water leak under house slab

[rp85]

hello;

looks like i may have a water leak under our house slab. anyone have this problem? phone book has several companies that repair this type of leak. anyone have this problem, repair company, good work, fair pricing?

thanks for any input.

rp

 

[Jester]

might get a recommendation from your insurance company, assuming you plan to make a claim.

 

[2011Corvette]

American leak detector found my leak in the slab. Then had a plumber come rerout the line.
Total cost about 1,800

 

[Muddy45]

I called Harold's Plumbing to tunnel 25' under my house and repair the sewer line that had a tree root in it. $10,000

 

[edman87k5]

Sewage line or supply line? Usually easier to re route a supply line. There is a reason most builder will not put supply lines in a slab= major headache!

 

[CEHollier]

American leak detector found my leak in the slab. Then had a plumber come rerout the line.
Total cost about 1,800

I used them on a swimming pool issue. A++ guys.

 

[anakha]

Sewage line or supply line? Usually easier to re route a supply line. There is a reason most builder will not put supply lines in a slab= major headache!

Would you rather a line bust under the slab or in your attic? The reason copper is no longer run under ground is the cost... pex piping is less than 1/4 the cost of copper and running it overhead is cheaper as well...

Once you isolate which line is leaking its fairly easy to reroute.

 

[CEHollier]

Would you rather a line bust under the slab or in your attic? The reason copper is no longer run under ground is the cost... pex piping is less than 1/4 the cost of copper and running it overhead is cheaper as well...

Once you isolate which line is leaking its fairly easy to reroute.

One thing about PEX I like is if it freezes it expands and gives. Unlike copper which splits.

 

[dantheman]

PEX is awesome .

 

[anakha]

The pipe itself expands when freezing but not the fitting which can bust, also the inside diameter of the fittings greatly reduces the flow rate. Personally as a licensed plumber I hate pex, its idiot pipe... its color coded, anyone can put it together and no matter what you do it is going to look like ****. Running copper is an art, for some people its like finger painting, others it's a masterpiece lol... when I was plumbing I was very particular about the way my work looked. My license is still active and up date but there's not enough money in it.

 

[dantheman]

I pretty much disagree with everything you said , but that's all right . Different strokes .

 

[cajun 22]

A friend of mine just went through the same thing. A plumber was able to run a plastic line through the copper line and it worked like a dream.

 

[Neil09]

The pipe itself expands when freezing but not the fitting which can bust, also the inside diameter of the fittings greatly reduces the flow rate. Personally as a licensed plumber I hate pex, its idiot pipe... its color coded, anyone can put it together and no matter what you do it is going to look like ****. Running copper is an art, for some people its like finger painting, others it's a masterpiece lol... when I was plumbing I was very particular about the way my work looked. My license is still active and up date but there's not enough money in it.

Idiot pipe? Stuck in the stone ages eh?

 

[anakha]

Stuck in the stone age? Im only 26. I mainly did big commercial new construction and it was always copper piping. Hell, some buildings still call for cast iron sewer lines. I call it idiot pipe because I had an idiot helper(strong back weak mind) and this is the only thing he could be left alone to do without any issues.

Dan, what experiences do you have with pex and copper to give you these opinions? I couldnt really word that without coming off as a dick, sorry

 

[CEHollier]

My license is still active and up date but there's not enough money in it.

You own an oil well or something? Plumbers are the highest paid skill on the work site. I had a patient who owned his own plumbing company. He came to PT in a Mercedes and was checking on some jobs afterward. He was using his wife's car while his truck was in the shop. I told him people were gonna talk. LOL

 

[edman87k5]

Pex in the attic is way less likely to have leaks than anything in the slab. Who cares what it looks like, nobody sees it. It has been use up north for a long time, only seems to be catching on here after copper went so high. Very way to tap in to if ever needed or repair.
And yes, my house was done in pex with no lines in the slab except drains. And I am skilled in the art of running copper, it doesn't impress me.

 

[dantheman]

My only experience with copper is making repairs after a hard freeze or this one time involving a riding mower and a hose bib . I don't want to talk about that one . When my son built his house , he and a buddy of his ( licensed plumber ) roughed in all of the plumbing in one weekend . Since his house is off the ground , Acadian style , I was wary of all of the exposed PEX underneath and in the outside walls , etc. I had a long discussion with the plumber since my experience was limited to internet discussion only . He told me that they did an experiment at their shop where they took a length of pipe and filled it with water , capped it and placed it in the freezer for a couple of days . Then , they took it out and beat it on the concrete floor . No leaks , no issues . Not scientific but still impressive . He said that if he didn't believe in it , he would have never put it in my son's house .

 

[anakha]

You own an oil well or something? Plumbers are the highest paid skill on the work site. I had a patient who owned his own plumbing company. He came to PT in a Mercedes and was checking on some jobs afterward. He was using his wife's car while his truck was in the shop. I told him people were gonna talk. LOL

Im operating this guy now, my income is double what I made plumbing and its a lot less physically demanding.

 

[CEHollier]

View attachment 43890

Im operating this guy now, my income is double what I made plumbing and its a lot less physically demanding.

The next best thing to an oil well. LOL Owning concrete equipment. I rented a boom truck when we built our house. 5,500 sf and 180 yards of concrete. It wasn't cheap but came in handy.

 

[anakha]

I dont own it, just operate. Its oilfield money but I get to sleep in my own bed every night.