It’s The Moisture: Slab Leak Repair Problems | Mansfield, TX
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One of the reasons for a concrete slab under your house is because soil combined with moisture, especially local soils high in clay, can shift and disrupt your home’s structural integrity. Changes in the soil can result in cracks in the slab foundation and damage to pipes running beneath it. At Slableak.com of Mansfield, TX, we are specialists in detecting these leaks and making slab leak repairs, repairing, rerouting, or replacing the pipes under the slab. Since heavy rains, leaks from damaged pipes, and other moisture changes in the soil under your home can cause further problems, our job is rarely simple. We are good at what we do, and work hard to provide the best, most effective and affordable solution to your slab leak repair problem.
A Word About the Plumbing Under Your Foundation
Houses that use a concrete slab to provide structural stability when the area soil varies in moisture content and other characteristics usually have plumbing that runs through or under the slab. It’s put in place carefully and tested before the concrete is poured, and then the rest of the home is built with the slab foundation and basic plumbing lines in place. Eventually, these pipes may be affected by soil and moisture problems that cause pressure changes and slab displacement or cracking. There are other reasons that they may leak such as corrosion that can happen to any piping in your home, but moisture, soil, and concrete problems are unique to these foundation pipe runs, and lead to the unique problems involved with slab leak repairs.
Heavy Rains Could Require a Foundation Check
When we get heavy rain in our area, the soil around your foundation swells but then the hot sun dries it out just as quickly. That’s a long of pressure changes around the concrete of your foundation, and a good chance of a crack in the slab, along with damage to your pipes if the location happens to be right. If you have concerns or see cracks in your foundation, it’s a good idea to have your slab condition checked, and see if a slab leak repair is needed.
If you don’t have your slab checked, the leak can persist over time, wasting water that adds up on your water bill and builds under your slab for additional problems including more cracks, water seeping up into your basement, and even moisture increases around the outside of your foundation for further structural challenges. A wise homeowner can also listen for sounds of water under the basement floor, see if plants near the foundation are growing better than usual, and notice if the water meter is spinning while nothing is drawing water in your home.
Multiple Methods for Slab Leak Repair Give You Important Options
Slab leak repairs can be disruptive, expensive, and complicated, but in many cases if your home requires care of the plumbing under the slab, we can provide several methods of repair. To restore your plumbing and basement to original condition may require either digging under the slab and repairing the pipes from below, or removing concrete in your basement and performing repairs, then re-pouring sections of concrete in your foundation slab.
If there are problems with the soil or other cracks in the slab, additional repairs may be needed. We can also perform bypasses of the damaged piping, connecting sections of pipe that run around the leak using the same strategies of digging below or cutting in from above. You may choose one or the other of these based on factors such as cost and the effect of loud noise in your basement on your family’s peace of mind.
We also offer strategic leak repairs that run pipes through your basement as a substitute for the lines under your foundation. They can be much less bothersome to install, but less desirable in terms of your basement’s usability. Once a bypass repair like this is in place, much of the piping subject to leaking below the slab has been moved into the basement, significantly reducing the risk of such leaks in the future.
Locating the Leak Helps Define Which Slab Leak Repairs are Required
Using technological solutions such as acoustic leak location and video pipe inspection, our team can figure out where your leak is located, and whether there are multiple leaks involved. If there’s more than one, we’ll determine whether the problem is based on concrete and soil pressure changes and movement, or perhaps pipe quality and condition. From these clues, we can provide recommendations about the type of repair we think would suit your situation best. You might also consider the likelihood of future weather-related moisture extremes and other causes of foundation problems. If you are planning to perform modifications to your foundation or the surrounding soil in response to cracks and other damage, that could also affect your choice of solution for slab related plumbing problems.
Slab Leak Problems Can be Complex, So Look to Slableak.com to Provide the Most Affordable and Effective Answers
An important factor in choosing a slab leak solution provider is the extent of the plumber’s knowledge of the local area and what solutions have worked for other homeowners. Foundation and soil issues can be complex, and the pipe material used by local builders provides an additional variable to consider as corrosion and degradation make leaks worse.
For our clients here in the Mansfield, TX area, we’re the plumbers to turn to for slab leak problems. Our extensive experience allows us to find the right answer for each homeowner and perform slab leak repairs with a minimum of disruption. Most importantly, we can tell you if a slab leak is likely to be in a single location, or whether a broader slab leak repair strategy is required. Give the Benjamin Franklin professionals at Slableak.com a call and let us help you understand what’s happening, then take good care of your slab leak problem.