Help with slab leak ???

[guest]

I need some assistance. I have, apparently, a hot water leak under a slab!
I will try to provide as much information as I have. Have a water softener (on first floor) and that is how I heard the leak, hissing and noticed that it was flowing at 0.6 to 0.7 GPM. After checking all toilets, sinks and faucets , hot water tanks (on second floor) and pop off valves on the tanks. I can not find a leak. So I turned off the hot water circulator, still hissing sound so I turned off the hot water outlet and the hissing stopped. Now what. I can hear the hissing sound at each sink, the hot water tank and the softener.
I have a multi level house and so far no water coming from the ceiling. There are three baths on a split level 2 and 1 both on slabs. How can I trace the leak under the slab? Can it be done without removing all of the furniture and stuff from each room?

So I turned off the hot water tank outlet and no hissing or water running through the softener. So I will keep off until I need the hot water. Which is a guess at least a small blessing that I can stop the leak temporarily.

Thank you so much for the help. I am desperate!

 

[Geofd]

Check for warm/hot spots in the floor I had a similar issue and the tile in the kitchen was hot ,when all of your fixtures are at rest is your meter moving???????

 

[guest]

Thank you for your reply.

I can not find any hot or cold spots on the floors but that are all carpet and mostly covered with furniture so they are not very accessible.
Yes the meter is moving when all fixtures are at rest. About 0,6 to 0.7 GPM

 

[Geofd]

Thank you for your reply.

I can not find any hot or cold spots on the floors but that are all carpet and mostly covered with furniture so they are not very accessible.
Yes the meter is moving when all fixtures are at rest. About 0,6 to 0.7 GPM

 

[Geofd]

There a companies that socialize in slab leaks there are heat sending tools you can point at the floor not sure how it works thru rugs , you maybe able to narrow it down by shutting off you domestic hot water and check the meterthen shut off the feed for the heat and check the meter each time

 

[Jeff Handy]

There are companies for hire that can find a leak under the slab with sensitive microphones, like a stethoscope.
Also with a thermal camera.
Probably other clever ways also.
Isn’t there a crawl space under the upper level?
EDIT posted my answer same time as geofd.

 

[havasu]

I just finished up what I suspected as a slab leak. My problem was there was no movement at the meter, but a spot in the floor was wet and moldy. I jacked out the slab, that the previous owner did before, snd discovered it was the hole in the vapor barrier percolating moisture. I just patched today. In your case, get a specialist who uses a sound device. He will find it in short order. Here is a glory shot of my work today.

 

[House Doc]

You can get this from Harbor Freight: 12:1 Infrared Laser Thermometer (harborfreight.com) and check the slab. If it's hot water this will show where the slab is warmer.

 

[FishScreener]

There are small thermal imaging systems on amazon for less than $100. I wouldn’t get one for work, because for work I want one which will record the image and let me export it. But for finding a hot water leak in the house, I’d go for it. Any pro who does the leak detection will cost more than that for the service call.

 

[Jeff Handy]

havasu,
Maybe you should put in a sump pump, to lower the ground water level?

 

[frodo]

disconnect every thing hot and cap it
then pump up the hot side and listen for leaks
if that does not work, then spend the money on a thermal

good news, tell your wife you have to have the $1000.00 new flir scope that by coincidence attaches to your rifle lol

 

[Twowaxhack]

Sometimes you don’t get a hot spot or the water runs across the room and pools under the slab.....you get a hot spot but not over the leak.

I often repipe overhead instead of jacking up floors. I trace the hot pipes and disconnect Pipe headers until I find the leaking pipe.

Once found I create a replacement plan.....

My average cost to locate and replace overhead for one pipe is around $1500 and all damage is under cabinets......typically, not always.

 

[havasu]

I would have gone overhead, but the end manifold is right between the wet walls of two, newly remodeled shower/bath combos.

 

[FishScreener]

When the 3/4 PVC pipes to the kitchen in my Mom’s house in Boulder City cracked during an small earth quake, a local plumber used the failed cold water pipe to push a run of PEX through, and then installed a five gallon expansion tank, and five gallon electric water heater under the sink. I was out of town, and didn’t get to see the install, but it worked for the fifteen years she owned the house.

 

[Mark.S]

When the 3/4 PVC pipes to the kitchen in my Mom’s house in Boulder City cracked during an small earth quake, a local plumber used the failed cold water pipe to push a run of PEX through, and then installed a five gallon expansion tank, and five gallon electric water heater under the sink. I was out of town, and didn’t get to see the install, but it worked for the fifteen years she owned the house.

I recommend trying to get this done. Had a slab leak in my old place.....hot patch under foot in the kitchen and a slow leak. After balking at the cost and destruction that would be caused by jack-hammering the floor, I did more hard searching and found a repiping company that also did repairs by running PEX through the existing copper, like installing a liner. The guy spent a couple of hours and managed to feed it through from the manifold under the tank in the garage, all the way to the kitchen. Truly a skill....I still dont know exactly how he managed it ! Cost me about $800-1000 which was less that the jack-hammer method and left me with no extra cost to repair holes in the slab and try to find floor tiles to match the nice ones we had in the kitchen...so money well spent. There was a slight reduction in flow to the kitchen faucet but nothing significant. I recommend this method unless you're OK with re-tiling/replacing floor coverings after the wreckers have been in and dug up your pipe