//Quick answer
- Leaks under a slab show up as warm floors, moving meters and higher bills, not drips.
- Detection accuracy decides how much concrete opens: $500 to $3,000 for slab leak repair.
- A slab home's repipe routes through walls and attic, priced mostly by bathrooms.
- Which tracts are slab vs raised is not something the site claims; the technician confirms on site.
01Definition
What is different about a slab home's plumbing?
There is no crawl space. Supply lines and drains were placed before the concrete was poured, so they are under or inside the slab. Nothing under the floor can be seen or reached without opening it. Every plumbing decision in a slab home starts with that fact.
How do slab leaks present?
A warm spot on the floor on a hot line, the sound of running water in a quiet house, a meter that keeps turning with everything off, a bill that jumped, moisture or cracking at the slab edge. The meter test is the one you can run yourself.
02When it applies
When is a reroute better than opening the slab?
When the leak is under finished flooring that would cost more to restore than the reroute, when the line has leaked before, or when opening the slab would mean cutting through a room that has to stay in service. The failed section is abandoned and a new line runs overhead or through walls. It is a judgment call the technician makes with you, with the price of each path in front of you.
When does a slab home need a repipe?
A second or third slab leak on the same house is the piping telling you it is at the end of its life. A repipe in a slab home runs new lines through the attic and walls rather than under the floor, which is why the $18,000 to $30,000 range is driven by bathroom count more than square footage.
How do drains work in a slab home?
The drain lines under the slab join the sewer lateral outside. Access is through fixtures, roof vents, and the exterior cleanout, which is why an exterior, ground-level cleanout matters so much here: it is the only easy door into the system.
03What goes wrong
What does a slab leak cost when it waits?
Saturated soil, a lifted or cracked slab, ruined flooring, mold. The damage compounds silently under the floor. Diagnosis is not the expensive part; discovery six months late is.
04Proof
- Done-Rite works both slab-on-grade and raised-foundation homes across Orange County.
- Six plumbers averaging more than 9 years in the trade each, plus a General Manager with 25+ years.
- No trip charge, a 1-hour response time, and 24/7 emergency service.
- 1 year minimum warranty on labor. Manufacturer warranty handling varies by manufacturer.
05Action
Talk to a crew that works slab homes every week
Leak detection with no trip charge; slab leak repair $500 to $3,000 depending on location and access; repipe $18,000 to $30,000 by bathroom count. Financing is available with terms up to 10 years.
//Keep going
Learn
- › Kitchen plumbing: the sink, the disposal, the drain line and the water under it
- › Bathroom plumbing: toilets, showers, tubs and the drains under them
- › The garage and the water heater closet: what lives there and what to watch
- › Outdoor and yard plumbing: hose bibs, yard lines, the regulator and the gas run to the BBQ
//Terms used in this guide
Where this applies
Done-Rite runs these calls across Orange County from its shop in Anaheim, CA, with no trip charge in any city it serves.
Common questions
$500 to $3,000, depending on location and access.
If there is no crawl space access and the floor is concrete under the finish, it is slab. The technician confirms it on site; the site does not publish neighborhood-by-neighborhood claims.
