If you suspect that your plumbing is leaking underneath the foundation of your house, you are most likely looking at a slab leak repair job in your near future. If this sounds like a serious problem to you, it is--a slab leak is not something that you want to try to fix yourself. Once you’ve called a professional, here is what the repair process will look like:
1. Finding The Leak
The first order of business is finding the exact location of the leak. In the past, plumbers relied on a certain amount of luck, and imprecise techniques such as finding wet (or warm, if the leak is hot water) on the floor. With modern technology, however, slab leak detection is much easier.
1. Finding The Leak
The first order of business is finding the exact location of the leak. In the past, plumbers relied on a certain amount of luck, and imprecise techniques such as finding wet (or warm, if the leak is hot water) on the floor. With modern technology, however, slab leak detection is much easier.
2. Get To The Pipe
Once the leak is found, a decision has to be made about the method of repair. If the leak is in a single waterline, we may recommend rerouting. This involves abandoning the leaking pipe and routing a new, flexible PEX pipe through a different accessible path. A single line reroute usually takes a day to complete. If there are multiple leaks, we may advise repiping instead: this means the installation of an entirely new system of plumbing and is a very thorough, permanent solution to leaks. Repiping is often the method of choice if the leak has occurred because of old, corroding copper pipes or improper installation. If you have had more than two leaks, repiping the entire house is often more cost-effective than continuing to fix single water lines. A complete repipe can be completed after 3-5 days.
3. Prep For The Repair Process
If you’re dreading the thought of someone taking a jackhammer to your floors, you can breathe a sigh of relief: we almost never cut into a foundation. We generally only need to make a few cuts in your drywall. We are careful to only make the cuts required, and we try to keep them as small as possible. We use barriers and work hard to stay neat and minimize the spread of dust.
4. Consider Where You Will Stay
We always make it our goal to repair your problem quickly and with as little inconvenience to you as possible. While some people prefer to make arrangements to stay in a hotel or with friends, there’s generally no reason to feel you can’t stay in your house. You may want to decide where you’re going to shower and do laundry--many people find they can shower at the gym, for example, and use a laundromat for the short time (3-5 days) it takes to repair your leak. Rest assured we will work as quickly as we can, and do our best to keep the disturbance to a minimum.
Remember, if you suspect a slab leak, don’t wait. Catching a leak while it is small can stop the damage while it’s small, and enable us to fix it quickly. The sooner you can begin the process of locating, accessing, and repairing the leak, the sooner we can help you get your life back to normal.
Sources:
How To Fix A Slab Leak - www.angieslist.com
How To Fix Leaking Pipes Under A Slab Foundation - homeguides.sfgate.com
Once the leak is found, a decision has to be made about the method of repair. If the leak is in a single waterline, we may recommend rerouting. This involves abandoning the leaking pipe and routing a new, flexible PEX pipe through a different accessible path. A single line reroute usually takes a day to complete. If there are multiple leaks, we may advise repiping instead: this means the installation of an entirely new system of plumbing and is a very thorough, permanent solution to leaks. Repiping is often the method of choice if the leak has occurred because of old, corroding copper pipes or improper installation. If you have had more than two leaks, repiping the entire house is often more cost-effective than continuing to fix single water lines. A complete repipe can be completed after 3-5 days.
3. Prep For The Repair Process
If you’re dreading the thought of someone taking a jackhammer to your floors, you can breathe a sigh of relief: we almost never cut into a foundation. We generally only need to make a few cuts in your drywall. We are careful to only make the cuts required, and we try to keep them as small as possible. We use barriers and work hard to stay neat and minimize the spread of dust.
4. Consider Where You Will Stay
We always make it our goal to repair your problem quickly and with as little inconvenience to you as possible. While some people prefer to make arrangements to stay in a hotel or with friends, there’s generally no reason to feel you can’t stay in your house. You may want to decide where you’re going to shower and do laundry--many people find they can shower at the gym, for example, and use a laundromat for the short time (3-5 days) it takes to repair your leak. Rest assured we will work as quickly as we can, and do our best to keep the disturbance to a minimum.
Remember, if you suspect a slab leak, don’t wait. Catching a leak while it is small can stop the damage while it’s small, and enable us to fix it quickly. The sooner you can begin the process of locating, accessing, and repairing the leak, the sooner we can help you get your life back to normal.
Sources:
How To Fix A Slab Leak - www.angieslist.com
How To Fix Leaking Pipes Under A Slab Foundation - homeguides.sfgate.com
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