backup
If you need further advice about how to detect, service & clean up after a major slab leak in your home, do not hesitate to contact a plumbing expert for assistance. However, it’s more beneficial to entrust the task to a professional from the beginning in almost all cases. We have 20+ years of experience with home plumbing concerns like slab leaks in Central Texas & nearby areas at Proficient plumbing.
Our professional team is fully licensed & insured and are dedicated to providing outstanding service to our customers, whether we’re clearing a clogged sink or replacing a sewer line beneath your home’s foundation. Contact us today for a free estimate.
