Leak Star Leak Detection Blog

Slab Leak Detection

1/14/2019

A hot spot on the floor immediately makes you shudder. A quick search on Google will tell you that this is very often an indication that you have a slab leak. You shudder again wondering how on earth is slab leak detection performed and then again, what about the slab leak repair once it's been located.

Let us assure you right from the start, that we are not going to be jackhammering up your floor in order to find the water leak in the slab. A slab leak is usually in reality under the slab, in the dirt, with the occasional leak appearing in the concrete itself in locations such as where the water line makes its way up into the interior of your home.

We specialie in leak detection and the technique we use when doing a slab leak detection requires very specialized equipment to listen and see through the concrete slab.

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What To Expect In A Leak Detection

11/8/2018

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You think you might have a slab leak and you need to find a leak detection specialist. But what does that mean, what will they do? We want to prepare you for what to expect in a leak detection.

There are a few different types of leaks that might be encountered, but in this article will will focus on slab leaks. These are leaks that are located below the concrete slab of your home.

One of the most common indicators that home owners will notice is a warm spot on the floor. Especially if it is new, this is almost always a sure sign that a hot water pipe is leaking under the slab and is what we call a slab leak. A hot water slab leak can actually be seen using an infrared camera like shown in th picture to the left.

Unfortunately there won't be this obivious indicator if you have a cold water line leaking under the slab. You may be suspecting a slab leak because of an increasing, unexplainable water bill. Then the obvious and most problematic is when the water from below finds it's way up into the interior of your home by way off expansion cracks or where water pipes literally penetrate the cement slab.

So, how on earth will a slab leak like this be located?

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Slab Leak Detection Doesn't Require a Wrecking Ball

10/3/2018

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"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.

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Leak Detection

9/20/2018

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Advanced Leak Detection, Slab Leak Detection

You can have numerous types of water leaks in your home or business. Sometimes a plumbing leak is clearly visible and other times the leak is hidden in the walls or you can even have a slab leak under inches of cemente slab. In that case you need a leak detection specialist, you need advanced leak detection.

Leak Star is your qualified leak specialist, working in both San Diego and Orange Counties.

Leak Detection, What To Expect

Our aim at Leak Star is to always leave happy customers. We understand that a quality job that won't break the bank is important to you. For that you want a job well done, done right. You want a plumber with plenty of experience who is honest, upfront, dependable and friendly.

You are probably having nightmares of either having your drywall torn down or even worse you envision someone jackhammering your living room floor up. I promise you, that at Leak Star we won't do that to you.

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Slab Leak Repair Options

9/1/2018

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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,

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Water Line Leak Detection

8/24/2018

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There are several water lines in a home and or on the property. There are a couple of people who would qualify to do a water line leak detection, but while a plumber may be quaiified to locate at an irrigation leak, it's not generally something a licensed, contracted plumber would do. For that job you would want to speak with your landscaper or an irrigation specialist.

Most liscensed leak detection specialists would be doing water line leak detection in the pressurized plumbing system of your home. In the building and it could include the main water line running from the street to a building.

This type of water line leak detection requires very specialized equipment. Water leaks are usually located out of sight, in the walls, ceilings and even under the concrete.

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What Is The Hot Spot On My Floor?

7/11/2018

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Infrared camera showing hot spot on floor from slab leak

You are here because you are asking, what is the hot spot on my floor. Likely you are suspecting that you may have a plumbing leak below your concrete slab floor. A slab leak is a very likely assumption. But before your call for slab leak detection Encinitas or slab leak detection in Carlsbad, let's consider a few things first.

There are a couple of other possibilites that it could be. As odd as a couple of these possibilites may sound, we have been called out to do a slab leak detection, only to find one of these. The sun shinning on the floor warming it up, the refridgerator motor blowing warm air on the floor and even a large dog napping on the floor, leaving a warm spot. I know what you are thinking, but people have paid us our slab leak detection charge to find out that they had just walked barefoot across the warm spot left behind by snoozing fido.

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Do You Need A Slab Leak Repair

6/29/2018

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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.

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Slab Leak Detection Carlsbad: Is Your Handyman Up To The Job?

5/16/2018

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If you suspect that your home has a slab leak, odds are that you want to call someone for help now. You may wonder what a slab leak detection Carlsbad professional has to offer that differs from any other plumber, or even that bargain-priced handyman you’ve seen in the neighborhood. Does it really make a difference which one you call? We, of course, think that it does, but not everybody has our background or experience. Here’s the reasons we think that it’s worth it to hire a specialist.

Scope Of The Problem

It’s good to understand exactly what a slab leak is and why it can have such a negative impact on your home: a slab leak occurs when a pipe located under your home’s slab foundation breaks and allows water to be released. An unfortunate feature of water is that it has to go somewhere. Often, people realize that there is a slab leak when the water exits and causes a puddle or damp spot on their floor; other times, they notice a sinkhole outside or a huge spike in their water bill. Slab leaks can be especially damaging, because if not caught and repaired promptly they can cause problems ranging from cracked or shifted foundations to sizeable mold infestations.

Why Hire A Slab Leak Detection Professional?

Because the broken pipe is located beneath the concrete slab, it can be very difficult for a layperson or an inexperienced plumber to find the leak. Without knowing exactly where the leak is, it’s impossible to know why it occurred, and whether the correct option is to repair the pipe or whether repiping service would be a better choice. Plumbers who have experience with slab leaks have specialized equipment and training that allows them to diagnose and find slab leaks quickly. Handymen or random finds from the yellow pages may or may not know what they’re looking for.

What Can Happen If Mistakes Are Made?

If your handyman makes a wrong guess about where the leak is, of course, the consequence could be that more guesses have to be made while the leak continues, necessitating more repairs and more expense. Even if you do fix the leak, slab leaks are sometimes caused by corrosion, in which case the entire plumbing system under your slab is at risk. (This, incidentally, is when repiping would be the better option. We are always careful to weigh with our customers whether repair or repiping is a more financially savvy choice.)

How Can I Know I’m Hiring An Expert?

We recommend you look for a plumber who has several years of experience detecting and repairing slab leaks. We’ve been in this business for three decades, and we can promise that we bring all our expertise to bear for every one of our clients.

If you’re wondering whether you’ve got a slab leak, please let us help. We’ll find, diagnose, and fix your leak as quickly as possible, so you can get your life back to normal.

Additional information on Slab Leak Detection

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Before We Talk Slab Leak Repair, Let’s Discuss Warning Signs

4/19/2018

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As a homeowner, you should know that your piping runs through the foundation of your house. This is the best way to get water to the places in your home through which you access it. A slab leak can take place when pinhole leaks form in those pipes. Corrosion is the most likely culprit. But before we have to think about slab leak repair Encinitas let’s talk about signs to watch out for. Here are three big ones.

Under Pressure?

If your water pressure is way lower than it usually is when you turn on the kitchen faucet or when you take a shower, it could mean you’re dealing with a slab leak. Water flows from outside your home into your house’s main water line, and if there’s even a small leak in that water line, it’s going to be noticeable. If you’re seeing or feeling any significant drop in pressure, don’t delay. Call a plumber, and have them check for a slab leak.

Your Sudden Above Ground Pool

A leak inside should be evident because water is going to be visible and pool somewhere, be it in the basement or another part of the house. But what if you see puddles forming outside, and there hasn’t been any significant rainfall recently? If you have a hose nearby or anything else that might produce water, you might discount a slab leak as the cause, but if there’s no visible source, that option is on the table. It’s even more likely if you see it in conjunction with the reduced water pressure we already mentioned.

The Hot Floor Game

As a kid, did you ever try the game where the floor is lava, and you weren’t allowed to touch it? If that’s happening in your home for real, you might have a slab leak; this is the most common sign. It’s something that you mainly want to watch out for if one part of your floor is hot, and other parts are cold. What’s happening is that the hot water is heating up the concrete in your foundation, and that in turn is heating up your floors. If this is happening, go down to the basement or anywhere you have access to the foundation, and take a look around. If any doubt remains, call a plumber.

Although slab leaks are fairly common plumbing problems, they’re no cause for panic. If you’ve caught them early enough, you shouldn’t break the bank fixing them, either. Just be sure that you contact a plumbing company that you trust, and always be vigilant.

More innformation on slab leak repair.

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