crap crap crap
The house is less than 20 years old.... wtf :-\
I am positive I have one. My gas bill went up and I just read the water meter and it looks like I have used twice the amount of water this month.
Other symptoms are Warm spots on the floor and the cold water taps producing hot water for a few seconds. When I turned the main off all the water drained from the pipes and I no longer hear a Hissing sound coming from the pipes.
I have Home owners insurance and I filed a claim but I have a bad feeling they wont be covering this :-\
Any advise.... I have the main turned off right now. I suppose I can turn the Main on and off when I need water for the mean time.
I really don't know if I can afford fixing this if my Home Owners insurance bones me.
:-\
A leak in the slab is not good. You have to get someone to come out to detect approximately where the leak is. Depending on the leak, they can get dead on it or as far away as a 5 foot radius.
Hopefully the leak is near the hot water heater, and it will be easier to bypass it with new pipes. Most likely it is going to require a jackhammer. :-\ That's one huge disadvantage of slab construction.
QuoteHopefully the leak is near the hot water heater
I am pretty sure its at the furthest spot away.
The most warm area of the floor is near my tub in the master bedroom so on the other side of the house :-\
My main has a handle on the valve so its very easy to turn off and on.
I suppose I can do that depending on the cost of the fix and when I can afford it.
Quote from: ROBsS4R on July 27, 2008, 03:30:56 AM
I am pretty sure its at the furthest spot away.
The most warm area of the floor is near my tub in the master bedroom so on the other side of the house :-\
My main has a handle on the valve so its very easy to turn off and on.
I suppose I can do that depending on the cost of the fix and when I can afford it.
If it's just the pipe to the tub, you may be able to just take that pipe out of service, and repipe overhead to the tub. It'll be way cheaper, and in my opinion better than re-running the pipe under the slab. I'd use CPVC for the new pipes too, as the price of copper has gone way way up.
Heck, for the price of redoing the one pipe, and depending on the size of your house and how much plumbing you have, you may be able to re-plumb the hot water for the whole house overhead in CPVC. Might not be a bad idea, if one of the underground copper pipes has corroded then the others might not be far off. Then again if what's in the ground is already plastic, you just might have one simple crack, and it wouldn't be any big deal just to fix it.
Justin
;)
(http://fremontautomotive.net/pictures/JB%20RAD%20STOP%20LEAK.jpg)
a section of our house is slab with radiant heat,
and i hope this never happens to us :-\
a jackhammer in the house is never good...
good luck and sorry for your troubles.
Quote from: DuCaTiNi on July 27, 2008, 03:14:14 PM
a section of our house is slab with radiant heat,
and i hope this never happens to us :-\
a jackhammer in the house is never good...
good luck and sorry for your troubles.
Your house is new...
chances are the tubing in the slab is plastic.
Quote from: ducpainter on July 27, 2008, 03:21:28 PM
Your house is new...
chances are the tubing in the slab is plastic.
it is plastic...
but if you read the OP again, :P
his house is less than 20 yrs old...
ours is 15 yrs old.
Quote from: DuCaTiNi on July 27, 2008, 03:33:51 PM
it is plastic...
but if you read the OP again, :P
his house is less than 20 yrs old...
ours is 15 yrs old.
Plastic doesn't fail...it can't move encapsulated in concrete...it doesn't corrode.
It can leak if it's installed improperly or damaged during the pour
Copper erodes over time.
Quote from: ducpainter on July 27, 2008, 03:38:01 PM
It can leak if it's installed improperly or damaged during the pour
that's what i'm talkin' bout...
who knows....
Quote from: DuCaTiNi on July 27, 2008, 03:42:08 PM
that's what i'm talkin' bout...
who knows....
...not after 20 years... [roll]
it would happen right away. ;D
Quote from: ducpainter on July 27, 2008, 03:55:50 PM
...not after 20 years... [roll]
it would happen right away. ;D
ahhhh... [thumbsup]
dude....... i'm a girl.... [laugh]
i don't know that [laugh]
Quote from: DuCaTiNi on July 27, 2008, 03:58:23 PM
ahhhh... [thumbsup]
dude....... i'm a girl.... [laugh]
i don't know that [laugh]
You need to convey your construction fears to M.... [laugh]
Quote from: ducpainter on July 27, 2008, 04:01:10 PM
You need to convey your construction fears to M.... [laugh]
been there... done that...
he thinks i'm as silly as you do...
Quote from: DuCaTiNi on July 27, 2008, 04:08:36 PM
been there... done that...
he thinks i'm as silly as you do...
;D
Quote from: ducpainter on July 27, 2008, 03:38:01 PM
Plastic doesn't fail...it can't move encapsulated in concrete...it doesn't corrode.
You never heard of an earthquake on the west coast?
Quote from: someguy on July 27, 2008, 04:24:32 PM
You never heard of an earthquake on the west coast?
I'm kinda deaf...
and it's pretty far.
Quote from: someguy on July 27, 2008, 04:24:32 PM
You never heard of an earthquake on the west coast?
SEE!!!!! i'm not worried for nuthin' :P
thanks dave [thumbsup]
Quote from: DuCaTiNi on July 27, 2008, 04:38:24 PM
SEE!!!!! i'm not worried for nuthin' :P
thanks dave [thumbsup]
Dave's a friggen engineer.
They worry about everything. [laugh]
What do you guys think about this...
Say I cant find the leak right away since its a slab leak.
How about if I put a valve on the hot water pipe so I can keep the main on and the animals can still use there water taps and I can still flush the toilets etc... And when I need hot water I can turn the valve on?
Quote from: ROBsS4R on July 27, 2008, 10:29:21 PM
How about if I put a valve on the hot water pipe so I can keep the main on and the animals can still use there water taps and I can still flush the toilets etc... And when I need hot water I can turn the valve on?
as you've read, i'm not an expert on this topic...
but THAT sounds like a PIA :-\
Quote from: ROBsS4R on July 27, 2008, 10:29:21 PM
What do you guys think about this...
Say I cant find the leak right away since its a slab leak.
How about if I put a valve on the hot water pipe so I can keep the main on and the animals can still use there water taps and I can still flush the toilets etc... And when I need hot water I can turn the valve on?
You may end up draining, and burning up, your hot water heater...
Depending on the severity of the leak.
Otherwise it would work.
Quote from: ROBsS4R on July 27, 2008, 10:29:21 PM
What do you guys think about this...
Say I cant find the leak right away since its a slab leak.
How about if I put a valve on the hot water pipe so I can keep the main on and the animals can still use there water taps and I can still flush the toilets etc... And when I need hot water I can turn the valve on?
I might do that as a temporary measure, but, besides the risk Nate mentioned it is a wee bit hard to live like that. If that type of construction is common in your area there must be someone good at finding the leak without chopping up the whole slab.
I have a call out to a leak detection company.
Hopefully they can come out sometime today and find the leak.
Quote from: ROBsS4R on July 28, 2008, 04:52:14 AM
I have a call out to a leak detection company.
Hopefully they can come out sometime today and find the leak.
Well let us know what they find Rob
They will be out tomorrow morning.
In the mean time I am have the valve on the water heater turned off so I have cold water.
Quote from: ROBsS4R on July 28, 2008, 11:37:20 AM
They will be out tomorrow morning.
In the mean time I am have the valve on the water heater turned off so I have cold water.
Turn off the breaker too...
just in case.
Find a company that has a thermal imagining camera and have them come out and take pics of the floor. I've used this a few times when we are trying to find where snowmelt piping runs. The shots usually run a few hundred bucks but they can show you exactly where the leak is. If you can't find a specific company for this try electrical subcontractors that work on main switch gear as they have to take these pictures when a building is occupied to make sure the loads are balanced over the breakers.
Thanks for the info.
I think the company I picked specializes in Slab leaks... I hope :-\
Well they think they found the Slab Leak.
Its under my Tub area in the Master Bathroom. It also looks like my home owners insurance will partially cover cost which will help.
it appears its going to be about $2k to fix the issue. I am pushing for a reroute which is what the insurance company wants as well.
Then they say rather than paying for the slab repair they pay for the pipe repair which is normally not covered.
$2k is a lot of money.
Why not just repair it youself? ??? If they found the leak then you know where to jackhammer, which sucks but is fairly easy. Fixing the copper pipe shouldn't be too tough. Just practice a couple times if you've never sweated copper fittings on before...it's not too tough. The replacement concrete can just be hand mixed from a few bags if it's slab on grade. The only issue I can think of is if your slab is post tensioned and you have to worry about hitting the tension strands.
This happened in the house I gew up in...leak under the tub even. We just fixed it and never had another problem in 10 years.
I also jackhammered a hole in my basement floor last summer to re-route some plumbing (as part of a total basement remodel). It wasn't all that tough.
Once you have water in the line, sweating copper can be a little tricky. The drained stuff is easy to sweat though. Let the insurance pick up the plumbing...slab repair is an easy home job. :)
Quote from: Triple J on July 29, 2008, 03:33:00 PM
$2k is a lot of money.
Why not just repair it youself? ??? If they found the leak then you know where to jackhammer, which sucks but is fairly easy. Fixing the copper pipe shouldn't be too tough. Just practice a couple times if you've never sweated copper fittings on before...it's not too tough. The replacement concrete can just be hand mixed from a few bags if it's slab on grade. The only issue I can think of is if your slab is post tensioned and you have to worry about hitting the tension strands.
This happened in the house I gew up in...leak under the tub even. We just fixed it and never had another problem in 10 years.
I also jackhammered a hole in my basement floor last summer to re-route some plumbing (as part of a total basement remodel). It wasn't all that tough.
Well if its a post-tension slab which they think it is I rather not kill myself ;D
http://www.hgtvpro.com/hpro/bp_foundation/article/0,,HPRO_20146_3745450,00.html
I will let them take care of it.
Quote from: ROBsS4R on July 29, 2008, 04:41:00 PM
Well if its a post-tension slab which they think it is I rather not kill myself ;D
http://www.hgtvpro.com/hpro/bp_foundation/article/0,,HPRO_20146_3745450,00.html
I will let them take care of it.
Ya...I wouldn't mess with a PT slab either. ;D
Quote from: Triple J on July 29, 2008, 04:53:27 PM
Ya...I wouldn't mess with a PT slab either. ;D
If you cut a tendon it really isn't a big deal. There is almost always a few sacrificial tendons in each slab and at least one always gets broken when they tension it.
Quote from: ejw24 on July 29, 2008, 08:52:31 PM
If you cut a tendon it really isn't a big deal. There is almost always a few sacrificial tendons in each slab and at least one always gets broken when they tension it.
You're basing this on what?
Quote from: ejw24 on July 29, 2008, 08:52:31 PM
If you cut a tendon it really isn't a big deal. There is almost always a few sacrificial tendons in each slab and at least one always gets broken when they tension it.
The sudden release of tension isn't a big deal? That's what I would be worried about...I figure the slab would be OK without it, as quite a few PT slabs are unnecessary (at least in my experience).
Quote from: someguy on July 29, 2008, 09:05:51 PM
You're basing this on what?
I'm a PM for a commercial GC, have done several PT high rise buildings. We've cut through tendons or broke them when stretching them, there are always a few extra tendons in the slab. The relese in tnesion is negligible if one tendon snaps - but if you break enough or cut through a large bundle of then you can have problems. Any time you cut a tendon you need your structual PE to evaluate it.