Posted: 4/5/2010 7:33:01 AM EDT
I can't believe my luck. In the kitchem barefooted the other night and I noticed that part of my kitchen floor closest to the door that goes to the garage felt warm. Dismissed it thinking it must be the dishwasher or something  ... then I noticed that my hot water heater was cycling (heating up) about every 20 minutes or so and when I turned on the hot water to the kitchen sink, it was hot instantly  No water on the floor.... must be a slab leak 
Well, the plumber came out and said the best way was to re-route the hot water line running to the kitchen with Zern (sp) poly pipe... total cost $500 ...guess that's a decent price |
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I guess it would depend on where the leak is. If you have to pull cabinets and flooring it's going to get expensive to patch. There's also the chance that other sections are getting weak too and may spring a leak in the future. IMO re route is worth it just for the peace of mind. I would get estimates for both and decide from there. |
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I'm not a plumber, but there has to be a better way of building houses without having to bury plumbing in concrete  Pretty much. It's called a basement or crawlspace. Costs more in the beginning, but it's worth it when it comes time to maintain or upgrade. ETA: I see OP is in Tx. It is one of those areas of Tx where nobody has a basement or crawlspace? I honestly think they're worth the cost. |
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Quoted: I'm not a plumber, but there has to be a better way of building houses without having to bury plumbing in concrete There is. We just finished re-plumbing a house my Dad built 22 years ago because the copper finally shit the bed under the slab. From now on we are only using Pex and a Manabloc manifold system, and going overhead/through walls.  |
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Is it cheaper to re-route?...there's a window right above the sink so it would have to snake around that. Just happened to my fiance's house. Definitely cheaper (probably half price as compared with tearing up the slab), easier, and less mess to re-route. |
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Quoted: Quoted: I'm not a plumber, but there has to be a better way of building houses without having to bury plumbing in concrete Pretty much. It's called a basement or crawlspace. Costs more in the beginning, but it's worth it when it comes time to maintain or upgrade. ETA: I see OP is in Tx. It is one of those areas of Tx where nobody has a basement or crawlspace? I honestly think they're worth the cost. Water table is too high. Build a basement it will flood, build a crawl space it will turn into a moldy swamp. Builders moved away from Copper pipes in the slab in recent years though. |
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I'm not a plumber, but there has to be a better way of building houses without having to bury plumbing in concrete Yes, but not a cheaper way. Houses on a slab weren't near as popular around here 15 years ago. Now everyone wants a brand new house and to make them affordable a lot of them are built on a slab. The first time I heard of a slab home I said "what do you do when you have a plumbing break somewhere?" You demo the floor. |
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I'm not a plumber, but there has to be a better way of building houses without having to bury plumbing in concrete Pretty much. It's called a basement or crawlspace. Costs more in the beginning, but it's worth it when it comes time to maintain or upgrade. ETA: I see OP is in Tx. It is one of those areas of Tx where nobody has a basement or crawlspace? I honestly think they're worth the cost. Water table is too high. Build a basement it will flood, build a crawl space it will turn into a moldy swamp. Builders moved away from Copper pipes in the slab in recent years though. I suppose there are always the trade-offs. Around here a nice basement is a welcome cool spot in summers, but our water table is pretty deep. It would probably be nice to be able to drive a water point by hand and have a workable well, but then if you have to build on a slab as a result... There are always costs somewhere in the equation that even things out. |
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Houses on a slab weren't near as popular around here 15 years ago. Now everyone wants a brand new house and to make them affordable a lot of them are built on a slab. The first time I heard of a slab home I said "what do you do when you have a plumbing break somewhere?" You demo the floor. I don't think it's a super common problem. I'm sure a plumber will say differently though 
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The same thing happened to me 2 years ago. I hand chiseled through the slab. Everything was ripped out and I remodeled the entire bathroom. It was scary at first but fun once I found the leak.
I have a ton of pics and have posted them here before. Exposed and rerouted 
Reconnected. Note the previous waterline . 
Patch when wet 
Patch done 
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Neighbor had the same thing happen, multiple leaks. Had some company out that pumps some kind of resin thru the pipes and seals the leaks and keeps corrosion from reoccurring. Was a fairly involved job, took them a few days, had a trailer with a manifold of sorts and lines running everywhere, presumably to all the supply points in the house. ETA http://epipeinfo.com/ |
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who was your HO through - I have Allstate Double check your coverage. As a former HO adjuster, it used to be that repairs to the pipe itself weren't covered. The resulting damage usually was. All this changes from state to state, company to company and state to state. YMMV. IIRC, there are companies that use equipment to pinpoint the leak so you don't have to tear up excess slab. You'd need to way that cost against a re-route though. |