Slab Leaks Are Tricky: Here’s How a Plumber Locates One

Slab leaks occur when there’s a leak in the concrete foundation of a building. If left untreated, slab leaks can ruin the foundation of a home or business, and end up costing the owners a fortune. In addition, slab leaks are hard to locate and fix. Professional plumbing experts can use a variety of special tools to identify the location of a leak, then to drill into the concrete and fix it.

How do plumbers locate a slab leak?

Slab leak detection is it’s own field of expertise in professional plumbing. If you are experiencing an unusually high water bill, cracks in the floor of your basement, or sounds of water running when no water source is on, it’s time to call a professional to conduct slab leak detection. When a plumber comes to your house, the first thing they will do is figure out the basic layout of your pipes and plumbing system. Most professionals who have years of experience can narrow down the location before they start using any tools. Once they find a general idea of what is going on, then they will start using leak detection equipment to find the precise location of the leak. Let’s dive into the different types of equipment that are used during this process:

• Pressure sensors: these can sense or detect changes in pressure and temperature in the concrete foundation of a home or business, which helps plumbers located the spot where water is leaking out of a pipe
• Acoustic disc and ground microphone: these can hear noises made through layers of concrete, since water leaking makes specific noises, the discs can pick up on this and narrow down the location
• Video pipe cameras: these are cameras attached to the end of a long cable, connected to a screen that broadcasts the cameras point of view, these can help plumbers identify the leak from the interior of the pipes

Once a plumber has successfully pinpointed the exact location of the leak, they will need to decide the best route of action to fix the leak without critically damaging the concrete foundation.

Core Plumbing

If you’re looking for a team of trustworthy plumbing professionals, look no further than Core Plumbing. Core Plumbing is a family-owned plumbing company in San Diego. Our services are reliable, trustworthy, and reasonably priced. If you have any suspicions that you may have a slab leak, call our team to do an inspection today!