DIY Home Improvement Forum banner
1 - 5 of 5 Posts

· Registered
Joined
·
1 Posts
Discussion Starter · #1 ·
Hi, we recently had a catastrophic slab leak. Our kitchen, dining and family rm had to be demo'd so that the restoration co could remove the water and dry it. All our hard wood has been removed too, extensive damage to our floor, cabinets and island. The 1 st day the plumber thought it was a pin hole leak, but as he did not have the equip to proceed further, he said he will come later. Since then 6 plumbers have come and they are unable to identify any leak, some say it could have sealed with something. The restoration co was sure it was a slab leak from the pressured copper pipes as gallons of water was removed and dried over 2 weeks. So my question is- how can we detect the leak and proceed to repair it? Please help
 

· Premium Member
Joined
·
13,084 Posts
Be sure no water is running from any faucets in the house. Go out to your water meter and see if the dial is moving. If so- you got a leak. To help pinpoint it hire a leak locating service. Their equipment can hear it through the floor
 

· Banned
Joined
·
17,162 Posts
I do not understand how one little leak can cause you to gut the whole house. Sounds more like a leak above slab that caused it. Without pictures of before & during, no way to tell. As for determining if there is a leak, they will have to pressurize the lines and place a gage on them, to see what happens.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
37,499 Posts
It was common years ago on slab houses to just run the pipes right through the slabs. I've seen both copper and steel lines done this way.
At some point there all going to fail and leak.
Even Frank Loyd Wright designed homes done this way have all since been replumbed.

Does sound odd to have that much water all of a sudden. More often there's a pin hole leak and the floor just has a damp spot that needs to be wiped up/
Sounds more like the relief valve on the water heater blew and once the pressure when down it reseated.
One good reason the heater needs to be sitting in a pan with a drain on it to the outside or to a floor drain.
 
1 - 5 of 5 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top