A slab leak is a water or drain line leaking underneath the concrete your house sits on. MVP Plumbing finds and repairs slab leaks across Baytown, Mont Belvieu and the surrounding area, and the order matters: we find the leak first, then decide how to reach it. Licensed master plumber, MPL 38224. Call 832-334-2836, 24 hours.
Most of our slab leak repairs land between $400 and $4,000. Which pipe failed decides where in that range yours falls.
How do I know if I have a slab leak?
The classic combination is a water bill that has climbed with no change in how you use water, a warm or damp patch on the floor, and the sound of water running when every fixture is off. Any one of those alone has other explanations. Two or three together is a slab leak until somebody proves otherwise.
- The water meter keeps turning with everything in the house shut off
- A warm spot on the floor — the hot line is the one that usually goes
- A water bill that jumped with no change in how the house uses water
- Water running when nothing is on, loudest at night when the house is quiet
- A patch of floor that stays damp
Do the meter test before you call anybody. Turn off every fixture and every water-using appliance, including the ice maker in the fridge, then look at the water meter. If it is still turning, water is going somewhere.
Check the cheap things too. A toilet flapper that has stopped sealing, or an irrigation valve that is not closing, will both move a meter and inflate a bill. The full version is in how to tell if you have a slab leak.
Is it the water line or the drain line?
That one question decides almost everything about the repair, and it can usually be answered before anything is cut.
A water line is under pressure all the time. It leaks constantly and gets worse whether anyone is home or not.
A drain only leaks when water runs through it. A leak that comes and goes with use is on the drain side.
How do you fix a slab leak?
There are three routes, and which one fits depends on which pipe failed and what state the rest of it is in.
- Repair it where it failed. A single failure that can be reached is repaired where it is. Where the floor genuinely is the only route in, it is a cut, not a demolition — and it is the option we take last.
- Reroute it overhead. Water lines on a slab house can often be rerouted through the attic and dropped down inside the walls, so the old line under the slab is left behind rather than chased through concrete. A run that keeps failing gets rerouted or repiped rather than patched one leak at a time.
- Tunnel to it. Drains work by gravity, so they run under the slab by design and cannot be rerouted through an attic. When an under-slab drain has failed we tunnel in from outside so the work happens underneath the house rather than through your floor.
A slab leak in Dayton
Job notes · Dayton — slab leak
A slab leak located and opened up — a saw cut into the concrete to reach the failed line.
The order on that job is the order on every one: locate it, then open the floor only where the leak actually is. Breaking concrete to go looking is how a repair at the small end of the range turns into one at the large end, and if anybody proposes it to you, get a second opinion.
How much does slab leak repair cost?
Most of our slab leak repairs land between $400 and $4,000. That is a range, not a price. A water line leak that can be located and repaired or rerouted sits at the bottom of it. A drain line that has broken under the slab sits at the top, because reaching it is a tunneling job rather than a repair.
Locating the leak is part of doing the job properly, not a line item we surprise you with afterwards. Once we know which pipe it is and where, you get a quote for your job before any work starts. More detail in how much slab leak repair costs.
Why should a slab leak be fixed quickly?
The pipe is rarely the expensive part of a slab leak. What the water did while nobody knew about it is.
A slab leak is clean water running under your foundation every hour, and it does not scab over. It washes out the soil supporting the slab, which is how a plumbing problem turns into a foundation problem.
Ground movement is the main reason they happen here in the first place. The clay soil on the Gulf Coast expands when it takes on water and shrinks when it dries out, and everything buried in it moves with it. See what causes a slab leak.
Will insurance pay for a slab leak?
Often a policy covers the damage the water did and not the pipe that did it, but policies vary and the wording matters. We will not tell you what your policy covers — your policy decides that, not your plumber.
What we can give you is a clear written account of what we found, what failed and what we did, plus an itemised invoice. That is what an adjuster needs, and it is usually what is missing. See is a slab leak covered by insurance?
Questions we get asked about this
Related work
Leak detection · tunneling and under-slab drain repair · repiping · water line repair · 24-hour emergency service.
Slab leak repair in your area
Baytown, Mont Belvieu, Dayton and across the rest of our service area.
Common questions
How do I know if I have a slab leak?
The classic combination is a water bill that has climbed with no change in how you use water, a warm or damp patch on the floor, and the sound of water running when every fixture in the house is off. Any one of those on its own has other explanations. Two or three together is a slab leak until proven otherwise.
How much does slab leak repair cost?
Most of our slab leak repairs land between $400 and $4,000. A water line leak that can be reached and repaired or rerouted is at the bottom of that range. A failed drain line under the slab, which means tunneling, is at the top. You get a quote for your job once we know which pipe it is.
Do you have to break up my floor?
Usually not, and it is our last choice. Water lines can often be repaired at the failure or rerouted overhead, and failed drain lines are reached by tunneling in from outside. Where the floor genuinely is the only route in, it is one cut where the leak actually is, not a demolition.
Is finding the leak a separate charge?
Locating it is part of the job rather than a bolt-on we spring on you afterwards. What we will not do is start breaking concrete to go looking. Finding it first is what keeps the repair at the small end of the range.
Will my insurance cover a slab leak?
Often it covers the damage the water did and not the pipe itself, but policies vary and the wording matters. We will not tell you what your policy covers. What we give you is a clear written account of what we found, what failed and what we did, plus an itemised invoice.
Can I leave a small slab leak for now?
No. A slab leak is water running under your foundation continuously. It does not stay small, it does not stop, and the damage it does to the slab and the soil under it is the expensive part, not the pipe.
Last updated · written by a licensed master plumber, MPL 38224