Slab leaks · Oviedo, FL
Hearing Water Run With Every Tap Off? Slab Leak Detection and Repair in Oviedo, FL
A slab leak is a break in a water line that runs in or under a concrete floor. You cannot see the pipe, so the evidence is indirect. Call Oviedo FL Expert Plumbers with what you have noticed, and use this page to understand the repair choices before anyone cuts into the floor.
Warm spot, running sound, rising bill: is it a slab leak?
The usual clues are a warm spot on tile or carpet, the sound of running water when every fixture is off, a water bill that climbs for no reason, and damp carpet along a baseboard. Any one of them has other explanations. Two or three together deserve a closer look.
This page applies if your home sits on a concrete slab. If you are not sure what yours sits on, say so when you call, and the plumber can tell you what to look for before anything is assumed.
Checks you can do safely
- Run the meter test with all water off, as laid out in
- reading the meter first.
- Rest a hand on the floor at the warm spot and mark its edges with painter's tape.
- Stand at the water heater and the nearest fixtures with everything off and listen for running water.
- Note whether weak flow shows up on hot taps only.
Lay out your last three water bills side by side. A leak shows up as gallons that rise month after month, while a one-month jump usually has another cause, such as guests, a filled pool or a stuck toilet flapper.
These checks cannot tell you how deep the pipe is, which line has failed or whether the break is under the slab or in the wall above it. A warm floor points at a hot line, but only a pressure test or acoustic locating settles it.
Slab leak repair options compared: break, reroute or replace
There are three common ways to deal with a failed line under a slab. Which one fits depends on the pipe's history, the flooring above it and how many other lines are aging.
| Option | What happens | Consider it when |
|---|---|---|
| Repair at the break | The floor is opened over the located leak and the damaged section is replaced | One break on a line that is otherwise sound |
| Reroute the line | The failed line is retired and new pipe runs through walls or the attic | The line has failed before, or it runs under finished flooring you want to keep |
| Replace the supply | Most or all of the water lines are renewed | Several lines are failing; see a full repipe of the house |
Rerouting is sometimes called a trenchless approach because the floor stays whole. Ask exactly what will be cut, where the new pipe will show and who patches the walls it passes through. Those answers change the real scope of the job.
Questions that expose the real scope
- How many openings will be made, and how large is each one?
- Which rooms lose water, and for how long during the work?
- Where will the new pipe run, and will any of it stay visible?
- Who repairs the flooring, drywall and paint that the work disturbs?
- Will the old line be capped, and where will that be recorded?
Post-tensioned slabs: questions to ask before the floor is cut
Some slabs are post-tensioned, which means steel cables inside the concrete are pulled tight to carry load. Cutting or coring into a cable can be dangerous and can damage the slab. Ask the plumber to confirm if your slab is post-tensioned before any cutting starts, and how that will be checked.
Builder or closing paperwork sometimes states the slab type. If yours does not, say so. Scanning equipment can locate cables in concrete before a saw touches it.
Ask whether the repair needs a permit and who pulls it, and keep any permit number with your records. The City of Oviedo's Building Services office is the place to ask if the answer is unclear.
If the work reaches outside the house, such as a line running toward the meter, digging requires a Sunshine 811 ticket at least two full business days before ground is broken, under Chapter 556 of the Florida Statutes.
Can a slab leak harm the foundation? Signs worth reporting
Water that escapes under a slab for a long time can soften or wash out the soil that supports it. Whether that matters at your address depends on the soil and on how long the leak ran, and no website can answer that for your lot.
Signs worth reporting are new cracks in the slab or walls, doors that start to stick, gaps opening between floor and baseboard, and tile that lifts. A plumber can stop the water. A structural engineer, not a plumber, is the right person to judge whether the foundation was affected.
- Photograph new cracks with a coin beside them for scale and note the date.
- Record door and window sticking in the same rooms.
- Give the photos to the plumber and to your insurer, in that order if water is still running.
Slab leak insurance claim: documents to ask your plumber for
Policies differ on what they cover for a leak under a slab, including the cost of reaching the pipe. Read yours or call your insurer before repairs begin, since some insurers want to see the damage first.
A claim moves faster when the paperwork is already in hand. Ask the plumber for each of these in writing:
- The dated meter photos and the result of the pressure test
- The marked location of the leak and the line that failed
- Photos before and after the floor is opened
- A quote that separates leak location, the pipe repair, the floor patch and any drying
Shut the main now, or book a visit? Timing a slab leak
Water you can hear running under the floor, a meter dial that spins with everything off, or wet flooring that is spreading all mean the main should be closed now and a plumber called. Standing water near outlets or the panel is the same call, with extra distance kept.
A warm spot with a small meter change is different. It is reasonable to schedule a visit, keep the main closed overnight if you can, and photograph the spot each day. A leak left running does damage, so a long wait is not a plan.
Once the water stops, soaked flooring still needs drying a soaked floor and a break you did not see happen may overlap with a pipe that bursts inside a wall.
Describe the warm spot, the sound and the bill to a plumber
Call Oviedo FL Expert Plumbers and tell us what the floor, the meter and the bill are doing. We will go through the next step with you.