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Q. What Do I Do If I Think I Have A Water Leak?
A.
"Gee Honey, This Floor Feels Hot"!
If you discover a "hot spot"on your otherwise cold slab floor, you are most definitely looking at a hot water line that has broken. You'll need to call your insurance company. They will in turn contact a leak detection company to repair the damage. You will most probably have to contact a flooring company to repair the damage the leak detection company creates...a leak repair is always a big mess.
Other indications that you might have a leak are water bills that are historically or hysterically way too high. You may also discover a leak in a more traditional way such as gushing water where it shouldn't be...that's a dead giveaway. Sewer lines provide a really nasty kind of leak. This can be easily determined by you plumber or rotor rooter guy. If they send the auger into the line and it comes back with mud on the end, it is a sure sign that dirt is coming into the line and sewage is seeping out.
Water leaks can cause you big problems for your foundation. Remember that your foundation likes a balance between dry and wet. When the ground surrounding or underneath your foundation becomes saturated with water, it tends to sink and crack. This is bad. That's why if you suspect you have a leak, you need to get it fixed as soon as possible.
Remember to take your time in making repairs to a cracked foundation. You want give your foundation ample time to reasonably dry before piers are placed or mud is injected.
Insurance companies are reasonable when it comes to paying for repairs caused by foundation leaks, but they are cautious. The insurance company will pay to repair the leaks that are found under your foundation. Likewise, they will pay to repair resulting damage to the floor.
Repairing leaks is a process that takes time and it is expensive. First one leak is found and repaired. Then, tests are made to determine if there are other leaks. If so, then that one is repaired, and so on and so on, until there are no more leaks. If you suspect that your foundation has been adversely effected by the leaks underneath it, the insurance company will send out a structural engineer to make that determination based on what he sees and by analyzing the information in the report prepared by the leak repair company. Their report will indicate how many and where the leaks were found.
If you have any questions regarding foundation leaks and repairs, go to the "resource directory" on my web page look under "leak detection".
Got Questions? I’ve Got Answers!
Send me an email and I’ll gladly respond.
Put “DENNIS, I NEED HELP” in the subject line.
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