Leak Detection
Locate a hidden leak inside a wall, under a floor or along a buried line before it stains drywall or inflates the bill.
Leaks and water lines ยท Lafayette, CO
Emergency Slab Leak Detection and Repair in Lafayette
Water under a concrete floor can lift flooring, crack the slab and keep the meter running for weeks. The pipe sits out of sight, so the real work is locating the exact spot before anything is broken open. Water welling up through flooring, or a hot patch on the concrete, is enough reason to dial at any hour.
One warm patch of floor often means a hot water pipe runs underneath.
Warning signs
- A warm floor spotHeat from a leaking hot line coming up through the slab.
- Damp carpet or buckled flooringMoisture rising from below with no visible source.
- A meter that never restsConstant flow with every fixture closed.
What a slab leak is
Many Lafayette homes have a basement, but others, including newer garages, additions and some ranch houses, sit on a concrete slab with pipes running under or inside it. A slab leak is any break in a pressurized line or a drain line below that concrete.
Supply lines sit in the gravel bed or inside the slab. Over time, rubbing against concrete, shifting soil and corrosion can wear a hole in the pipe. Clay soil on the Front Range expands when wet and contracts when dry, stressing buried pipe.
Finding the exact spot
Detection starts with the meter test and a pressure check on the lines. A listening device then follows the sound of escaping water across the floor, and a thermal camera can show the warm trail of a hot water leak.
Marking the leak within a foot or two matters, because every square foot of broken concrete costs money to cut, patch and refinish. Have the contractor point to the mark and describe what the equipment picked up.
Cost
What affects slab leak repair cost
Slab work is priced by how deep, how finished and how long the repair is.
Ask whether the quote includes patching the slab and replacing the floor covering, or only the plumbing.
In Lafayette
Soil, frost and the slab
The Front Range has expansive clay in many places. When it soaks up water it swells and presses on the slab, and when it dries it shrinks and leaves gaps. Pipes bridging that movement can bend and fatigue over the decades.
Boulder County's building publication lists a frost depth of 30 inches. Lines inside the slab are protected by the building, but those entering through it are not, so check the insulation where the line enters the house.
Repair choices
A direct repair opens a small section of slab and replaces the damaged piece of pipe. It is the fastest option when the leak is isolated and the rest of the pipe is sound.
Rerouting retires the leaking section and runs new pipe through the walls or attic. It makes sense when the leak is deep, when the line has failed more than once, or when the floor is finished with tile or hardwood. Repiping is the third path when pipes throughout the house are tired.
Drain leaks under the slab
Not every slab leak carries clean water. A cracked drain line leaks wastewater into the gravel, which shows up as a sewer smell or soggy soil near the foundation, and as a drain that keeps backing up.
A camera in the drain shows the damage. Repair can mean breaking the slab along the pipe or replacing the section from the outside. Which option fits depends on the pipe's path and how far the damage extends.
When a slab leak has company
Repiping & Whole-Home Pipe Replacement
Renew tired galvanized, polybutylene or pin-holed copper supply lines throughout the home.
Water Damage Restoration
Pump out water, dry the building and repair it after a leak or flood.
Common questions
Answers on Slab leak
A warm floor, mid-room dampness or a meter running with the main shut all suggest the pipe underneath, not overhead. A detection visit confirms it.
Sometimes a reroute through the walls avoids it. A leak that is isolated may need a small opening in the slab.
Policies vary. Plenty of policies pay for the water damage that follows, but not for fixing the pipe. Read yours and ask the insurer before work begins.
Sometimes. Water bubbling up, a warm spot underfoot or a meter that never stops all warrant closing the main and phoning. A very slow loss can hold until morning, though not for days.
Think you have a slab leak?
Call the 24/7 line, mention the warm spot or the meter reading, and a dispatcher will note what you describe.