Unknown Consequences Of Untreated Slab Leaks
The building of houses is on a robust foundation of concrete known as a slab. This chunk of concrete is intertwined with water, sewage, and gas pipes that are intended to supply water to your home. It is not uncommon for cracks and holes to appear as the pipes beneath your house age. When a pipe right beneath your slab foundation gets broken, the water in the pipes may cause a slab leak in Lake Forest.
Consequently, the surrounding soil will begin to absorb the rainwater, causing the earth to become disturbed. The concrete slab foundation will begin to fracture and decay when the earth beneath your property gets too damp and unstable. If the leak in your concrete slab is not repaired promptly, the foundation of your home will begin to shift. it will cause your house’s flooring and walls to break or collapse.
What Are The Consequences Of A Slab Leak?
Leaks discovered in your house might cause significant difficulties if not addressed promptly. Even the slightest slab leak in Lake Forest can cause crucial problems when the situation grows over time. Leaks can cause water damage to your home’s structure as well as any of its contents. They can also promote the formation of mold or mildew throughout your house, which can cause not only physical damage but also health problems. The slab leak is one of the most challenging sorts of leaks to deal with. Are you aware of the types of damage that a slab leak can cause? If not, we got you covered. Keep reading to unfold the damages caused by slab leak.
Slab leaks are more harmful than a leaking faucet or showerhead, as slab leaks are complex to discover unless you?hire a professional plumbing firm?to inspect your system. This means that it may go undiscovered until it has caused irreparable harm to your house and family members. Here are several flaws that might cause slab leaks to ruin your property.
If you don’t identify a slab leak in time, or if you don’t get the problem addressed as soon as you see it, it can cause major and costly damage to your property.
The following are just a few of the problems that might arise as a result of slab leaks:
1. Health Concerns
Any health concern should be treated accurately. One of the possible hazards of slab leaks is that water can stand for so long and go unnoticed that it becomes a breeding ground for mold. Mold development is a symptom and side effect of a slab leak, which may progressively infiltrate your property without your knowledge.
Mold growth for an extended time can cause respiratory problems. Rotting will begin to occur over time, causing more significant concerns. Mold thrives in moist situations, which slab leaks effectively give.
Mold development in your house can cause coughing and wheezing, as well as asthma and other upper respiratory tract diseases. The effect can be more severe in children and newborns.
When the respiratory system begins to fail, the body becomes more vulnerable to other possible ailments. The good news is that with the help of a?slab leak detection?professional, you can prevent slab leak damage easily.
2. Destroyed Flooring
The longer water is allowed to seep into your home through the slab, the more likely it will ruin your flooring. Waterlogged carpets, fractured tiles, and saturated flooring can all result due to slab leak.
3. Damaged Foundation
Because a slab leak can cause swelling, it is possible that pieces of your foundation can shift or break.
4. Yard Damage
A slab leak can cause water to rise through your yard. This might cause your yard to flood, destroying your vegetation and plants. It can also cause catastrophic harm to any outside pools.
5. Odors
If a slab leak is left unattended, odors of molds and mildew will spread throughout your home. Any leaks from your property’s sewer pipes will cause the residence to smell like sewage.
6. Mold
Slab leaks can seep into the drywall beneath your home’s flooring. Mold will begin to develop fast on drywall because it absorbs water. Mold is not just unattractive; it may also be harmful to your family’s health, particularly those with respiratory concerns.
Causes of a Slab Leak
1. Earthquakes
Earthquake shaking in the ground may be harmful to the pipes in the concrete slab under your home. Although slab leaks are no longer possible when the pipes beneath the ground decay, earthquake vibrations cause joints to become loose between pipes. Furthermore, ground movement can cause fractures and holes to grow in pipelines.
If you hear noises in your home that seem like running water, you may have a slab leak. A hot spot on the floor of your home, on the other hand, is an indication of a leak in a hot water pipe. When a leak develops in your slab foundation, you may discover mold and mildew on your home’s floors, walls, or ceiling.
2. Water Is Very Acidic
Hard water may be exceedingly acidic depending on your city or neighborhood. The pH of hard water ranges from 1 to 4 on average. If the water in your neighborhood is overly acidic, the pipes beneath your slab foundation will gradually corrode and split over time.
To address this issue, many homes prefer to install a water softener, which removes ions like magnesium and calcium from the water. Although investing in a water softener might extend the life of your pipes, it can also harm the pipes in your foundation. The normal pH level of soft water is between 9 and 14 pH. If the water in your neighborhood is too alkaline, the pipes beneath your slab foundation may progressively deteriorate and leak.
Look for green or blue stains in your kitchen or bathroom sink, shower, or toilet to see whether you have acidic water.
3. Copper Pipe Deterioration
Older homes are more vulnerable to slab leaks since they were built with copper and Lake forest sewer pipes. Excessive amounts of salts dissolved in water, acidic water with pH levels below 7.0, high quantities of liquid oxygen, inappropriate grounding of electrical devices to copper pipes, and alkaline water with pH values above 8.5 are all common causes of corrosion in copper pipes.
A major slab leak will emerge if the copper pipes beneath your foundation have fractures or holes.
4. Abrasion
As the pipes in your foundation circulate water to your household’s appliances and sink, the flow of the water can cause the pipes to scrape against your property’s concrete slab. Furthermore, the pipes may come into contact with other items such as gravel, mud, and other pipes.
When a pipe rubs against a concrete foundation, the overall amount of friction rises, causing damage to the outer part of your pipes. A water leak will emerge near your slab foundation if the outer part of your pipe walls gets too thin.
5. High Water Pressure
The high water pressure might cause cracking or collapsing of the pipes beneath your slab foundation. Normal indicators of excessive water pressure include rattling noises when the water is turned on and leaking faucets.
Purchase a water pressure gauge to determine if the water pressure in your home is too high. This gauge is designed to measure the pressure in your water pipes in pounds per square inch (PSI).
Depending on your city or neighborhood, the typical water pressure rating ranges from 40 to 80 pounds per square inch. If your water pressure is too high or too low, the pipes beneath your flooring might be damaged, resulting in a slab leak. Installing a water pressure-reducing valve on your home to safeguard your pipes is an easy solution to avoid this kind of problem in the future.
Efficient Ways To Repair A Slab Leak
There are several options for repairing a slab leak beneath the earth. The best technique to?repair a water leak?will differ based on the location of a broken pipe. Furthermore, the overall cost to?repair a leak in your foundation?will range from a few hundred dollars to a thousand dollars or more. We’ve given three strategies to cure a slab leak to assist you in resolving a leak in your foundation.
Repiping
It costs a few thousand dollars to remove concrete from your foundation to repair a broken pipe. A faster option to cure a slab leak without destroying your lovely flooring is to reroute a fresh new pipe outside the concrete foundation or in your home’s attic. Accessibility is one advantage of installing a new pipe rather than fixing a broken pipe in your foundation. The new pipe will be easily accessible in the ground around your foundation or the attic.
Drilling A Hole To Replace A Segment
If a tiny part of a pipe is broken, a typical option is to drill through the concrete slab to replace a little bit of the damaged water pipe. It is not a popular choice among homeowners since it necessitates the removal of wood or tile flooring in order to obtain access to the concrete slab.
Furthermore, replacing a minor part of a pipe does not guarantee that a larger leak will not occur in the future. If a single section of your pipe is fractured, it is probable that other sections of the pipe are degrading as well. The second section of your pipe may fracture in the future, necessitating the replacement of a second pipe.
Pipeline Installation
Inserting a thin layer of epoxy coating in the interior of your galvanized steel or copper pipes is a non-invasive technique to repair a water leak beneath your foundation. Once the epoxy has been injected into the pipe, it will solidify and seal the holes and fractures in the existing pipes.
Conclusion:
When the plumbing pipes under a house fail for whatever reason, a slab leak occurs. They can go unnoticed for years, slowly eroding the soil and undermining the slab and foundation.
Slab leaks can cause due to improper installation, weakened water lines, or chemical interactions between metal plumbing lines and metals in the ground. Soil shifting weakens and breaks plumbing lines, resulting in leaks beneath the concrete slab. Repair expenses can end in thousands of dollars, and many homeowners’ insurance plans cover very little or nothing.
Knowing the indicators of a slab leak, your choices for correcting it, and how to prevent slab leaks is critical knowledge for homeowners.
If you see any indicators of a potential slab leak in your home in Lake Forest, you should contact a professional for?slab leak repair in Lake Forest?to avoid potential damage to your property.
Source:- EZ Leak Detection Blog