| Copyright © 2008 Christopher R. Prickett. All rights reserved worldwide |
Barring an unexpected long-term visit from my in-laws, I can’t think of any worse homeowner
catastrophe than an under-slab plumbing leak. Is your water bill unusually high? Has one area
of your floor, all of a sudden, gotten warmer? Have you noticed a sunken area next to your
foundation? Uh-oh, you might just have an under slab plumbing leak.
A whole lot of homes in our area have under slab copper supply piping. Those that don’t, have
“Aqua-Pex” or CPVC plastic plumbing. The plastic plumbing is not installed under the slab, so
you plastic pipe people have less to worry about. If you get a leak in your plumbing, it will be
located in a wall or in the ceiling.
NOTE: If you don’t know what type of plumbing you have, you can look inside your electrical
panel. If the piping is plastic, there should be a sticker inside the door that says “non-metallic”
or “NM”. This alerts electricians so they don’t have to look for the grounding and bonding wires
that are required for metallic piping.
Slab leaks are most often due to small pin holes in the soft copper piping. This occurs from
either improper protection or kinking of the piping during installation, or in rare case, a
manufacturing defect.
Here’s an easy way to check if you have an under slab leak. While it’s not 100% accurate, it
will work in almost all cases.
1. Locate your water meter. It’s usually under a metal cover, in the front yard, near the
sidewalk. Lift the metal cover and you’ll see the meter. It may have a cap over the gage glass.
Lift the cap and clean off the glass. You’ll notice either a small triangle, or gear-looking thingy-
the water flow indicator. If there’s any water running the indicator will be turning.
2. Go to the main water shut-off, located either in the garage or at the side of the house,
and turn the valve to the off position. If your landscaping piping valve is installed before the
main shut-off, you’ll need to turn that off as well. Now go look at the indicator. It will not be
moving.
3. Now turn the water back on, but make sure that all of the fixtures in and around your
house are off. This includes pool or fountain auto-fill valves. Go back to the meter and watch
the indicator. If it is moving, than it’s very likely that you are the proud owner of your very own
under slab plumbing leak!
Note: Many toilets run, ever so slightly. This will give you a “false-positive” test result. To find
out if one of yours is running, squeeze 10-12 drops of blue or red food coloring (not yellow,
smarty-pants!) into the toilet tank. Wait 10 minutes. If the water in the bowl turns color, your
toilet runs and you should shut off the toilet supply valve to get an accurate test. You should
also get the toilet fixed- water ain’t cheap these days!
If you think your home has an under slab leak, you need to take immediate action. Shut your
water off at the main shut off, and call a plumber. You should also contact you builder, as the
plumbing may still be under warranty. Repairs are almost always expensive and disruptive to
your lifestyle, just like those pesky in-laws!
catastrophe than an under-slab plumbing leak. Is your water bill unusually high? Has one area
of your floor, all of a sudden, gotten warmer? Have you noticed a sunken area next to your
foundation? Uh-oh, you might just have an under slab plumbing leak.
A whole lot of homes in our area have under slab copper supply piping. Those that don’t, have
“Aqua-Pex” or CPVC plastic plumbing. The plastic plumbing is not installed under the slab, so
you plastic pipe people have less to worry about. If you get a leak in your plumbing, it will be
located in a wall or in the ceiling.
NOTE: If you don’t know what type of plumbing you have, you can look inside your electrical
panel. If the piping is plastic, there should be a sticker inside the door that says “non-metallic”
or “NM”. This alerts electricians so they don’t have to look for the grounding and bonding wires
that are required for metallic piping.
Slab leaks are most often due to small pin holes in the soft copper piping. This occurs from
either improper protection or kinking of the piping during installation, or in rare case, a
manufacturing defect.
Here’s an easy way to check if you have an under slab leak. While it’s not 100% accurate, it
will work in almost all cases.
1. Locate your water meter. It’s usually under a metal cover, in the front yard, near the
sidewalk. Lift the metal cover and you’ll see the meter. It may have a cap over the gage glass.
Lift the cap and clean off the glass. You’ll notice either a small triangle, or gear-looking thingy-
the water flow indicator. If there’s any water running the indicator will be turning.
2. Go to the main water shut-off, located either in the garage or at the side of the house,
and turn the valve to the off position. If your landscaping piping valve is installed before the
main shut-off, you’ll need to turn that off as well. Now go look at the indicator. It will not be
moving.
3. Now turn the water back on, but make sure that all of the fixtures in and around your
house are off. This includes pool or fountain auto-fill valves. Go back to the meter and watch
the indicator. If it is moving, than it’s very likely that you are the proud owner of your very own
under slab plumbing leak!
Note: Many toilets run, ever so slightly. This will give you a “false-positive” test result. To find
out if one of yours is running, squeeze 10-12 drops of blue or red food coloring (not yellow,
smarty-pants!) into the toilet tank. Wait 10 minutes. If the water in the bowl turns color, your
toilet runs and you should shut off the toilet supply valve to get an accurate test. You should
also get the toilet fixed- water ain’t cheap these days!
If you think your home has an under slab leak, you need to take immediate action. Shut your
water off at the main shut off, and call a plumber. You should also contact you builder, as the
plumbing may still be under warranty. Repairs are almost always expensive and disruptive to
your lifestyle, just like those pesky in-laws!
| Dectecting a Slab Leak |