Slab leaks are among the hardest repairs to deal with in your home, and since they are hard to detect, you should hire a professional contractor that understands the problem and has the experience to verify the leak and fix it properly.

Understanding a Slab Leak

The term slab leak is a strange one, but essentially it describes a leak under the slab or foundation of your home. Water pipes running under or through the concrete begin to leak and start to cause a problem for the homeowner, requiring costly repair. But if you know what to do, and how to deal with the leak, you can get through the repair with little disruption of your daily life. 

Signs of a Slab Leak

Slab leaks are hard to detect because the pipes that may be leaking are under the slab or may run through it. Some signs that you may have a slab leak are a sound of running water that you can not find, an inexplicable increase in the water bill, sudden drop in water pressure in the home, mold growth, water on the floor of the basement or on the slab, and a shifting in the foundation or slab without a good reason. Any, or a combination, of these signs indicate a problem and you need to have the foundation inspected by a professional right away. 

How to Fix the Slab Leak

Once the leak has been detected, the last thing you want to have to do is pay for a new foundation after yours is jackhammered to piece s to access the pipe that is leaking. The good news is that demolishing the entire foundation is not necessary and not common for this repair. In fact, most professionals with experience in fixing slab leaks, find the leak, cut small access points, and repair it through those access holes. In extreme situations, the pipes may require rerouting above the slab or foundation, but this means the pipes that are leaking can be abandoned and sealed off, reducing the need for demolition of any kind. 

Time and Cost For Repair

The time is not as big an issue as the cost of repairing a slab leak. Most experienced contractors can fix your slab leak in a week or two. If the leak is severe enough that it is causing damage to the foundation or erosion under the slab, the time may increase some. The cost can range from two to three hundred dollars for detection and a couple hundred for the repair, if it is a simply epoxy seal. If the pipes have to be rerouted, the repair could run as high as fifteen hundred dollars, but if it saves the foundation and the home, that is s small price to pay.

For more information, talk to a slab leak repair service in your area.