As with all major plumbing repairs, we recommend consulting a professional plumber skilled in the detection and repair of leaks under the foundation, often called a “slab leak.”
As a general rule, we don’t recommend fixing a leaking water line when it runs under concrete, for example a leaking pipe in your slab. “If it’s leaked once, it’s going to leak again” pretty much sums up our experience with slab leaks. There are exceptions to this, of course, just as in all things.
Copper pipe has a useful life of roughly 25 years. If your copper piping is newer, fixing it in the ground is a viable option. Also, the odds of a repair lasting a long time are greater if the leaking pipe is a cold water pipe. This is because a hot water pipe undergoes much more expansion and contraction than cold water pipe. Hot water pipes tend to wear out much sooner than cold water pipes.
In today’s homes with their beautiful wood floors, it’s often impractical to fix a leak in the floor unless your flooring has already buckled from the water. In this case, since you must already remove and replace the damaged flooring, an in-the-ground fix may be the best option.
Tile floors present another problem. Older tile is hard to match. In this case, we normally recommend a re-route of the leaking line. If we encounter a leak under a carpeted room, an in-ground fix is a good option because we can recommend an appropriate vendor who will roll back and dry the carpet while we fix the leak.
At Sav-On Plumbing, we have been repairing and re-routing leaking plumbing lines in Phoenix, Glendale and the surrounding areas for many years. Call us for a free diagnosis and estimate now before your leak causes further damage.