Warning Signs of a Slab Leak

Warning Signs of a Slab Leak

It’s not uncommon to find slab leak disasters in many homes. Usually, slab leaks are water leaks that happen beneath the slabs of concrete in your home. The good news is that slab leaks aren’t impossible to detect; there are some apparent signs to look out for and seek professional help to address the leaks and avert extensive damage to your property. Read on to learn more about the warning signs of a slab leak.

Spike in Utility Bills

Slab leaks happen non-stop around the clock, regardless of whether you turn on the water or not, outrightly leading to a spike in your water bills. Therefore, whenever you notice a sudden increase in water bills, without justification, such as having visitors in your home, thus increasing water usage, could signify a leak. If you can’t seem to locate an obvious leak, it could mean you’re facing a slab leak in your home.

Reduced Water Pressure

As a result of a typical leak or slab leak, less water flows through your pipes due to a significant amount of water escaping. Therefore, you might notice reduced water pressure in your house even when there aren’t open taps, pointing to a slab leak. When detected in good time, the leaking pipes can be repaired with plumbing adhesives and sealants to prevent extensive damage to the floors.

Hot Spots on Your Floor

Typically, most of the slab leaks tend to occur in the hot water line. The hot water leaks through the pipes into the surrounding ground, eventually heating the concrete above. Thus you might notice hot spots on your tile, hardwood, or linoleum floors. However, if the leak is happening below a carpeted floor, it could be challenging to notice its occurrence.

Water Protrusion from the Slab

In escalated slab leakage situations, pools of water may be visible on slab areas, and this warrants prompt action to salvage your home’s flooring. The excess water signifies a greater magnitude of the leaks to the extent of spreading through the floor and walls. Similarly, if you notice your floor is usually wet, even when no washing or bathing has taken place, you might be experiencing a slab leak.

Damaged Floors

The magnitude of damage on your floors due to a slab leak heavily relies on the type of floor your home has. If you have carpeted floors, some sections could feel dump and have a darker appearance than other areas. For hardwood flooring, you might notice some of the floorboards are warping and curving. When that happens, you’ll need to overhaul the floor for replacement after fixing the slab leak, and that can be costly.

Unpleasant Odor

The unfortunate thing about slab leaks is that they don’t happen singly; other issues follow suit when they happen. Mold and mildew begin to grow due to the excess moisture under your floorboards or carpeting. Similarly, the water may creep up to your house walls, leading to mold growth on drywall areas. Although pinpointing the location of the mold and mildew might be difficult, you’ll most likely notice musty odor emanating from the walls and floors. These could cause breathing complications for people with allergic reactions. Therefore, you need to act swiftly and request slab leak detection services.

Foundation Movements and cracking

In extreme cases, slab leaks are bound to compromise the integrity of your home’s foundation. When that happens, your home’s foundation may shift and eventually cause cracks in the floors or walls. At such times, it is only a matter of time before catastrophic consequences follow and render your house inhabitable. You might have to spend a lot of money for slab repairs of this magnitude. However, your swift action may be what it takes to salvage your home.

Rushing Water Sounds

Whenever you notice sounds of running water even after turning off all taps and faucets in your home, you need to take a closer listen. You can head to the lowest level of your home and listen keenly to the floor whether the running sounds are still persistent. If so, outrightly, your home has a slab leak.

Slab leaks are a nightmare for any homeowner, from causing extensive damage to your floors, walls to affecting your indoor air quality due to the growth of mold and mildew. Furthermore, repairing slab leaks at an advanced stage can be expensive. Therefore, upon identifying any of the above signs, request slab leak detection services promptly.

Author bio:

Steffy Alen is a copywriter and content strategist. She helps businesses stop playing around with content marketing and start seeing the tangible ROI. She loves writing as much as she loves the cake.