Leak Star Leak Detection Blog - Leak Star

Understanding Slab Leak Repair

11/22/2018

Slab leak repair

As a homeowner being told you have a slab leak it fairly unsettling. If this is you, then we want to help you in understanding slab leak repair. There are many misconceptions and misinformation out there. In fact insurance companies can give you really dated advice.

We want to clear all of that up for you. It's important that you fully understand the slab leak repair process because it will not only save you time, but added stress and even costly repairs of the demolition that some plumbers may tell you is needed.

Always hire a real plumber. Slab leak repair is not a job you should ask your handyman to do. This plumbing job requires an understanding on plumbing beyond that of changing out a garbage disposer or even a toilet. There are 20-30 pipes running under your concrete slab and it is really important to know exactly which pipe has sprung a leak. Poking exporatory holes all over literally making stabs is not necessary. A water leak in slab is not a job for anyone other than someone who is a slab leak specialist. They should have specialized euipment that with skill will narrow down the problem before any cuts are made.

Slab Leak Detection Doesn't Require a Wrecking Ball

10/3/2018

"It only cost half of what the other guy wanted to do the slab leak detection and then they wanted to tear up my driveway in order to fix the slab leak." (Taken from an actual Yelp review) That is not uncommon to hear from our customers. Sadly there are some real hacks out there who claim to be plumbers. In fact there is even a video of someone demonstrating how to to do a slab leak detection, tearing up someone's concrete slab with a pick and hammer first then a small jackhammer. It took him a couple of days to locate the leak!! Do NOT listen to this person whether homeowner or plumber or even attempt to do it yourself.

A water line repair under the concrete slab doesn't mean you must tear up your floor, so stop worrying. A qualified plumber will be able to quickly perform your slab leak detection and do the repiping of a new line in less than a day, without ripping up your beautiful floors. In fact if you chose to use Leak Star, it will be over before you know it and with minimal damage to your drywall.

Slab Leak Repair Options

9/1/2018

Slab leak repair options

You have just been told you have a slab leak. Now what? You are probably envisioning a massive hole right in the middle of your livingroom floor in order to access the water line leak. Let us assure you, there are more than one slab leak repair options.

Insurance companies often will only cover slab leak repair and that ishaving your plumbing contractor jackhammer up your floor. Why? We aren't guite sure, but they do. A leak under your concrete slab can be repaired by this method, but there are far less invasive slab leak repair options available to you. Having your floors torn up is extremely invasive.

Don't think you are stuck with the nightmare of an option and still get your insurance company to cover the cost of repairs.

One of the options is a procedure called epoxy coating. To explain it simply,

What Is Repiping?

8/10/2018

Repiping

If you have experienced a slab leak, then you have likely had a reroute. A reroute is the bypassing of a single failing line. So what then is repiping? Repiping could be losely applied to the rerouting of a single failing water line locate under the slab, but usually repiping is applied to all of the old water lines in the house being abandoned and new pipes being run.

You may wonder then, when would you need to consider repiping as opposed to rerouting. If you have had more than 2 water leaks in your plumbing pipes, whether due to a slab leak or a leak in the pipes running through your walls or ceilings, then it is probably time to start thinking about our repiping service for your home.

Do You Need A Slab Leak Repair

6/29/2018

Do you need slab leak repair is probably the first thing that crosses your mind upon finding wet carpet in your bedroom. Or maybe you have found a hot spot on your bathroom or kitchen floor. First call a "qualified" leak detection specialist who has the knowledge, equipment and experience to locate a slab leak.

Never trust anyone who comes into your home and tells you right off that you need to repipe your entire home without even doing any investigation. Unless you have had 1 or 2 slab leak repairs previously, repiping you entire home likely isn't needed. That explains the reason for the picture to the left. What does it have to do with slab leak repair?

If you hire a qualified leak detection company, they will be able to narrow down the precise leaking pipe responsible for your slab leak even if it can't be seen. Our specialists use the latest technology. Infrared cameras and highly sensitive listening devices.

Once the offending water line is located, our team will abandon that line, run a new line, usually making just a handful of drywall cuts in the process. You should not need to move out and the job should be complete that day.

From time to time, you will hear of concrete floors needing to be cut up in order to make the slab leak repair. In Southern California is a rarity to need to do that. Not that it never happens, but it is rare. I'm sure you would prefer a few drywall cuts as opposed to having your floors torn up and having a jackhammer in your living room. Sometimes insurance companies prefer tearing up the floors as opposed to a simple repiping of a single line. If that is the case, we have been very successful working with our customers insurance company.

Here is a slab leak repair done through an opening in the concrete floor. Another reason we do not recommend this is this.....only a very small section where the actual leak was happening. In our experience, once a copper line begins to fail, it will fail elsewhere along the same line sooner or later. That is why we recommend abandoning that entire length of pipe.

Give us a call 760-458-8958. We will be honest with you and give you a fair price. Check out our reviews in the column to the right.

Slab Leak Repair a True Story

5/11/2018

Slab leak repair Scripps Ranch access holes in kitchen ceiling

Imagine this. You finally have the kitchen of your dreams. Beautiful cabinets, tile work and the flooring you have always wanted. You barely have the oppurtunity to prepare those fabulous meals there, when you realize that the hot spot that has appeared under your new flooring is a hot water pipe under the concrete that is leaking so bad that it is heating up the floor and you need slab leak repair.

Your heart sinks at the thought of ripping into the floor with a jackhammer. Will repair take tearing out your beautiful new cabinets that you have barely even had the chance to completely pay for. This is a true story.

Our customer was obviously distressed when they contacted us. It felt good to be able to answer their questions and alleviate so many of their fears. They were assured that tearing up the flooring in order to make the slab leak repair was an absoulte last resort. In fact it is so rare we haven't had to do it in years. We also assured them that we would do all we could to cause as little damage as absolutely necessary. First we needed to take a look.

Slab Leak Repair

3/5/2018

Slab Leak Repair

For a lay person, it's difficult to imagine how on earth on could make a slab leak repair without bringing in a jackhammer, tearing up your flooring and opening up an enormous hole in the floor of your living room or kitchen. Relax! Only under the most unusual of conditions is there ever a need to break open the floor.

If your plumber really knows what he is doing, then either a single line reroute is done or some times you may chose to just go ahead and just go for the repiping service.

Single Line Repiping

When would you chose a single line reroute over a complete repiping service? If this is the first ever plumbing leak you have experienced then a single line reroute might be the best option. Plumbing leaks will invariably happen over time. Multiple reasons couple be the cause. We have a flat rate of $1750 for a single line reroute. If we do the single line reroute and the leak detection, then your leak detection is free.

The Problem With Epoxy Coating

2/13/2018

It wasn't that long ago that I did another blog post on whether epoxy coating was the right choice. Recently we encountered yet another blatant example of the problem with epoxy coating.

We were called out with what clearly sounded like a slab leak. As expected it was a slab leak and we were hired to do the single line repiping. We were informed by the homeowner that it had been just 8 years since they had a leak before, when they chose to do epoxy coating. Epoxy coating of an entire average size house can cost $5000-$8000. The a lot of money to have it fail in just 8 years.

The images below make it very clear what the problem is with epoxy lining for plumbing.

The first image shows what epoxy lining should sort of look like. But as you can see, the coating is very thick on one side and paper thin on the other. In order for the epoxy coating to be effective, the pipe must be evenly coated on the inside. In the second image you see that much of the inside of the pipe has no lining at all. Just a few splatters of epoxy are visible. The third image shows what is very common, that is to find the epoxy coating either all puddled to the bottom of the pipe or balled up into one spot leaving the remainder of the pipe completely exposed.

Just how much of this homeowners plumbing pipes looked like this will never be known for sure. But I will guarantee you that this single spot we cut into the this was not the only place the epoxy coating process failed. The failure rate is far to high in our estimation cosidering the cost.

You can have an entire new water system installed in your home for about the same cost. Difference is, you will have all new water pipes that should last not just a few years, but for decades as plumbing should.

Don't let anyone tell you that you must move out if you choose repiping your home, or that your floors must be cut into with a jackhammer. It is an extremely rare occasion when we cut into a floor. There just simply is not a need to put you the homeowner through that.

We will make it as simple as possible and in most cases you can stay in your home during the entire process. Call Leak Star before you make your final decision.

Epoxy Coating Is It the Right Choice

1/21/2018

Epoxy coating for plumbing failure

Epoxy coating is usually offered as the best solution for failing water pipes by the companies that provide this service. Promises are made that you will have a like new water system. In theory it might sound like a great solution and most of all, it will be so easy. But, epoxy coating, is it the right choice.

Why Epoxy Coating is Not The Best Idea

It is impossible to know how evenly the epoxy coating has been distributed on the inside of your corroding pipes. Have all of the tiny pinholes and weak joints been completely sealed with enough coating? There is no way of knowing withough cutting the pipe and then that would would only tell you what you can see from a visual of about 1 inch.

If you sustain a leak in the future, repairing the leak is very difficult because the epoxy resin used can not take heat. The heat from a torch and soder ruins the integrity of the epoxy coating leaving you vulnerable to future leaks in that area.

Other types of repairs used by epoxy companies called compression fittings or press fit connections can crack surrounding epoxy coating.

The weak pipe is still there and the pressure used in the epoxy lining process can blow out these weak spots and joints.

When encountering these issues a full repipe is often the only solution. These types of issues have created several lawsuits against some epoxy coating companies.

Repiping San Diego

The cost of complete repiping San Diego homes is usually the same or less than epoxy coating. Do yourself a favor and give us a call and let us bid your repiping service at the same time you are getting a quote for epoxy coating.

Very often epoxy coating does not come with much of a warranty. With a full repiping all of your water lines will be brand new with a warranty. With this great investment you will have years of peace of mind.

Source:
http://sagewater.com/whats-new/the-problem-with-epoxy/

Repiping Nightmares

1/10/2018

Corrosion on inside of copper plumbing pipe leading to water line leak

You know you need to repipe your house and you are having repiping nightmares. Visions of having to move all of your furniture out, floors, walls torn up and you living in a hotel....it doesn't have to happen if you hire the right plumbing company.

If a plumber trys to sell you a job like that then they are primarily looking to make a whole lot of money. Here at Leak Star for an average 3 bdrm, 2 bath, we can complete repiping Carlsbad homes in about 3-4 days and there is no need for you to move out unless you chose to do so. We will not tear massive holes in your drywall or tear out your kitchen cabinets or have you remove all your furniture.

So how is it that we can do this? We do not recommend copper pipe for repiping Encinitas or Carlsbad homes anymore. Why? Because the reason you need to repipe your home is because of the copper pipe on most occasions. Over time copper erodes, becomes pitted on the inside. That is very common in older homes, but we are seeing it even in very new homes.