I've had several slab leaks and do not want to keep paying for repairs. What can I do?

Here are some things that you can do:

• Determine Why You Are Having Slab Leaks

• Copper Repipe Overhead

• PEX Repipe Overhead

• Copper Reroute

• Epoxy Coat the Piping
  

Determining Why You Are Having Slab Leaks

Most homes never have slab leaks so why are you getting multiple water leaks under the foundation of your home? Here are some of the reasons that copper water piping fails in residential homes:

1. Hot Water Circulating Systems.

If you have a hot water circulating system your system is prone to leaks under the slab in three different ways.

The first way is simply wearing out from age.

The circulating system will move many times the amount of water throughout the hot water piping than a standard home will. Water is corrosive, look at the Grand Canyon. Expansion and contraction of the line will eventually wear the outer layer of copper right through the piping.

The water is traveling to fast.

If the speed of the water in the system exceeds 7 feet per second the water will take the copper along with it. You can test this by taking a sample of water at you front hose bib and a sample of hot water at the farthest fixture from the water heater. A microbiologist can tell you how much copper content increased in the water throughout your home. To be sure it is only the hot water system you will need to take a cold water sample at the farthest fixture as well.

The water is traveling too slowly.

As water heats up the calcium and minerals suspended in the water tend to congeal together, get heavy, and stick to the bottom of a pipe when the water is not traveling fast enough. This causes turbulence in the water pipe and this turbulence eats holes in the piping.

2. Aggressive Water

The water is aggressive. There are many parts of the county that utilize well water mixed with water from the American River and the Colorado River. The rivers are fine, but some of the well water is mildly aggressive towards copper piping. It attacks the piping and over time the water eats holes through the piping. This can be tested by taking a water sample at the incoming hose bib and the farthest cold water fixture. Comparing the two water samples will tell you if the water is aggressive as the copper content with increase.

3. Electrical Grounding Problem

If your electrical system is grounded in multiple places in the home you could have electrical current being delivered to the copper piping. All water systems are to be grounded, but they should be grounded only at the main panel to one spot. If they are grounded at different points in the home the fixtures that they are serving could malfunction and deliver voltage to the ground. This is especially true if you have sub panels in the home where the ground and neutral have been bonded together. The electrical current causes a green buildup and pitting inside the copper piping and leads to multiple pin holes. The only way to tell if this is a problem is to cut open the copper piping and take a physical look at the pipe’s interior.

4. Poor Quality Craftsmanship

If the copper pipe is not sleeved in plastic, a requirement, it rubs up and down against the dirt and pebbles in the ground as the water vibrates causing the exterior to wear out. The majority of slab leaks that we repair we find that the slab leak was caused in new construction by stepping on the copper piping and unwinding it. It comes in 100 foot rolls. This can leave a dent in the piping, when rocks are present, which in turn creates a turbulent flow and eventually wears the copper pipe clean through.

Copper Repipe Overhead

If you are experiencing multiple slab leaks and your home is over 15 years old you may want to think about repiping the copper water lines throughout the attic and anywhere else we can get them. Perhaps the biggest downfall of putting in new copper pipes is secondary damages. Occasionally there are secondary damages, but we will not know to what extent those damages are until we actually investigate the home an layout the positions of the new copper piping. This new copper piping is a surefire fix for slab leaks. If you eliminate all the potable pressurized copper water piping in the slab you will never have another slab leak.

PEX Repipe Overhead

PEX has been approved in many jurisdictions for a great many years. It has experienced its fair share of problems and class action lawsuits over the years. Those problems have been fixed and it looks as though PEX (cross linked polyethylene tubing) is going to replace copper as the material of choice for residential construction piping. It is easy to work with, relatively inexpensive, and long lasting. The biggest long term problem that I can see with it now is rodents. The most popular poison for rats and mice acts to dehydrate them. They then seek water and can eat holes through the piping causing flooding.

Copper Reroute

Most homeowners choose this option. Once we find the slab leak we can isolated that leak below concrete from the rest of the home piping. We can then reroute the copper water piping overhead and completely bypass that section of bad piping under concrete. This leaves the rest of the home without any disturbance at all.

Epoxy Coat the Piping

Epoxy coating the interior of the piping has gained traction over the last few years and also gained controversy. Epoxy coating manufacturers routinely state that their epoxy is guaranteed for as long as 50 years. I believe that this is a deliberate attempt to give the impression of a warranty that actually doesn’t exist. They are telling people exactly what they want to hear rather than reality. Sure, the epoxy will last 50 years (okay maybe it will), but construction legal claims are a maximum of 10 years in length so collecting on damages after the ten year period is a fantasy. Plus, the epoxy will never be the cause of the damages. It will be that the applicator, the contractor, didn’t install it correctly or thick enough. It could be that the piping was already too far gone. It could be that the circulating system is moving water too fast or too slow. So you see, the warranties and guarantees that you are given by this non-code approved procedure tend to appear to be worthless. I know of no manufacturer of copper piping or galvanized steel piping that allows for the use of epoxy as an interior finish of the piping. If the manufacturer does not allow it or name it as approved, then the procedure and materials are not code approved. If you currently have a slab leak the epoxy cannot be used to fill in the hole. Epoxy is not a code approved pipe repair and most likely never will be. I really believe that it is a charlatan fix, a feel good duping of homeowners to pay for epoxy coating to somehow ward off the possibility of a future slab leak. It preys upon the fears of homeowners. I think it is fake insurance, the new snake oil. (Epoxy lining of copper pipe to the right and left done improperly. Sometimes the pipe isn' covered and sometimes it is filled in all the way. There is no way to prove that the lining process is done properly unless the piping is cut open.)

Our job is make sure that your water leak repair is easy and painless. We will work with you and your insurance company to help ensure that your investment in leak detection and pipe repair is an easy one to make.

Our primary focus is your convenience and safety. With two hour service windows 6 days a week, no overtime ever, we can meet you at your home at the appointed time for your water pipe repair. We will meet your time table for your slab leak repair service, guaranteed.