Leak Detection Services San Bernardino, CA
Leak detection with most pipes is fairly straightforward; you can see, hear, or feel the leak under the sink, in your basement, in the crawlspace, under the porch, in the tub or shower, etc. However, slab leaks and underground leaks are wholly different. These are not only harder to detect, they are much more costly to fix.
Slab leaks are leaks that occur in pipes that are underneath houses built on concrete slabs. For this reason, they cannot be checked or detected in the usual way. You cannot hear, see, or feel them leaking as you would if the leaks were above ground or if your home was built over a basement. Still, there are some definitive ways in which a plumber can detect that your slab foundation is experiencing slab leaks in the pipes.
Slab Leak Detection & Repair
Our plumbers will look for the following:
- Damp carpeting or flooring on the first floor that does not coincide with flooding or recent weather issues.
- Cracks in the concrete can be felt through the carpeting and carpet pad.
- Warping of wood floors when the wood is overlaying the concrete slab.
- Mildew in the walls (mildew will travel from the cracks in the concrete slab to the walls, where it will rapidly spread)
- Floors that are hot to the touch may indicate a broken hot water pipe (This only applies to flooring that is not directly in front of a heating vent and only when the heat is not on.)
The plumber may also ask you if you recently experienced a spike in the water bill. Instead of paying the usual amount per month or quarter, you suddenly found that you had a bill for two to ten times as much. This is a very good indication that you have a slab leak or, at the very least, a burst pipe of some sort underground.
The total cost to detect and fix an underground pipe leak or slab leak can run into the thousands and tens of thousands or more if it is not caught early and repaired immediately. If it causes significant damage to other parts of your home before the plumber can unearth the damaged pipes, then all of the damage caused has to be repaired as well. Fortunately, if you have really good homeowner’s insurance, these expenses may be covered.
Quality Leak Detection Services
If you suspect that you have a slab leak, treat it as an emergency. Please call us at Full Spectrum Plumbing right away for an emergency plumbing appointment. We can have a truck on the road in minutes and at your San Bernardino area home in no time at all. Our plumbers will quickly and accurately confirm or deny the presence of a slab leak or underground water leak and let you know what the next steps are to fix it.