Now I don’t want to sound like a guru, but most homeowners are one with their home. They usually don’t have to see something wrong to know that something is not right. Sir Edward Coke once declared in 1604, “the house of everyone is to him as his Castle and Fortress.” We simplified the term over the years to say, “a man’s home is his castle.” So when a homeowner sees a high water bill, water puddling around the house, or dark spots on our garage floor, they know something is up. Chances are you have a water leak in your slab. Also known as a foundation leak.
Try And Catch The Slab Leak Before It Makes Its Way To The Top
A slab leak is best defined as a water leak in or under the foundation of your home. Your home’s foundation is subject to shifting, cracking, and buckling. A pipe within the foundation could succumb to a tiny pinhole leak. This happens when a small stone presses against a copper pipe and over many years and extreme pressure, a hole forms. The leak can go undetected for weeks, even months. It will usually make its way up through the porous concrete. Unfortunately, we typically experience property damage before we catch it. But there are those homeowners who sense something is wrong when they get that first high water bill. They call their plumber, and they bring their leak detection equipment out to locate precisely where the leak is.
Start Inspecting Your Surroundings Before You Call Your Plumber
In most cases, the damage is generally isolated to the flooring, such as carpet, wood floors, laminate flooring, ceramic tiles, etc. But other areas the home is not exempt from damage, for example, the leak, could be close to a wall and damage your drywall. In some instances, the leak could be in the garage, and you’re able to see large dark areas on the garage floor.
If you receive that outrageous water bill, it’s time to start inspecting your surroundings even before you call in your plumbing contractor. The first place you begin inspecting is your floor coverings check for dark areas in your ceramic tile or any buckling in your wood or laminate flooring. Check your carpet for wet spots; you may want to get close and smell for mildew. Any of these signs could mean you have a slab leak. Locating the general area is a step in the right direction.
Rerouting The Pipe Using PEX Is A Better Alternative
Your Big B’s Plumber uses high tech electronic leak detection equipment that will amplify the sound of a leak in the foundation. Our equipment comes complete with headphones, a ground sensor, probe bars, and a sound amplification manifold. Once the team locates the leak, they put together a strategy for repairing it. The old way of fixing a slab was to open the concrete until you reached the broken pipe to repair it. The newest techniques and technologies are to be rerouted around the slab’s outside edge and go through the attic. Using PEX gives your slab leak specialist the flexibility and durability they need in a tubing. The procedure is less expensive than jackhammering up the floor and replacing the homeowner’s floor covering.
PEX is The 21st-Century Go-To Piping
In most cases, the home is old, and it may be time for a home repiping. PEX is the 21st-century go-to piping for repipes and new construction. The high-quality, lower-cost tubing is a better alternative to copper or galvanized iron plumbing and has a potential life expectancy of 50 to 100 years.
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