{"id":12521,"date":"2020-07-20T03:04:37","date_gmt":"2020-07-20T10:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/low-flow-toilets-copy\/"},"modified":"2020-07-20T03:04:37","modified_gmt":"2020-07-20T10:04:37","slug":"causes-slab-leaks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/causes-slab-leaks\/","title":{"rendered":"The 5 Causes of Slab Leaks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Slab leaks are leaks in plumbing that runs underneath a concrete floor slab. What causes them?<\/p>\n<p>These days most residential and small commercial buildings use this sort of slab-on-grade foundation.\u00a0 It&#8217;s more stable, less expensive, and faster to build.\u00a0 But when pipes are run underneath (a common practice) leaks are hard to detect, and often expensive and disruptive to repair.\u00a0 Until they&#8217;re found and fixed the resulting dampness can cause mold and other water damage.\u00a0 Larger leaks can even lead to erosion that undermines the foundation and result in structural damage to floors&#8230; even walls and ceilings.<\/p>\n<h3>We are underground slab leak detection specialists.<\/h3>\n<div class=\"bne-video-wrapper embed-youtube\">\n<div class=\"video-inner\"><iframe title=\"Underground Leak Detection | ASAP Drain Guys &amp; Plumbing\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/A95TtneK-uE?feature=oembed&#038;wmode=opaque&#038;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[fusion_separator style_type=&#8221;default&#8221; hide_on_mobile=&#8221;small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility&#8221; class=&#8221;&#8221; id=&#8221;&#8221; sep_color=&#8221;&#8221; top_margin=&#8221;&#8221; bottom_margin=&#8221;&#8221; border_size=&#8221;&#8221; icon=&#8221;&#8221; icon_size=&#8221;&#8221; icon_circle=&#8221;&#8221; icon_circle_color=&#8221;&#8221; width=&#8221;&#8221; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;][\/fusion_separator]<\/p>\n<h2>Causes<\/h2>\n<p>So what causes those leaks?\u00a0 In addition to the issues faced by above-ground pipes, essentially underground pipes face additional challenges.<\/p>\n<h3>The Usual<\/h3>\n<p>All plumbing, regardless of where it&#8217;s located, can potentially suffer from leaks for a variety reasons.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Corrosion from oxygen, alkali,\u00a0or acidic traces in the water chemistry.\u00a0 This is especially\u00a0true for the\u00a0galvanized iron pipes used up through the 1950s.<\/li>\n<li>Faulty installation (such as poorly soldered or otherwise weak joints) or accidental damage during building\u00a0construction.<\/li>\n<li>Poor quality materials.<\/li>\n<li>Excessive water pressure, particularly water hammer (the physical shock and vibration from flow suddenly stopping).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>The 5 Special Causes<\/h3>\n<p>Being underground as well as near or within concrete presents special conditions that can lead to slab leaks.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><em>Settlement.<\/em>\u00a0 As the soil shifts and settles it can displace pipes, putting them under mechanical strain.\u00a0 That goes double (or more!) for earthquakes.<\/li>\n<li><em>Expansive soil shift.<\/em>\u00a0 Many types of soil expand with water, bending pipes and weakening connections.<\/li>\n<li><em>Abrasion.<\/em>\u00a0 The surrounding soil can have particularly abrasive particles such as a large amount of sand or gravel.\u00a0 As hot water pipes heat up and cool off they expand and contract, rubbing against those abrasives.\u00a0 Vibration from appliances and water usage shutting on and off can affect both hot and cold water pipes.<\/li>\n<li><em>Alkali corrosion<\/em>.\u00a0 Alkalis from concrete can pose a direct risk, so that certain types of pipes shouldn&#8217;t be run within or immediately adjacent to concrete.\u00a0 Some types of soil also have high alkali content.<\/li>\n<li><em>Frost heave<\/em>.\u00a0 In colder climates freezing soil expands and can exert tremendous pressure.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=&#8221;yes&#8221; overflow=&#8221;visible&#8221;][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=&#8221;1_1&#8243; background_position=&#8221;left top&#8221; background_color=&#8221;&#8221; border_size=&#8221;&#8221; border_color=&#8221;&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221; spacing=&#8221;yes&#8221; background_image=&#8221;&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;no-repeat&#8221; padding=&#8221;&#8221; margin_top=&#8221;0px&#8221; margin_bottom=&#8221;0px&#8221; class=&#8221;&#8221; id=&#8221;&#8221; animation_type=&#8221;&#8221; animation_speed=&#8221;0.3&#8243; animation_direction=&#8221;left&#8221; hide_on_mobile=&#8221;no&#8221; center_content=&#8221;no&#8221; min_height=&#8221;none&#8221;][fusion_tagline_box backgroundcolor=&#8221;&#8221; shadow=&#8221;no&#8221; shadowopacity=&#8221;0.1&#8243; border=&#8221;1px&#8221; bordercolor=&#8221;#666&#8243; highlightposition=&#8221;left&#8221; link=&#8221;tel:7607448489&#8243; linktarget=&#8221;_blank&#8221; buttoncolor=&#8221;blue&#8221; button=&#8221;(760) 744-8489&#8243; title=&#8221;Do you have a slab leak?&#8221; description=&#8221;Call Now, We Are Open!&#8221; animation_type=&#8221;0&#8243; animation_direction=&#8221;down&#8221; animation_speed=&#8221;0.1&#8243;][\/fusion_tagline_box]<\/p>\n<p><strong>Did You Know?<\/strong>\u00a0 The American Society of Civil Engineers reports that 1\/4 of US homes suffer at least some damage to plumbing or directly to the structure itself\u00a0from expansive soil shift.\u00a0 That&#8217;s more than earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes combined!\u00a0 That&#8217;s why understanding soil conditions and proper foundation design and construction are so important.<\/p>\n<h2>All Together<\/h2>\n<p>All these causes have one thing in common &#8212; time.\u00a0 As time passes the various mechanisms create more and more damage, and the likelihood of a leak becomes greater and greater.\u00a0 No plumbing material, metal or plastic, has an expected lifetime of more than 50 years.\u00a0 Plumbing in a particular building may last far longer, but the risk of a leak and serious water damage is high enough that re-piping is often a wise move.<\/p>\n<h3>SEE OUR RECENT SLAB LEAK REPAIR PROJECT IN CARLSBAD CA<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/recent-projects\/slab-leak-in-carlsbad-california\/\">https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/recent-projects\/slab-leak-in-carlsbad-california\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\"><strong>ASAP Drain Guys &amp; Plumbing is\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbb.org\/sdoc\/business-reviews\/plumbers\/asap-drain-guys-plumbing-in-san-marcos-ca-48000135\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A+ BBB rated<\/a> and have been serving San Diego since 2001. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/about-us\/\">Learn more<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/contact-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">contact us<\/a> any time.<\/strong><\/span>    \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Slab leaks are leaks in plumbing that runs underneath a concrete floor slab. What causes them? These days most residential and small commercial buildings use [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11114,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asapdrainandplumbing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}