Home Foundation Leak Detection For Your Home’s Safety
When a home is built on a pier and beam style foundation, plumbing leaks are usually blatantly obvious and easily repaired by a plumber who accesses exposed pipes in the crawl space. If a home is built on a concrete foundation, leaks may not be so visible and can remain hidden for quite some time. The longer a leak goes unnoticed, the more damage it can do to the structure and foundation of a house.
Plumbing repairs done on homes with a concrete foundation can also be invasive since they involve jackhammering up portions of the floor. As a result, early and precise detection is key to keeping a home safe and minimizing repair bills.
“Slab” or “Concrete Foundation Leaks”
There are several preliminary signs that a plumber can look for to determine if there is a slab leak. These signs are also essential to know as a homeowner in order to keep an eye out for danger. The first sign someone may notice is a spike in their water bill from the constant leak. The water from that leak will have to go somewhere, so looking for wet spots on the floor and lawn may confirm that a leak is happening under the home’s foundation.
Before breaking out the leak detection equipment, a plumber will likely observe the home’s water meter for leaks. Water meters are incredibly sensitive to flow, so even a small leak will be visible from the dials on the meter.
What Leak Detection Tools Do Plumbers Use?
Once a plumber has confirmed that a slab leak exists under the house, they will use specialized technology to pinpoint the leak’s location. All leaks cause turbulence inside of a pipe. Turbulence equals sound. Therefore, all leaks produce sound. The reason most people have never heard a leak is that the sound is too high-pitched for most to hear. But luckily, plumbers have leak detection equipment that can pick up on the sounds produced by a leak, even though a concrete slab. This leak detection method allows the plumber to pinpoint the leak’s precise location so that repairs can be minimally invasive.
The Urgency Of Leak Detection And Repair
Even slow leaks under a slab can have pretty expensive consequences. Because the leak is happening underneath the concrete of the floor, the moisture has to go somewhere. Some of the moisture will absorb up into the concrete creating moisture pockets in the floor above. The excess moisture in the floor can ruin laminate and carpet flooring, and it can cause mold growth in the drywall that will need to be remediated by replacement.
The water that doesn’t absorb up into the concrete will likely flow out from under the foundation. This can cause large amounts of soil to be washed out from under the house, compromising the home’s structural foundation.
About Dutch Enterprises
Dutch Enterprises has been helping homeowners in Cape Girardeau, MO, with their plumbing problems for over 50 years. With flat-rate pricing and award-winning service, they have the skills to help fix virtually any plumbing problem. From routine drain cleaning to emergency plumbing service, the Dutch Enterprises team is ready to help.
