Signs You Need A Slab Leak Repair And How To Fix It | Mansfield, TX
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Did you know that the average American household consumes more than 300 gallons of water each day? Being such a precious commodity in our homes, potable water should be used efficiently with minimal wastage. The most common wastage occurs in the form of leakages in pipes supplying the house, including those beneath the foundation.
Most leakages are usually easy to detect, especially those that occur in pipes located at visible, easy-to-reach places in our homes, compared to those that occur in pipes under the concrete slab comprising the foundation. In most cases, these pipes usually convey hot water. Having a leakage in your plumbing system, especially slab leaks, is hazardous and costly in slab leak repair needs.
Slab leaks occur due to several factors, including the pipes’ age, low water quality, abrasion, and improper installation. They can be responsible for a lot of damages to your house, such as damage to the floor and walls, as well as surging water and utility bills attributed to the resultant flooding.
For this reason, repairs become inevitable once it manifests in your house. Its repair professionals are proficient in performing diagnostic tests to identify the leak source and provide long-term solutions. Here’s a guide to help homeowners in Mansfield, TX, figure out potential slab leaks, including appropriate repair.
Foundation heaving
For instance, the flooring material in your house, tiles, and hardwood absorb excess moisture when there is a leak under the house’s foundation, causing them to crack or warp. In most cases, the affected area develops into a raised dome coupled with buckling, separated floorboards, and displaced or tilting slab sections. When the leaking water accumulates over time, it leads to soil erosion that’s a precursor to structural damage on a massive scale.
If you notice such sections in your house, you could be dealing with a potential slab leak, thus do not hesitate to seek a professional slab leak repair company’s services.
Damp carpets and warm areas on the floor
Just like in the case of foundation heaving, leak water from the pipes under your foundation could make its way into your carpet as it escapes through cracks in the floor. Soaked carpets in your house should indicate the need for slab leak repair, especially when there aren’t visible pipes running in that section, and the dampness is not a result of human activities.
When the leak occurs in pipes conveying hot water, you may realize that some areas on the floor are hotter than others. You can also identify the need to have slab leak repair professionals inspect your house based on careful observation of your pets’ behavior. In most cases, they tend to spend more time on the warmer spots on the floor, thus identifying such sections. Repair entails the use of advanced equipment and techniques, including infrared thermal imaging.
Sewer odor emanating from your slab
There could be several pipes, including sewer drains that are connected beneath the concrete slab in your house. Foul odors emanating from the sewer drain pipes indicate that the pipes could have cracks, and you require slab leak repair to restore normalcy. Any openings along the drain pipework could even make the entire house uninhabitable due to sewer odor and increased risk of contamination that leads to health-related concerns.
Presence of mold and mildew
Moisture encourages the blooming of molds and mildew. Instances where you can smell mold but it’s not visible can be used as slab leaks indicators. In other cases, you may observe discolorations on the floor and also under the carpet covering the floor in the affected area. Mold infestation is a significant health hazard. Thus you should reach out to reliable slab leak repair service providers to fix the leak.
Low water pressure and toilet and shower backups
A slab leak may be attributed to the reduced pressure you could face at various user points, especially when the visible pipework seems to be in normalcy. There are also some instances where you could notice progressive toilet and shower backups. Cracks and openings in water pipes and sewer drain pipes allow seepage to the surrounding areas leading to reduced water pressure.
A leak in the drain pipes could also develop into a blockage since foreign materials may enter through the opening and hinder household waste flow. This clogging can be responsible for the backflow of waste in your toilet. Owing to the potential health risks associated with poor sanitation, ensure that you seek repair professionals to carry out necessary slab leak detection and repair.
Increased water bills
High water bills are always a concern for homeowners and usually raise a red flag when they manifest. Undetected leaks are most likely accountable for the extra consumption since they keep the meter continually running. As outlined earlier, these leaks are tough to detect.
Thus you should call a slab leak repair company with qualified personnel to handle the issue and help you lower your water bills. Suppose the leak is on a pipe conveying hot water. In that case, there is a possibility that other bills such as power consumption will also be high since the water heater and the heating and ventilation air conditioning system will be overworked.
Homeowners should avoid slab leaks at all costs due to the sensitive nature of their repair activities, given that they take place in the foundation of the house. It’s not always possible to get rid of the menace. However, based on some of the common indicators discussed above, you can effectively contact professionals as quickly as possible to assist you before you incur other expenses and losses associated with water and mold damage.
A reliable slab leak repair company in Mansfield, TX
Slableak.com provides not only professional slab leak repair services to homeowners but also builds long-term relationships with clients. Our certified plumbing repair experts combine personal attention with advanced equipment to fix slab leaks. They run diagnostic tests to detect leaks and either repair or replace them to restore normalcy. Feel free to contact Slableak.com for all your repair and maintenance needs.