Common Slab Leak Causes: Here’s How a Slab Leak Detector Can Help You | Slab Leak in Fort Worth
Photo By Gagarin Iurii at Shutterstock
A natural disaster, such as an earthquake, can shake the concrete foundation of your home and weaken its structural integrity. Although earthquakes are not common in Fort Worth, they can hit the city once every year and cause significant destruction and damage.
Most homes in Fort Worth are built from slabs of concrete. Therefore, it is not uncommon for some homeowners to encounter slab leak problems after a few jolts. Unlike other types of leaks, such as water leaks, slab leaks have much more potential for damage. These leaks can damage cold or hot water lines beneath concrete floors.
Besides that, slab leaks can also affect any drain line that extends from a home appliance using water. For this reason, it’s essential for homeowners in Fort Worth to know what causes slab leaks and how they can identify one.
What Is a Slab Leak?
In industry terms, a slab leak is a leak that develops in copper water lines running below the foundation of a home. However, similar leaks above the ground, inside a wall or on the ceiling are classified as different types of leaks. These leaks are commonly known as pinhole leaks among experts. Both of these leaks are the result of long-term corrosion of copper pipes.
Why Is It More Dangerous?
Slab leaks are either found on the drainage or pressure side of a foundation. A slab leak on the pressure side of a drain is relatively easier to detect and fix. Homeowners in Fort Worth can detect these leaks before they cause a lot of destruction to their properties.
However, homeowners in Fort Worth should be wary of the fact that while these leaks are easy to find, they have the greatest potential for damage. So, they need to get these slab leaks resolved as soon as they find them.
On the other hand, a slab leak on the drainage side is not as noticeable than a leak on the pressure side. As a result, detecting these leaks can be difficult and tedious. These leaks can exert water to your foundation without any external indication.
In most cases, an average homeowner will struggle to detect a slab leak in Forth Worth. Without professional help, these leaks can go undetected for extended periods of time. People rarely realize that ignoring a potential slab leak can be a starting point to much larger problems.
Some of its main after-effects are mold damage and termite infestations inside homes. Both these things are harmful to the people living inside homes. Apart from property damage, slab leaks also pose significant health risks to you and your family.
Homeowners in Forth Worth should never take these leaks easy as they can cause significant damage to homes. If left unattended, slab leaks can even make your foundation collapse without warning. To prevent this from happening, homeowners in Fort Worth need to have routine plumbing inspection in their homes.
What Causes a Slab Leak?
Keeping an eye on the following factors can help you prepare for potential slab leaks in Fort Worth:
Poor Installation & Damage from Construction
It’s not uncommon for residential properties to suffer from issues when they are being built. However, if the pipes at your home experience any damage during this procedure, you’ll have to bear long-term problems, which will end up damaging the foundation of your home.
Besides that, if your construction contractor does faulty installations of the underground pipes, then you are in trouble. Faulty pipelines won’t be able to function properly.
Ground/Foundation Shifts
In some parts of Fort Worth, the ground is not stable enough to hold homes. Yet, people are unaware of these problems and build structures there anyway. The unstable ground beneath a house foundation can make it shift.
When this happens, it can exert pressure on the pipes beneath the home. As a result, slab leaks start to develop in these pipes. Besides that, earthquakes in Fort Worth can also make your home jolt temporarily and shift the foundation a bit. Regardless of how the ground or foundation gets shifted, it makes way for slab leaks.
It’s true that pipes are strong and have the strength to withstand a lot of things. However, extended pressure can take a toll on the strongest of them and cause those pipes to leak.
Abrasion
It’s common for pipes to contract or expand naturally as water flows through them. However, doing so can cause several problems. If the pipes are exposed to gravel, concrete or even other pipes, they could rub against them and wear down due to the insufficient room for expansion.
Corrosion
Corrosion in pipes normally happens when they come in contact with harmful exterior elements. The majority of the pipes are built underground. Therefore, they can come into contact with soil. While normal soil may seem harmless to us, it can contain several different elements, which includes but is not limited to, metal other compounds that may damage the pipes.
Extended exposure to the soil can damage the pipe over time and result in slab leaks. This happens commonly in homes that have entire plumbing systems supported by copper pipes.
Who Should You Call?
Benjamin Franklin Slab LeakDetectors have been the best slab leak detection service in Fort Worth for many years. They have the relevant experience and knowledge to detect hidden leaks in the foundation of your home and help you get rid of them before they become a problem.
If you suspect that there’s a slab leak in Fort Worth in your home, just give them a call at 817-405-0434 to avail their emergency services. You can also visit the Benjamin Franklin Slab Leak website to learn more about the company.