Slab Leak Identifiers
One of the sneakiest culprits of adding to your water bill is a slab leak. Slab leaks can leak for months without surfacing and making themselves obvious, so it is crucial for homeowner's to be diligent about noticing something when it is not right. Although one of the only 100% ways of identifying a slab leak is through leak detection, there are some tricks that you can try to make yourself aware of in order to notice it before it ruins those beautiful, expensive, brand-new wood floors!
1. Water on the Floor - Yes, this is what we are trying to avoid, but this is probably the most apparent indication of a slab leak. Be careful though - sometimes we get calls to come investigate a leak and it turns out that someone just spilled water from the sink or toilet. Do your homework before calling a plumber. Try drying it up and monitoring it closely; if the water comes back, we've probably got a leak.
2. Warm Spot on the Floor - Most homes in this area have their water pipes underneath the floor, both hot and cold pipes. If you have a leak in one of the hot water lines, you may notice that a spot on your floor is warmer than the rest of the room(easiest to tell with tile flooring). This will indicate that you are likely to have water come up shortly.
3. You Hear Water Running - This is more easily noticed with leaks in the walls or overhead. Sometimes you will think you hear water running, but you check all the fixtures and nothing is on. Your water most likely is running, but not where you want it!
4. CHECK YOUR WATER METER!!! - Your water meter is the most certain way of telling if you have water running somewhere in the house. Go around your house and make sure that all of your fixtures are turned OFF.
Pro Tip: Also make sure everyone in the house knows you are doing this so they don't run water while you are doing all this investigative work)
Then, go out to your water meter, most times it is out in front of your house in the sidewalk. In the meter will be (usually) a red triangle. If that is spinning, it is telling you that you have water moving through the meter and coming out somewhere between that box and your house. In that case, call a plumber to come out and investigate to see where the water is coming from.
If you have any issues like this, or just have a question; call us today!
949-858-3818 - www.rsmplumbing.com
