Slab Leak Repair

Slab leak repair in McKinney and Collin County

A slab leak is a broken water line under your home's concrete foundation. There are three ways to fix one: a spot repair that opens the slab at the break, a reroute that runs new pipe through the walls or attic, or a repipe when the line has failed more than once. Before any work starts, you see the options and the price for each in writing.

Why slab leaks are common in North Texas

The clay soil throughout Collin County swells when it rains and shrinks in a drought. The ground under your foundation moves with it, and that movement puts stress on the water lines running beneath the slab. Over time a line can crack, pinhole or pull apart at a joint. A slab leak does most of its damage before anyone notices.

Signs you have a slab leak

• A warm spot on the floor, often in a hallway or under carpet
• The sound of water running when every tap is off
• A water bill that jumped with no change in how you use water
• Cracks appearing in walls, ceilings or the slab itself
• Damp carpet, buckling wood, or a musty smell with no visible source
• Water pressure that has quietly dropped

If you have two or more of these, call us before you call anyone else. A slab leak that runs for months costs far more than the repair itself.

Not sure yet? Our guide to slab leak symptoms covers all eight signs and the water meter test.

What to do before we get there

Turn off every tap and anything that uses water, then look at your water meter. If the dial is still moving, water is going somewhere it should not.

A warm spot on the floor usually points to the hot water line. That leak keeps your water heater running too, so it costs you twice.

If water is showing up on the floor, shut off the main valve. Take photos of the wet areas, the meter and any cracks, and call your insurance carrier so they know before work begins.

Diagnosing a possible slab leak

Our plumbers evaluate the plumbing system and perform appropriate testing to determine whether the problem may involve a water line beneath the slab. Once the issue has been evaluated, we'll explain the available repair options and next steps before work begins.

How a slab leak gets fixed

There is usually more than one way to deal with it. The right answer depends on the age of the pipe, where the break sits and how long you plan to stay in the house.

Spot repair

We open the slab at the section that failed, repair the pipe, then backfill and patch the concrete. Whatever flooring sits over that spot has to come up. Spot repair makes sense when the rest of the line is sound and this is its first failure.

Reroute

We abandon the failed line under the slab and run new pipe through the walls or the attic. No concrete gets opened. When the pipe under the slab is old and likely to fail again, a reroute is often the better answer.

Repipe

When the same line has failed more than once, replacing it properly is cheaper than a third repair. A repipe runs new pipe for the whole line and leaves the old one capped under the slab.

We will tell you which of these we would do in our own house, and why. You get the options in writing with Good, Better, Best pricing before anything starts.

What slab leak customers say

Quoted as written from Genzel Plumbing’s Google reviews.

What slab leak repair costs

Nobody can give you an honest slab leak price before the plumbing has been evaluated, because the things that drive it are under the floor:

• Which repair fits: a spot repair, a reroute or a repipe
• Where the line runs, and how far it is from a wall or the attic
• What sits on top of it. Opening tile in a kitchen is a different job from opening a garage floor.
• Whether it is the hot or the cold line
• Whether that line has failed before

Once we know, you get each option and its price in writing. Slab leaks are rarely planned for, so we offer financing for repairs you did not budget for.

Does homeowners insurance cover a slab leak?

Coverage depends on your policy. Many policies treat the pipe and the damage it caused separately: some pay to tear out and restore the floor to reach the pipe, and for the water damage, but not for the pipe repair itself. Call your carrier before work begins and keep the paperwork from the evaluation. That is usually what a claim asks for.

Licensed, insured, and here since 2001

Genzel is a family-owned company working under Texas Responsible Master Plumber license RMP-23766. Robby and Jamie Genzel started it in 2001 and still run it. Foundation work is not something to hand to whoever answers first.

Slab leak questions we get asked

How do I know it is a slab leak and not something else?

The clearest signs are a warm patch on the floor, running water you can hear with everything turned off, and a water bill that climbed without explanation. Any one of those on its own might be something simpler. Two or more together usually is not.

Can a slab leak be fixed without jackhammering the floor?

Often, yes. A reroute leaves the slab alone: the old line is abandoned and new pipe runs through the walls or attic. Whether that is the better option depends on the house, and we will tell you honestly.

Is a hot line or a cold line leak worse?

A hot line leak tends to announce itself with a warm spot, and it keeps the water heater working to replace what escapes. A cold line leak has no warm spot, so it can run longer before anyone notices. Either one is still washing out the soil under your foundation.

Will it happen again after a repair?

A spot repair fixes the one break. If the rest of the line is the same age, another section can fail later. That is why we look at the whole line before recommending a spot repair over a reroute or repipe.

Why does this keep happening in North Texas?

Clay soil. It expands when wet and contracts in drought, and the ground under your foundation moves with it. That movement is hard on rigid water lines.

How urgent is a slab leak?

Urgent. A slab leak runs continuously, undermines the soil supporting your foundation and can cause far more expensive damage than the plumbing repair itself. It is not something to leave until next month.

Serving Collin County

Slab leak repair in McKinney, Frisco, Allen, Plano, Prosper, Anna, Celina, Richardson, Fairview, Gunter and Van Alstyne. Call (972) 238-5585 or book online. If the leak is in the line between the meter and the house rather than under the slab, see water line repair.