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What Are Slab Leaks?

Plumbing Failure

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Water lines can be accessed a few different ways, depending on the type of home. In homes with a basement, the water lines generally run along the basement ceiling. In homes with a crawlspace, the water lines are usually accessible from there. In a slab house (meaning the house is built on a concrete slab), the water lines usually run underneath the slab, making them much harder to access. Because the concrete slab has acid in it, copper water lines can corrode and develop holes over time.

You’ll probably find out that there’s a hole in the water line if you get an excessively high water bill. In very rare situations you might see water come up from the floor our outside the home. But generally, you’ll notice a loss of water pressure. If a hot water line running under the slab develops a leak, you might run out of hot water very quickly even though nothing is wrong with the water heater.

Dealing with leaky water lines in a slab home can be very difficult and invasive. We do have equipment that’s kind of a digital stethoscope, which allows us to listen to the vibrations of a water leak. However, it’s still very hard to find the location of the leak. Unfortunately, it’s going to be most economical to just repipe the home with a different pipe. You definitely don’t want to have a leaky water line in a slab home, but you can’t just let it go, either. Excessive amounts of water running into a home’s foundation can cause significant damage over time because it’s just not meant to have that kind of water.

The water authority usually sends letters warning about excessive usage. That could be indicative of a water line leaking under the home, but it could also mean that the water line is leaking outside the home. A professional inspection will uncover the source of the leak very quickly. One of the ways you can determine whether the leak is inside or outside is by cutting the water valve going to the house. Then go check the water meter, which is usually located by the street, to see whether or not it’s still turning. If it is, that means the leak is probably underground between the meter and the house. If it’s not, the leak is probably in the house somewhere.

If you suspect that you have a slab leak, give us a call and we can come check it out. Contact us online or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

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A plumbing emergency is a situation in someone’s home that creates an unsafe environment. It could be something like a water leak coming through the ceiling that causes flooding and leads to the risk of a ceiling cave-in. A sewage backup in someone’s home is an emergency because the water is extremely unsanitary. The smell of gas around the water heater or HVAC unit is definitely an emergency because it could pose an immediate risk. Extended HVAC breakdowns during times of hot weather can be unsafe as well.

If you experience a water leak pouring through the ceiling, it could either be a leaky drain line or  a leaky water line. The leak will not be constant if the drain line is leaking. (When you stop using the toilet, using the sink, taking a shower, or using any other plumbing fixtures, the leak will go away.) If the leak is constant, it’s generally the water line.

It’s really important that you know where the main water valve is located and how it’s operated. The first thing you’ll want to do in case of a leak is cut off the water going to your home. If you don’t know where your main water line is, locate it now, while you don’t have an emergency. (It isn’t a good idea to stack large storage boxes that obstruct the main valve because it won’t be possible to quickly shut off the water in an emergency.) Emergency stops are located under each sink and toilet. Turning off those valves will allow you to isolate a single problematic fixture instead of having to cut off the water to the whole home.

If you smell gas, the best thing to do is call the gas company so they can cut off the gas to your home. Otherwise, if you’re a little handy, you might be able to shut off the valve yourself. (It’s located at the gas meter.) If you’re experiencing a sewage backup, the best thing to do is stop using any water in the home. Do not flush any toilets, run any sinks, or take a shower until the situation is resolved.

Everyone should call a professional, whether it’s heating & air or plumbing, to assess the situation. If you encounter water damage in your home, you’ll want to call a reputable remediation company. The sooner you can stop the water and get the area dry, the less damage you will have. A warm, moist environment can potentially start growing mold within 48 hours. That’s why it’s really important to get a professional remediation company in there as soon as possible.

The next thing that we sometimes don’t do is learn from our mistakes. After an emergency situation, it’s always good to ask yourself or a professional what could have been done to minimize the damage and/or prevent the issue from occurring again in the future. Most people won’t have to deal with frequent emergencies. However, if you have a leak in one area of the house, it could very well happen in another area. Addressing the situation proactively and without procrastination could prevent another emergency situation later.

Take a step back and ask yourself what you can learn, and maybe what you can do differently. Plumbing emergencies tend to happen during the most inconvenient time. It’s a nightmare to go through these things, especially if you end up with excessive water damage. You definitely don’t want to experience an emergency while guests are visiting for the holidays and the system is most heavily used. Just pay attention, be proactive, and learn from emergencies.

Sometimes staying safe can be as simple as hiring a professional for plumbing, electrical, and HVAC. If you have any questions, contact us online or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

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It’s very annoying when you get in the shower and you have to deal with low pressure. There’s a wide range of causes, and it largely depends on whether you use city/municipal water or you have your own well system.

If you have a well system and the pump hasn’t been replaced in a long time, it might not be able to produce the water pressure that you want. It could also be because you’re simply asking for more water than the well can produce. If the water simply isn’t there, you’re going to have low pressure.

Poor water quality in the well can cause problems, too. If there’s a lot of iron in the water, it can build up inside the pipes and reduce their diameter. That will result in a reduced amount of water. If you have any type of filter on a well system or municipal system, it needs to be changed on a regular basis. If not, there might be a buildup of sediment or debris that restricts water flow.

For municipal water supplies, the municipality may simply not be delivering that much pressure. In our area they’re only required to deliver 20 psi. That’s fairly low pressure — if you’ve moved into the area from another location that had much higher water pressure, you’ll see a large difference in your experience. To solve the issue, you can add some sort of booster system to increase the pressure.

Another common thing we see for both types of systems is inadequate piping size inside the house due to improper installation. Plumbing code states a minimum size, but we’ve found that this doesn’t really provide enough water for a large request of water. The minimum size just can’t deliver enough water to meet larger needs.

If you have a home that was built in the 1930s through 1960s, there’s a good chance that you have galvanized piping. Galvanized piping rusts on the inside, and that rust builds up over the years. It’s very similar to a clogged artery, so it will restrict water flow and reduce pressure.

If you have any of these issues resulting in low pressure in your home, solutions include booster pump systems, replacement of pipes, replacing an old pump, and dealing with water quality. In some cases you can treat the water before it gets into your house. In other cases, you’ll have to deal with it after it gets into your house.

To find out which solution is best for your home, just contact us online, check us out on Facebook, or give us a call at (540) 483-9382. We’ll determine what’s causing the low pressure get it resolved in no time.

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We get an influx of certain types of calls once springtime comes around. These are some of the different types of issues that we hear people running into most often.

  • Hose Faucets

First is hose faucets on the outside of the house. Most people have frost free hose faucets. If the hoses aren’t disconnected, if they’re installed improperly, or if the water was not shut off, they’ll tend to freeze. You won’t know something’s wrong until one day in the spring when you try to use the hose to pressure wash your car. Next thing you now, the hose faucet will start to spray. The reason why you don’t realize the burst happened is because it’s after the shutoff point. People often forget to take the hoses off, so they freeze and burst over the winter.

  • Outdoor Plumbing

A lot of times around the lake area, outdoor plumbing can have a burst water line if it wasn’t winterized properly. It’s usually an outdoor kitchen, plumbing on the docks, or showers around the basement area. When you try to turn the water back on, it will spray and need to be repaired.

Outdoor_showers

These problems happen most often with a second home. There are lots of things that tend to be forgotten. If any steps from the checklist are missed, you’ll have problems once you return to the lake house and get it ready for the summer season. That’s when people find issues and give us an influx of calls.

  • Bigger Items

We have a lot of main water lines and sewer lines that tend to fail in the spring. The water lines fail simply because when the ground has frozen and then starts to unthaw, it causes settling and movement to occur.

Because the trees are starting to get their leaves back, they’ll be looking for nutrients. Root growth happens most during this time, so that’s when they might make their way into the main line pipes. (We talked about this in our last blog post about drain clogs.)

If you get an annual checkup from us, these problems can be avoided. We winterize homes and outdoor plumbing systems. If you want to do an annual checkup in the spring instead, we can get everything checked out before the season starts.

No matter if it’s springtime or another time of year contact us online, check us out on Facebook, or give us a call at (540) 483-9382. We’ll get your home on the right track so you won’t have these common problems at the worst time.

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There are five main reasons why plumbing fails. By being proactive, you can make sure your home’s plumbing will run smoothly and reliably.

1. Age

Put simply, most people think that their toilet is going to last forever. However, it’s just like your refrigerator, microwave, coffeemaker, or other appliances in your home. These fixtures have components that do wear out over time. If you’ve got a plumbing fixture in your home that is very old, you can be sure that it will fail at some point. Being proactive will definitely save you from having water getting into your home and damaging its structure.

2. Excessive Water Pressure

Another reason that we find plumbing systems fail is simply because the water pressure coming into the home is too high. Water pressure should not exceed 80 psi. If the pressure is any higher than 80 psi, it will cause excessive wear and tear damage to your faucets, eventually causing them to start dripping. It will also cause more damage to your water heater, due to the increased expansion and contraction. If you notice that your garden hose swells up with bubbles during the summer, this can be another indicator that you have very high pressure. Making sure that you don’t have water pressure that exceeds 80 psi is an often overlooked way to be proactive with your plumbing. It can end up preventing a major problem from occurring in the future. Next time you have a professional in your home, ask them to check your water pressure. It’s something that we do during our diagnosis, because it definitely affects the plumbing.

3. Poor Water Quality

Another issue that needs to be addressed is water quality. There is calcium, acidity, iron, and other particulates in water that can be very harmful to your components (such as faucets, toilets, the water heater, or anything in your home that comes in contact with water). The quality of a home’s water supply is extremely important. If we’re in your home, doing a water analysis is an important step during diagnosis. Again, this can prevent you from experiencing future breakdowns.

4. Lack of Proactive Maintenance

Proper plumbing maintenance is something that also needs to be addressed. If you proactively maintain the plumbing system, you will definitely extend the life of all the fixtures in your home. Maintenance is a lot less expensive than waiting until a major problem occurs and then having to replace or repair components. It can end up being very costly to neglect proper maintenance.

5. Not Fixing Breakdowns in a Timely Fashion

The entire home’s plumbing system is interconnected, and small issues can be a signal that something larger needs to be addressed. For instance, if you have a drippy faucet, it affects your sewage, among other areas. When something is going on with a toilet, it can be causing problems in another area of the plumbing system. If you have a water heater that fails and bursts, or if you have a water main that breaks, it will end up causing your water bill to go up. If you have a septic system, a toilet that is running constantly when not in use can cause major damage. Not fixing it in a timely manner can cause larger problems to arise. If you have a well

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