Although not very noticeable, there are plenty of pipes under your house’s foundation. They’re connected to your local municipality’s water supply lines and the sewage system, so they’re extremely essential. While they’re meant to last for a long time, they’ll eventually start to crack, break down, and lead to slab leaks.

Older homes are more susceptible to slab leaks since their pipes are usually made from copper or cast iron. A slight change in the water’s pH level can cause this material to corrode over time. Sometimes, expansive soil shifts can cause the material to break. Once this happens, the water will seep into the ground above and make its way to your floor’s surface. If this isn’t fixed immediately, it can badly damage your flooring, especially if it’s made of wood.

Unlike a clogged toilet, a slab leak isn’t a common plumbing problem. This is why many homeowners have a lot of trouble trying to fix it or finding a quick and temporary solution. But don’t worry, after reading this, you’ll have a good idea of how to approach this kind of issue.

Trenchless Repairs

The first go-to solution for a slab leak is a trenchless repair. It’s can save you a lot of time and money since it requires little digging because of the efficient way everything is done. Before plumbers start any repair, they’ll conduct a camera inspection inside the pipes to locate the damage.

Once they find the damage, your plumbers will begin to clean your old pipe by flushing impurities out with a hydro-jetter. A flexible epoxy-saturated tube will then be inserted directly into your existing pipes. It will eventually harden to form a structural line to create a new pipe within the old one.

Pipe Repiping             

Sometimes repairs won’t do the job due to extensive damage to multiple pipes. So, instead of doing this, plumbers will recommend a repiping project on your property. It’s essentially replacing your older waterlines or sewer drain lines with new ones. Many opt to cover the entire plumbing system in the property since it can address the root cause of any recurring plumbing problem in your house.

Depending on the size of the project, repiping can take anywhere from 3-5 days. During the process, the plumbers will make strategic cuts in your drywall and the floor to completely replace old pipes and install new ones. After that, they’ll patch the parts they removed to erase any signs of alteration.

If you start to notice puddles of water constantly appearing without reason, low water pressure, and high water bills recently, you might have a slab leak problem. Get in touch with Joe Rushing Plumbing today and schedule a plumbing inspection to fix this issue immediately.