Does your home have pipes that run underneath cement slabs? It's possible that one of these pipes is leaking, but you won't know for sure because you cannot easily inspect it. That's why it will help to hire a contractor that specializes in under slab leak detection. Here are a few ways that they can get this important job done.

Visual Inspection

The process is going to start by giving the cement slabs around the area a visual inspection. There are often signs of a leak that can be seen, such as wet spots. This is when the slab of concrete looks constantly wet or damp. This doesn't always indicate a problem directly under that slab of concrete, since the water can travel and reach different slabs. 

Cracks are another visual problem that can easily be identified. If water is leaking long enough while the concrete goes through a freezing and thawing cycle, that water can cause cracks to form in the concrete that can be seen on the top surface.

Pressure Testing

It's possible to identify a leak in a pipe by pressurizing your home's plumbing system. This test is done by sealing off every single outlet within the plumbing system, and then filling the pipes with water. If everything is fine and no leaks exist, that pressure will start to increase past the normal amount of pressure that the pipes will see with normal use. However, a leak is going to cause the water to escape and the water pressure is not going to continue to increase like normal. It's a good test to indicate that a leak is somewhere in the plumbing, even if the test can pinpoint where.

Acoustic Detection

Another test is to listen for the leaks with acoustic detection. It requires special equipment that can actually hear the sound of water that is coming out of a pope. The nice thing about acoustic detection is that it can let you know if you are getting closer to the source of the leak, and it can detect leaks that are further down a pipe and under a slab of concrete. 

Thermal Imaging

The leaking water is going to cause a change in temperature beneath the surface. Thermal imaging can be used to scan the concrete and identify where there is a temperature variance. This helps narrow down exactly where the leak is coming from so that it can be repaired.

For more information, contact under slab leak detection services near you.