Untreated Slab Leaks – The Damage It Can Cause

Finding out you have a slab leak can send shivers down your spine. How bad is the leak? How much damage has already been done? How much is it going to cost to fix? Will your homeowner’s insurance pay for it?

Unfortunately, with slab leaks, they tend to take awhile to get detected. In fact, you may not even realize you have one until you feel a moist spot on the floor. Or, you may spend weeks wondering what that hissing sound is, before you realize that it is water leaking underneath your home’s foundation. And, with slab leaks, insurance companies rarely cover the cost of them. Unfortunately, you’re paying to insure the home that’s on top of the foundation – not the actual foundation itself. All of a sudden, you may have to come up with thousands of your own dollars to fix your slab leak.

But, when it comes to slab leaks, you have to fix them – and fix them now. The longer your slab leak sits untreated, the worse your problems will get. In fact, there are 6 big problems that could arise from a slab leak that sits too long:

1. Incredibly high water bills
A tiny pinhole-sized leak can waste thousands of gallons of water every month, meaning your slab leak can cost you hundreds of extra dollars every month. Having an untreated slab leak can be even more expensive than fixing it!

2. Foundation damage
Since your foundation is a single, giant piece of concrete and steel supports, damage to part of it will eventually lead to damage to all of it. Don’t underestimate the power of water. Slab leaks can make your foundation crack, move, or even start to rise up in certain areas. Any time something happens to your foundation, it compromises the structural integrity of your home.

3. Ruined floors
When water is leaking underneath your foundation, eventually, it has nowhere to go but up. It won’t take long for your slab leak to make its way into your flooring. If you have carpeting, a slab leak can leave it waterlogged. If you have tile flooring, the water can eventually cause each tile to crack. And, if you have linoleum floors, it’s won’t be long before they start to bubble.

4. Dangerous mold
Once the water from your slab leak makes it into the rest of your home, mold can grow quickly. Your drywall is like a sponge. Once a little bit of moisture gets into it, the drywall quickly absorbs it, and the water moves up the wall. The inside of your walls is a great place for mold to grow and thrive.
In just a day or two, you can have dangerous mold living inside your walls, creating a threat for you and your family. Breathing in mold spores can cause serious health problems – like upper respiratory infections, allergies, and asthma. And, once it gets inside your home, mold has to be professionally removed, which is another expense.

5. Bad smells
If your slab leak sits long enough, your home will start to have that musty, moldy smell. Or worse, if your slab leak is in one of the sewer line pipes, your home will eventually start to smell like sewage. After all, that’s waste water that’s leaking out underneath your home! Instead of travelling into the sewer, it’s staying right underneath your home.

6. A ruined yard
Since slab leaks can either occur in your water main line or your sewer line – where the water travels in and out of your home – the leak may be under your yard, instead of under your home. However, there is still a potential for serious damage. Slab leaks can flood your yard, ruining your grass and expensive landscaping. Or, they can cause structural damage to your pool.