FAQs About Slab Leaks and Repiping

Any kind of plumbing leak in your home can cause catastrophic water damage. However, foundation slab leaks can be particularly destructive and should always be dealt with as soon as they are detected. If your home has a leaking slab, repiping may be the most convenient and cost-effective solution.

How Do Slab Leaks Occur?

Slab leaks can be caused by a variety of issues, but most slab leaks in residential properties are caused by damaged plumbing.

Most homes with slab foundations route their water, wastewater, and sewage pipes underneath the slab, which protects them from damage caused by exposure. However, plumbing buried beneath your slab may start to leak after years of use.

Water or sewage leaking from a damaged pipe will be absorbed by the surrounding soil, and may eventually start to permeate through the concrete of the slab itself. This can cause serious problems with damp, mold, and localized flooding. Leaks may also cause the soil beneath your slab to expand and shift, causing severe damage to the foundation itself.

Your Slab Is Leaking: Now What?

If you suspect your home is suffering from slab leaks, you should call in a professional plumbing service before doing anything else. Plumbing services can use a variety of non-destructive methods to check for slab leaks and can confirm your suspicions using water pressure testing equipment and infrared scanning technology (particularly useful for detecting hot water leaks).

However, repairing or replacing your sub-slab plumbing is anything but non-destructive. To access the leaking pipes, your plumbers will need to break through a portion of your home's foundation using jackhammers or other concrete breaking equipment.

This will not cause lasting damage to your foundation if performed correctly, but you will almost certainly have to leave your home while this noisy and dangerous work is carried out. Slab breaking can also be very time consuming if your slab is relatively thick, which can lead to higher labor bills when your plumber sends their invoice.

If your home's subterranean plumbing was installed relatively recently, and your plumber can confirm that the pipes are not extensively damaged, repairing the original pipes may still be the best and cheapest option. If not, your plumber will probably recommend repiping instead.

How Can Repiping Solve Slab Leak Problems?

Repiping does not repair the damaged pipes beneath your slab but abandons them entirely. Instead, new plumbing is installed to take over for the damaged pipes, which are completely cut off from your home's plumbing system. The new pipes can be routed through walls or attic spaces, or laid underneath your lawn or driveway.

Repiping is usually more suitable for older homes, as aging pipes suffering from extensive corrosion are almost impossible to repair effectively. Newer pipes that are leaking in multiple areas may also be impractical to repair since your plumbers would have to break through the foundation slab at multiple points to access the individual leaks.

Repiping may also be the best solution for elderly or disabled homeowners, who are often unable to leave their homes for days or weeks at a time while the damaged pipes are accessed and repaired.

However, repiping does have a couple of drawbacks. It tends to be more time-consuming than repair operations since you are essentially having an entirely new plumbing system installed in your home. Plumbers may also have to work inside and outside your home to install the piping; this can be disruptive, but not nearly as disruptive as a jackhammer in your basement or living room.

More importantly, the cost of repiping is less likely to be covered by your home insurance provider, since it is usually seen as a preventative measure rather than an emergency repair procedure. You may be able to obtain partial coverage if your plumbing service considers the original sub-slab plumbing to be unrepairable, but this is far from guaranteed.

In any case, asking your plumbers for their professional recommendation is always the best way to choose between repair and repiping procedures. If you need more advice about slab leak repair, contact the plumbing experts at Express Plumbing & Drain today.