July 14, 2016
Slab Leak Detection & Repair
Does Dallas Homeowners Insurance Cover a Water Leak Under My Slab?
Slab leaks can be particularly devastating and costly. Although they can be caused by a variety of serious plumbing problems and may feature both hot and cold streams of water, they typically progress in a predictable manner. It can really troublesome to have slab leak in your home as they can be very costly to deal with, especially if left undetected for a long period of time. This problem can happen to everyone and despite your best efforts to prevent them, it may happen eventually.
The Importance of Accurate Slab Leak Detection
Slab leaks usually occur when there is a problem with plumbing pipes beneath your concrete slabs. It is considered as a serious problem because concrete, unlike normal ground can be difficult and expensive to deal with. If left untreated, water accumulation under concrete foundation can weaken the structure and degrades building quality, which in turn may endanger you and your family members.Worse, due to its location, leak under concrete slab can be hard to detect, as you won’t see any visible water accumulation.
As the result, you may need to ask for experts help to do regular check on the situation of your foundation, before disaster strikes.Luckily, we do have some ways to know whether leak may happen under the concrete slab. If you hear some water noises under the concrete slab, have higher-than-usual water bills, increasing humidity under your carpeting and warm spots, you may have leakage under the concrete slabs.
If more than one symptom appears, immediately contact an expert. Slab leak usually happen when you have bad pipes, badly assembled fittings and pipes, unexpected electrolysis, rusts or small earthquakes. Directly taking your concrete slabs apart to check the leak can be wasteful and costly. Make sure your contractors have tools designed to detect leakage under concrete without excavating the entire foundation.
It would better if your contractor can guarantee that once the slab is excavated, they’ll find the leak. That way you can be protected financially, from incompetent contractors. If you are in the process of building your home, before assembling pipes under the slabs, make sure you understand the effect of electrolysis, Make sure your metal pipes won’t create electrical charges which make tiny holes. There are few methods to prevent it, ask your contractor for the best method for you.
SIGNS YOU MAY HAVE A SLAB LEAK IN YOUR HOME
First, check to make sure there is no visible leaking. Once you have determined that nothing is leaking visibly, take a look at the water meter. Check the leak indicator on the face of the meter. If it is moving, even slightly, then you have a leak somewhere in your home. Next, you should turn the shut-off valve to close it. If the leak indicator doesn’t stop moving at that point, then the leak is definitely underground. If the leak indicator is ever moving, that means there is a good deal of water leaking.