| Each month I send out a helpful tip to my newsletter recpients. If you'd like to receive these tips via email, click here |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
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!
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!
| SLAB LEAKS |
| Copyright © 2008 Christopher R. Prickett. All rights reserved worldwide |