Slab leak repair vs repipe whole house

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guest2

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Ouch, I think I may have a slab leak? Should I repair the copper pipe under the slab or repipe the whole house?

Does home owners insurance cover any or either of these repairs? it is a three story home so repipe may be a problem?

thank you
 
On the several of these slab leaks that I've accomplished I used a stethoscope to locate the origin of the leak, removed cabinets and floor coverings to exact, busted up the slab, repaired the leak, patched the slab and returned the space to it's original functionality.
 
question are the copper pipe buried in the concrete. if so then the concrete will eat through the copper pipes in time. it takes about 20 years.
 
You haven't indicated a refined geographical location, however, in CA., in my practice the copper is under a 6mil vapor barrier and the copper is either sleeved or wrapped where it rises through the slab, however, this is not the practice of all builders.
 
I don’t see why you would need to re-pipe the whole house if the problems are under the slab. We don’t know the extent of what is under the slab as far as complexity or what area of the country you live in and if running new lines around the outside of the house would freeze if not buried deep below the frost line. Would the new runs if done inside the house be easy to do inside walls etc.



The down side is if you can find the leak and open the slab and make the repair what’s the likelihood of another starting soon after if the piping is at the end of its lifespan.
 
In the Midwest and structure is 40 years old. I have no clue on the construction or codes 40+ years ago. But back then copper was King
 
Sorry, but I agree with Bud. 40 year old copper pipe in or under a slab is vulnerable to corrosion. Even if you could find and fix this leak, another one will occur. Your best bet would be to run a new supply line inside your house. Do you know where the main supply line enters the house - and where the branches are? There should be a shut-off valve on the main supply line. You may need to dig down to add a new connection to the main supply line.

Use PEX for the replacement with compression and/or crimp fittings. This is relatively easy to do.
 
It's a multi-story dwelling and most of the ground floor will be thru the slab, so, switching to pex, is going to be expensive.
 
I'm afraid of that.
Do you know if home owners insurance will cover it or if a place I can check to see if it will pay?
I hate to file a claim if it isn't going to pay.
 
Unfortunately, contacting your agent, unless you pose the inquiry as, there have been some recent reports of slab leaks in our general area, and you were wondering if that would be covered, in my policy, should that happen in the future.

There are also attnys and private claims adjusters, who may be of assistance.

What they won't tell you, because it's their business model, is that a claim will likely result in an exclusionary clause, in your next renewal.

Business is business.
 
Thank you, it appears that insurance is getting to be sham!
Pay for 50 years then file a claim and the cancel your coverage
 
Snoonyb said:
It's a multi-story dwelling and most of the ground floor will be thru the slab, so, switching to pex, is going to be expensive.
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Dear Snoony: To clarify, I did not mean replace ALL of the copper pipe in the house with PEX - but just the part that is underground or embedded in the slab. Not knowing the layout of this part of the pipe or the plumbing connections on the first floor, this might be as simple as replacing one main connection to the rest of the piping inside the house - or it may require running a new supply line inside walls on the first floor, to connect to all of the branch lines.

This is the only reliable solution. Repairing the current leak is not a medium/long term fix. The pipe is old, was not protected and will leak again.
 
BvilleBound said:
Dear Snoony: To clarify, I did not mean replace ALL of the copper pipe in the house with PEX - but just the part that is underground or embedded in the slab. Not knowing the layout of this part of the pipe or the plumbing connections on the first floor, this might be as simple as replacing one main connection to the rest of the piping inside the house - or it may require running a new supply line inside walls on the first floor, to connect to all of the branch lines.

This is the only reliable solution. Repairing the current leak is not a medium/long term fix. The pipe is old, was not protected and will leak again.
Click to expand...
I understood your post.
I'd like to see the comparative bids, and then discuss the ROI, because they will likely be in the multi-thousand differential.
 
Thank you, The house is multi level on a hill, it has a slab on 3 levels with water and 2 above thru the ceiling. I know it is a very strange house. I don't know how the water lines run in the slab or even find out.
I wish I could find out if insurance is going to pay for redoing the tile floors and plumbing as well as the wall repairs. Or maybe nothing!
 
guest2 said:
Thank you, The house is multi level on a hill, it has a slab on 3 levels with water and 2 above thru the ceiling. I know it is a very strange house. I don't know how the water lines run in the slab or even find out.
I wish I could find out if insurance is going to pay for redoing the tile floors and plumbing as well as the wall repairs. Or maybe nothing!
Click to expand...
Many plumbers either have or subcontract or will refer you, to folks with equip. designed to locate under concrete utilities.

Or you can search here, for area specific vendors; The Blue Book Building & Construction Network - Home
 
Thanks for the replies, I am looking into solutions now and will get back later. I am trying to figure whether to notify the insurance company first or after I get bids and maybe start the repair.

It will have to be repaired no matter what, but if there is a way to get some insurance help I would like to know.

It seems that all insurance companiee try or find a way to refuse or under pay for claims these days and this appears to be a several thousand claim.
 
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