What is the Smallest Slab Leak That Can be Detected?

If you have a residential or commercial property in Orange County built on slabs, the chances of facing slab pipe leaks are very high. There are pipes installed under the floor of the foundation section of your house or commercial space. If any of the slab pipes leaks, you will not see water flowing into your building so soon, making slab leaks one of the most difficult ones to trace. Such leaks can go unnoticed in your residential or commercial property for a long time. Instead, you need to be able to identify minor signs of a leak to make sure you can fix the problem.

How Can A Slab Leak Occur

Older pipes tend to wear out over time. The slow breakdown of plumbing is a major cause of slab leaks. Leaks often occur in hot water pipes. The heat from the pipes can react with the surrounding soil and accelerate the corrosion rate too.

Slab leaks can occur due to the construction or maintenance work at a nearby house. Movement on the ground can cause pipe damage. So watch out for slab leaks if there is a new building around your house. Seismic movement and soil erosion could also lead to events increasing pressure on the slab pipes and cause leaks

Whatever the causes, even the smallest leak can lead to a lot of water wastage and a huge water bill.

Signs You Need to Watch Out

How do you know if you have a slab in your home? There are several ways to identify leaks:

Increase In Your Water Bill – A very easy way to find out if you may have a slab leak is if your water bill has increased significantly in a short period of time. If you can’t see any type of leak above the ground, your water costs will most likely be affected by a slab leak.

Water marks – One of the easiest ways to find leaks is to find a water mark or wet mark on your floor. They are usually triggered by a leaking hot water pipe. Not only can you notice or feel these places when walking barefoot, but you can also hear the water sounds under the floor.

Swelling – If your system is leaking, it will be more difficult to see the real leak. This is because leaks from drains usually do not have signs of damage to the substrate. However, places with a lot of dirt can be affected by changes in height, which can cause your slab to swell. Inspect the affected floor area for possible leaks.

Sound – If there are no visible water marks or swelling, the only way to detect slab leaks is to use the special detection system. This involves a process in which the experts in slab leak detection in Orange County will turn off the water to your home and pump air into the pipe. The plumber then uses a special tool to hear the sound made when air leaks from the pipe.

What Type Of Damage Can Slab Leaks Cause?

If you don’t discover leaking pipes at the right time, or if you don’t fix the problem as soon as possible, a slab leak can cause huge and costly damages to your home. The following are some of the problems that can arise from a slab leak.

Broken Floors – The longer water flows through leaks of your home, the more the risk of damage to your floors. A leaking floor can result in broken tiles and saturated floors.

Cracks in the Foundation – If there are multiple leak points and water seeps into the concrete, over time, there could be minor cracks depending on other factors associated with the slab leaks.

Damage to Yard – Leaks, in certain instances, can get onto your garden. This can result in events where you would need to repair fixtures or equipment in the yard, which has suffered water damage. Such leaks can also affect outdoor swimming pools.

Odor – Leaks, when not repaired, will eventually cause stains and odors, which will spread throughout your home. The work kind of underground leaks could be from drain pipes.

Mold – Slab leaks can spread directly to the wall from the floor, and since the wall has a tendency to absorb water, mold will inevitably start to grow. Apart from being unattractive, mold can cause health problems to your family members, especially those dealing with respiratory problems.

If you see any signs of possible slab leaks in your home, you should contact a specialist in slab leak repair in Orange County immediately to avoid additional damage or potential damage to your home.

What Could be the Smallest Slab leak and How Can You Detect It

There could be pinhole leaks in your slab pipes, which would be impossible to locate without the right instruments. All you have to do is let the slab leak specialists find them. Leak detection experts such as EZ Plumbing can identify the most minute of leaks as they have certified and highly-trained professionals who can competently use sophisticated leak detection tools to locate the exact source of the leak.

Slab leak detection Orange County teams such as the one at EZ Plumbing USA can not only accurately locate the smallest of slab leaks, and they also find the least destructive methods to fix the leaks. They have expert slab leak repair Orange County teams who will offer the best solution per your scenario. If direct access repairs will not cost you much and are covered under an insurance policy, slab leak repair teams in Orange County will directly bill repair costs to your insurance carrier.

How Much Damage Can it Cause?

Damage repair and costs depend on how long the leak has remained undetected and what kind of havoc it has created. Has it created low water pressure affecting certain appliances, or has the leak slowly spread across basement areas leading to mold and mildew?

Pinhole leaks can be minute if you are only looking at the size of the pipe leak. But where the slab pipe is exactly located determines how it can be repaired. If you have a pinhole slab leak under a complex bathroom plumbing system, for example, would you consider removing it and digging through? Most probably not. In such cases, slap pipe rerouting is sometimes the best solution. When you contact an experienced team for slab leak detection in Orange County, such as the EZ slab leak detection and repair team in Orange County, they will give you evidence-based reports and solutions fitting your budget and interests.

Take Preventive Measures

If you are moving into a new house or commercial space, and you know the plumbing systems there are not new, it is highly recommended to get slab pipes inspected at the outset. Call a reliable team of slab leak specialists. They will check the pipe conditions and let you know whether there are chances for frequent slab leaks or not. Plumbing companies such as EZ have insured, licensed and bonded teams for slab leak repair in Orange County. They also offer the best deals in slab leak repiping options if you are interested in getting rid of the old pipes.

Slab leak repiping is often a long-term solution to slab leaks in Orange County, especially if the pipes are aging or have deteriorated to the extent that frequent slab leaks are going to be unavoidable.

You can also schedule a periodic slab leak detection for your Orange County home or commercial property as a preventive measure, especially if your plumbing system is not new.