"Ashton Crusher" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 8 Feb 2007 23:59:56 -0800, "SJF" wrote:


"Ashton Crusher" wrote in message
. ..
On 8 Feb 2007 20:26:32 -0800, "
wrote:

Howdy. I've read a lot of the posts here on slab leaks. I finally
figured out where my mystery leak was coming from... at least I think
I have. Took up the carpeting today and found the cracked concrete and
large wet spots -- sure hope the bad pipe is under there.

So here's what I'm wondering -- any thoughts on whether it's easier to
fix a slab leak or to run new hot water lines through the attic crawl
space? Seems a little scary bringing a jackhammer into the house. But
maybe that's just cuz it's so new.

The ranch house was built in 1963 on a slab in Las Vegas. Hasn't had a
leak in at least 14 years -- and maybe never though I only know going
back the 14.


I would think it's easier to just fix the break. You can rent a
concrete saw and saw out a hunk of concrete and bust it with a sledge
after you saw it. My pool had a leak under the deck and that's how
they repaired it. He had to saw to "holes" because he was a little
off on the first one and even so the whole repair only took a couple
hours including patching the deck with new concrete.

The tricky part of the problem is determining just where the leak is. The
water can migrate some distance under the slab before it find a way up.
Also, the line being repaired may fail elsewhere because of overall low
quality.

SJF


He used a sound listening device to listen to the sound of the water
leaking under the slab. Pretty accurate. Not many people seem to do
this kind of work.

No, the plumber did not do that. Several plumbers shied away from the job
recommending I find someone with a sound listening device. So I hired one.
Since I had already determined it was a hot water line by turning off the
heater supply and the general area of the leak indicated it was the hot line
to the kitchen sink, this was verified by capping off that line at the
heater manifold. The listening device was not used even though they had
one available. It seems their first thought was to replace the line and I
agree it was the best solution.

SJF