Leak Star Leak Detection Blog

Why A Slab Leak Can Endanger Your Home

2/7/2018

If you’ve just discovered that you’ve got water puddling, and you think it might be a slab leak, it can seem like an overwhelming problem. However, once you’ve found the leak, odds are you need to secure a qualified slab leak detection Carlsbad professional. Delay, or improper fixes from “handyman”-type contractors, can be costly in more ways than one. You want to make the needed slab leak repair as quickly as possible.

1. Your Water Bill

Many people first realize that they might have a slab leak when they get an astronomical water bill. Even if you weren’t worried about the water damaging your home, most people can’t afford the continued high cost of a leak--let alone the environmental impact of wasting hundreds of gallons of water.

2. Structural Damage

Both undetected leaks and improper “handyman”-style fixes can allow water to cause significant damage to the foundation of the home. If not corrected, over time the water can actually weather the concrete enough to cause the foundation to shift, and sometimes even cause parts of the structure to become unstable and in danger of collapse. It’s best, of course, to fix your leak correctly long before things get to this stage, which is why prompt leak detection, repair, and, if necessary, repiping service, are so important.

3. Cosmetic Damage

While structural damage to your home can be frightening to contemplate, slab leaks that well up under your floors can also cause significant amounts of cosmetic damage when they soak carpets and drywall, warp wood floors, and cause unsightly stains. This kind of damage can be discouraging, expensive, and can hamper your ability to enjoy your home. The biggest problem? If you hire an unqualified repairman, you might end up dealing with multiple slab leaks, and the attendant cosmetic damage over time. Nothing is more frustrating than having to repaint a wall again. The best way to make sure that this doesn’t happen is to use a qualified professional the first time, who can advise you whether a small leak repair is adequate, or whether it would be more cost-effective over time to simply repipe the system.

4. Health And Safety Danger

Ultimately, the most important consideration is the your health and that of your family. The biggest health danger with leaks is the growth of mold and mildew. Particularly if any family member has asthma or other breathing problems, mold spores in the air can be quite dangerous. Once again, the best way to prevent this is to begin repairs as rapidly as possible, and make sure that the person repairing your leak knows what they’re doing so that any water damage is halted at an early stage.

While nobody enjoys discovering that they’ve got a slab leak, fixing your leak shouldn’t be a miserable experience. We want you to be confident that your leak is going to be fixed in a timely, professional manner, and we don’t want you to worry about unnecessary damage to your home. As slab leak specialists, it’s always our goal to get your leak repaired in a timely, professional manner, so that you and your home can get back to normal. If you have a slab leak, give us a call! We’ll be glad to help.

Sources:

Why Slab Leaks Can Damage Your Home - www.accurateleak.com
About Us - www.leakstar.com

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Repiping Nightmares

1/10/2018

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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.

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Plumbing Whoas

12/30/2017

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Being a homeowner is a pleasure, but it certainly can have some homewoner plumbing whoas. When plumbing is not functioning properly, your happy home can environment can vanish. It is imperative that your home have these simple basics. How water, clear drains, with water and sewer lines that are not leaking.

A slab leak can cause significant damage and really isn't that difficult to repair only I am sure your thoughts have you imagining a jackhammer in your livingroom, Simply not the case. In most cases repiping a home or rerouting a single line is all that is needed. Repiping is slightly different in that it generally refers to replacing all of the water pipes in the home. A reroute more implies a single water line that is replaced. Water line repair is not that difficult.

Nothing is worse than looking forward to a hot shower only to find your water is dead cold. If your water heater is over 8 years old and new water heater installation is usually recommended. A new water heater installation should cost you about $1500-$1700 that should include, your water heater replacement, the labor and to haul your old water heater away. Generally takes about 3 hours.

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Slab Leak Detection and Repair: Should You DIY?

12/20/2017

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You’ve got a hot spot or a wet spot on your floor, or your water bill is astronomical. Maybe you’re handy and have done some home repair projects before, or maybe you’re just balking at the prices you’re seeing online for professional slab leak detection and repair jobs, and you’re wondering if you can just fix the problem yourself. Before you go running off to rent a jackhammer or a concrete saw, wait! Here’s a few reasons you may want to re-think the DIY route.

1. Cutting Into The Floor?

You may assume that in order to get to a leak under your floor that you have to pull up carpet or wood flooring, remove subfloor, and cut through the concrete slab. This seems logical enough, but did you know that’s not the recommended method of repair in California? Professional slab repair companies like Leakstar are usually able to repair your leak by simply rerouting your water lines around it. This necessitates only very small holes, usually in drywall. All of our plumbing professionals are trained to minimize the mess and hassle to you, and we complete most single line reroute in a day. You can trust our expertise and training, and keep your floors intact.

2. Repiping?

With certain leaks, repiping service is the method of choice. If you have a slab leak because of old, corroding pipes--or if you’ve had more than one slab leak--it can actually save you money and time to simply abandon the old plumbing and install an entirely new system, overhead and in the walls. Are you confident that you’d be able to determine the cause of your slab leak, and make a choice about whether to repair or reroute your system? We can help you make an educated decision, and do the repiping job.

3. Do You Have The Tools To Find The Leak?

Finding a wet spot or a hot spot and going straight down through the floor is an imprecise, old-fashioned way to find a slab leak (which is why we almost never do it). What if you cut through the floor and the concrete and find that the leak isn’t where you thought it was? Perhaps it’s inches or feet away, and now more floor must be destroyed. Additionally, if you cut into concrete, you may damage intact pipes and cause a worse leak. Why fuss with cutting into the floor at all? Slab leak repair professionals have modern, cutting-edge equipment that enable them to find the precise location of a slab leak and repair it quickly.

4. Keep Backup On Tap

If, despite the risks outlined above, you’re still determined to try to fix a slab leak yourself, it can pay to have a reliable slab leak repair professional picked out in advance. If you shut your water off and start your repair only to find out that the job is more difficult than you thought it would be, you don’t want to be stuck with no water and no idea what to do next. Keep your plumber’s number close at hand!

What’s the bottom line? A slab leak is a complex, significant plumbing problem. We just can’t recommend that most folks try to repair it themselves. There’s no replacement for the advanced equipment, extensive training, and experience that our slab leak repair professionals bring to the job. We can usually get your situation back to normal in a matter of days (i.e. one day for a single line reroute, 3-5 days for a slab leak or whole house repiping service), and our prices are very competitive. When calculating what a job will cost, remember to include the expense of renting equipment and spending vacation days doing plumbing. Why not let us put our experience and expertise to work for you? Before you try DIY, give us a call today.

Source:
Slab Leaks - www.plumberman.com

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When Is It Time To Consider Repiping Your Home

12/5/2017

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We hear this question often, when is it time to consider repiping your home. It's really not that difficult of a decision is you consider the cost options. You may be considering repiping Carlsbad homes, or repiping Encinitas homes. You probably came to this consideration because you have already experienced at least one water line leak, however you are likely on your 3rd of 4th water leak.

Let's consider the cost of repairing a single line water leak under the slab also known as a slab leak. If you use Leak Star Advanced Leak Detection repiping service, a single line reroute will cost you $1750 flat rate. That would include the cost of your leak detection. What often happens is that one line is abandoned and rerouted and another separate copper water line springs a leak. It could for instance be the hot water that was fixed the first time, now it's the cold water line either right next to the hot water or in an entirely different location of the house. It could be in the wall or it could be another slab leak.

Once copper pipes start springing leaks it's genreally just a matter of time before more leaks appear. Copper pipes can corrode over time or as is very often the problem in our area, the additives in our municipal water meant to protect us, corrode the inside of the copper pipes. There is nothing that we can really control.

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When You Need More Than a Plumber

10/19/2017

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For those who are handy around the house, they’ve surely got a few important tools they could use in a pinch to resolve minor plumbing problems. A clogged toilet may sometimes only require a plunger, and a leaky sink pipe may only need a small adjustment from a crescent wrench.

Although you might know a trick or two, the plumber-in-you may not be enough to fix certain advanced plumbing problems, such as slab leak beneath the concrete floor or hidden water line leak in the wall . What’s more, fixing things yourself may lead to bigger problems and very costly repairs. From slab leak repair to advanced plumbing repair in all of Orange County, Leak Star has the tools and knowledge to pick up where you leave off.

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More Common Signs of Slab Leaks

10/12/2017

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Leak detection is one of the most sought after and important services that plumbers offer to customers. Because the majority of the plumbing in a house is hidden, leaks are tricky to locate and repair. Worse, leaks can lead to structural damage, costly repairs, and high water bills if left undetected.

At Leak Star, we've seen some of the worst cases of water leaks, and chief among them is the slab leak. As noted in a previous post, a slab leak is a pipe leak that occurs in the concrete foundation of a home and can be found in the cold or hot water lines. Although pipes are buried for protection in thick concrete, they are not completely resilient to leaks caused by abrasion, corrosion, and ground-shifting. From slab leak Carlsbad down to San Diego, the signs are the same.

Slab Leak Detection

So how do you make an intelligent slab leak detection? Here are a few more things you should always be on the lookout for:

A higher-than-normal water bill
This easy-to-observe indicator deserves a second mention. Leaks would cause your water to run all day and night. So, if your bill is higher than expected and you're not sure why, a slab leak might be the culprit.

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OC Slab Leaks A Growing Concern

9/14/2017

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Slab leaks and water line leaks are always a potential problem and something homeowners are forced to deal with from time to time. However, Orange County, CA seems to have more than their fair share of these destructive plumbing issues. OC leak detection is a growing business these days with countless individuals looking to jump on the bandwagon.

What You Need To Know Before You Hire a OC Leak Detection Specialist

This leak detection boom is bringing in record numbers of trully unqualified individuals. A plumbing license is not required to provide leak detection. Be sure to check for a plumbing license when you consider hiring someone. It is important that the company you hire to do your leak detection understands the plumbing process. Leak detection can be complicated especially when you are trying to locate a slab leak relatively blind, under several inches of concrete.

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Pinhole and Slab Leaks Fixed the Leak Star Way

8/1/2017

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Water is a necessity inside the home and it's hard to live without it even just for one day. No wonder plumbing leaks are such an inconvenience in any household. Aside from the hefty bills you pay for the wasted water, the risk of having your property damaged is almost always imminent.

It just makes sense to hire a plumbing expert who knows and understands what he's doing. Fortunately, finding a quality repiping service Carlsbad has never been quick and easy.

Thanks to Leak Star Plumbing & Leak Detection.

Striving for excellence

For several years, Leak Star has continuously built a reputation for being a trusted plumbing company. Our scope is not only limited to plumbing repairs but we also specialize in plumbing leak detection. Some of the top plumbing issues we receive each year are slab leaks and pinhole leaks.

Slab leaks happen when the water lines under the concrete slab of your home leak. On the other hand, pinhole leaks are particularly nefarious nuisances that can occur anywhere. Even when signs of leaks are obvious, fixing them yourself is never easy.

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Slab Leaks and Mold: Understanding the Dangers of This 1-2 Punch

7/10/2017

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Quiet, gradual, nearly undetectable. Plumbing leaks can lurk within and underneath your home or business for months on end before their damage becomes outwardly visible, often in the form of mold. In order to prevent or stop leaks from undermining the integrity of your home or business, it is imperative to call a leak detection repair expert like Leak Star to inspect, repair, and clean the damage left behind from a hidden plumbing leak.

South Orange County homes, particularly slab leaks in Ladera Ranch, are vulnerable to pinhole leaks in their copper piping. Slab leak detection Ladera Ranch and South OC can be tricky, but assessing the presence and magnitude of these common water line leaks is your first step in preventing the growth of mold. Once mold arrives, the issue is no longer just a structural one.

Mold can spread like wildfire right inside your home. Once an airborne spore lands on a moist surface, mold begins to grow.. And the cycle continues endlessly. Mold spores are much more resilient than mold itself and are not limited to humid areas. They travel invisibly through the air of your home, carrying harmful mycotoxins that are known to cause respiratory conditions among other illnesses. This cycle of spread and reproduction can occur without your knowledge. Like the leak that caused it, mold works quietly, gradually, and often without detection for long periods of time.

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