Waiting for plumber. Have a bad feeling.

[floridafam]

Heard a sound in our garage and bathrooms last night like there was water running somewhere.

DH turned the water off and the sound persisted, so it wasn’t that.

We made sure all the water was off in the house and at the hose outside. The water meter was still showing usage.

He then shut off the water to the house and the noise stopped.

He’s thinking maybe it’s leaking in our slab. We can’t find any water in the house or the yard.

We are going through worst care scenarios
while we wait for the on call plumber to call us back.

 

[John VN]

Heard a sound in our garage and bathrooms last night like there was water running somewhere.

DH turned the water off and the sound persisted, so it wasn’t that.

We made sure all the water was off in the house and at the hose outside. The water meter was still showing usage.

He then shut off the water to the house and the noise stopped.

He’s thinking maybe it’s leaking in our slab. We can’t find any water in the house or the yard.

We are going through worst care scenarios
while we wait for the on call plumber to call us back.

Been there and done it wrong $$$$$. Good plumbing company can search - located - and might be able to RE-LINE pipes. I jumped the gun and had re-pipe done in attic space. Do some research and get 3 or 4 estimates.

 

[tvguy]

Been there and done it wrong $$$$$. Good plumbing company can search - located - and might be able to RE-LINE pipes. I jumped the gun and had re-pipe done in attic space. Do some research and get 3 or 4 estimates.

Hope reline is an option, because houses built on slabs really suck when you have to jack hammer the slab up to fix a pipe. The builder saved money not building a raised foundation, the owner spends more money because of this savings if repairs are needed.

 

[floridafam]

Just talked to the plumber. It’s likely a slab leak. We have to call in the morning to get on the schedule. At least we aren’t seeing water anywhere. I hate home ownership.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

We just went through the exact same thing about a year ago. We could hear water running in the wall between the two bathrooms. A plumber opened up a small area of the wall, but it was dry inside. Then they brought a guy with a an infrared camera to search the bathroom walls and floors for water. They found a very small amount in the master shower and determined it was the master shower valve that was leaking. So they replaced it for $1700. When the guy turned the water back on to the house, the running water sound was still there, strong as ever! So he started poking around in the garage and inspected all the pipes, the corners, behind the washer and dryer, etc. He came across a small pool of water near the washer, water heater and water softener which are all near one corner. You could actually see the water bubbling out from under the slab. He called his supervisor to have a look and they came up with a quote to fix it.

They had to jackhammer a section of the garage floor to get to the leak. The pipes underneath were installed too close together and movement over the years (we're in earthquake country!) caused them to move and eventually rub together and wear out. They replaced those pipes, plus the ones running up the wall. It took them over a week to get it all done, including replacing the cement in the garage and installing a new water softener since ours was old not working properly. Final cost: $15,700! Over 20 years ago, we had our former house completely re-piped for $10,000. I asked the plumber how much it would cost to re-pipe our new (smaller) house and he said over $50k! Rather than re-pipe it all at once, it said it's best to do it in sections as the pipes wear out. Thankfully, the leak was in the garage and we didn't have to pull up the hardwood floors or tile inside the house.

Good luck! I hope yours can be fixed easily and isn't too costly!

 

[barkley]

Just talked to the plumber. It’s likely a slab leak. We have to call in the morning to get on the schedule. At least we aren’t seeing water anywhere. I hate home ownership.

i am SO sorry. it seems like you caught it early though which is always better in these situations.

 

[floridafam]

Plumber just left. It’s a slab leak near the outside main load bearing wall of our house. It’s not even worth it to jackhammer it out because it’s near the footer of the foundation. He has to do a reroute or we have to repipe the house, which we were going to do next year anyway.

We have to keep our water off for now and he’s going to give us an estimate for both.

I have to call the insurance company after we figure out if it would be financially worth it to file a claim.

My husband just said maybe he can retire when he’s 100.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Floridafam, I'm sorry. Wishing you and your husband brighter days ahead.

Also, a to you Luv Bunnies! What an ordeal that of course, I feel badly you and your family went through. Same to you John.

I've never owned a home just havechad toilet outflows in apartments and lots of times no hot water, especially, due to weather, repairs, or most recently last year when the ancient hot water heater gave out in my building on a Friday. Owner only replaced it later Monday when an inspector told him repairing it would be a huge safety issue. I pray after that for sure to not take indoor plumbing for grantrd again.

Here's to working water pipes to all!

 

[Dan Murphy]

What a bummer, @floridafam. Sorry to hear that. Hope maybe insurance might cover all or some of it.

 

[barkley]

Plumber just left. It’s a slab leak near the outside main load bearing wall of our house. It’s not even worth it to jackhammer it out because it’s near the footer of the foundation. He has to do a reroute or we have to repipe the house, which we were going to do next year anyway.

We have to keep our water off for now and he’s going to give us an estimate for both.

I have to call the insurance company after we figure out if it would be financially worth it to file a claim.

My husband just said maybe he can retire when he’s 100.

i'm glad the plumbers were able to come out today vs. you waiting, worrying, more damage occurring....just to let you know, based on our personal experience-we had to do a not so small claim on our place when snow caused a partial roof collapse and we didn't/haven't seen much in the way of increased premiums over the years. if you happen to have farmers insurance and haven't done a claim in the last 5 years with them they will do claim forgiveness on this one.

 

[Skippyboo]

That’s stinks. I had a $100+ water bill. It’s normally like $ 20. A call a plumber to fix the leak source. It was from the main line to shut off valve in garage. So had to spend $3500 to get the line replaced.

 

[floridafam]

The repair will likely be over $3000 and the repipe would be $10,000. Insurance may cover the repair but if it’s $3000 and our deductible is $1000 and then they raise our premium by $1000 or more next year, it’s better off to just do the repipe and leave insurance out of it. We are already leaning toward the repipe. We could have another leak a day after we repair this one.

 

[jo-jo]

Dumb question....repipe. you mean replacing all the pipes in your house? I've never heard of this before.

 

[kymom99]

Dumb question....repipe. you mean replacing all the pipes in your house? I've never heard of this before.

Me either

 

[floridafam]

Dumb question....repipe. you mean replacing all the pipes in your house? I've never heard of this before.

Yes. It’s common here in Florida. The water corrodes the older pipes. Our house was built in 1981. They go through the attic and some walls to repipe the whole house. This should eliminate the pin hole leaks and now the bigger leaks that we have be been dealing with.

 

[floridafam]

Thank you for well wishes. It could be worse. Hopefully we can get by with water off and on until they can fix it or repipe.

 

[John VN]

Yes. It’s common here in Florida. The water corrodes the older pipes. Our house was built in 1981. They go through the attic and some walls to repipe the whole house. This should eliminate the pin hole leaks and now the bigger leaks that we have be been dealing with.

r.e. - bold We HAD the attic/wall re-pipe and it can cause super hot or cold water when first turning on the taps depending on attic temp. There is the possibility of exterior routing by trenching around the house in addition to lining. If you go the attic route make sure the plumber isolates each faucet with valves.

 

[Micca]

Sorry to hear that. Hope maybe insurance might cover all or part of it

Was thinking the same, Insurance? Good luck, fingers crossed

 

[thinkerbell]

I‘m so sorry. Plumbing and electrical issues are a nightmare to deal with. We can definitely empathize with you. We just had to have a plumbing issue in MIL’s house fixed. We thought it was in the slab also because it was only getting the carpet in the front bedroom wet. We didn’t see any moisture on the wall. Ends up it was in the wall. Had to have a leak finder come out to find the leak, a plumber to fix the issue and then a mitigation team to come out and cut out the part of the walls where it was wet. We couldn’t see it in the bedroom but it was wet inside the wall. They pulled out all of the insulation and put big fans on it to dry it out. Took several days for that part. Now the team that replaces the walls and carpet will be coming in soon to finish up. Long process. Insurance is paying for all except for the deductible. They told us that they don‘t normally pay for plumbing problems but since this stemmed from freezing temps it would pay. Not sure how it is going to affect premiums but we are putting it on the market in June so it won’t be for long.
Good luck and so so sorry you are having to deal with that. :-(

 

[barkley]

Yes. It’s common here in Florida. The water corrodes the older pipes. Our house was built in 1981. They go through the attic and some walls to repipe the whole house. This should eliminate the pin hole leaks and now the bigger leaks that we have be been dealing with.

never heard of this but now i'm curious-would a water softener help with this kind of issue in the future? we are on well water and had an issue back awhile ago where the well pump pulled some chunks of debris that made it's way into our pipes causing some clogs (including into my washing machine lines ). after we got it resolved we invested in a kinetico system to protect the pipes.