Slab Leak Repair — Corona, Riverside & the Inland Empire
If you think you have a slab leak, you're probably right. Here's everything you need to know — and what to do about it.
Call Now: (951) 283-0756What Is a Slab Leak?
A slab leak is a water leak in the pressurized supply lines or drain lines that run beneath your home's concrete foundation. Most homes in Southern California are built on a concrete slab — and the copper pipes that carry water through your house pass right through it.
Over time, those pipes corrode, shift with the ground, or get damaged. When a pinhole forms, water escapes under pressure into the soil or up through the slab. You won't see it — but your house will start telling you.
Left alone, a slab leak causes mold, structural damage, and eventually major foundation problems. Catching it early is everything.
Slab Leaks in the Inland Empire
We see slab leaks all over Riverside and San Bernardino counties, but a few patterns come up over and over. Homes in the Wood Streets in Riverside and the older neighborhoods near the 91 in Corona were built when copper under the slab was the standard — anywhere from the 1950s through the late 80s. That copper has been sitting in expansive clay soil for 40-plus years, and Inland Empire water is hard enough that it eats at the inside of the pipe at the same time the soil shifts the outside. The result is pinhole leaks that show up two or three at a time on the same line.
We get a steady stream of calls from Murrieta and Temecula too, mostly mid-90s and newer tracts where the original copper has hit its second pinhole leak in two years — once one goes, the rest of that line is usually right behind it. Same story in Menifee, Wildomar, and Lake Elsinore.
If your home was built before 1990 anywhere from Fontana to Hemet, the under-slab copper is at the age where leaks start. Newer tracts in Canyon Lakeand Menifee usually have copper or PEX that hasn't aged out yet — but expansive soil moves regardless of pipe age, and we still see slab leaks in 2005 builds. The age of the house narrows the odds; it doesn't rule anything out.
Check Your Water Meter
This is the fastest DIY check. Takes 2 minutes. You don't need any tools.
- 1Turn off everythingEvery faucet, appliance, toilet — anything that uses water. Make sure the washing machine isn't mid-cycle.
- 2Find your meterUsually in a covered box near the street at the front of your property. Lift the cover.
- 3Watch for movementIf the sweep hand or the small triangle is moving with all water off — you've got a leak somewhere in the system. May or may not be the slab, but something is wrong.
Warm or Wet Floors
When a hot water supply line breaks under the slab, the escaping water heats the concrete above it. Walk across your tile or hardwood barefoot — a warm patch where there shouldn't be one is a classic slab leak sign.
Wet carpet in a room that's not near any plumbing fixture is another one. Or discoloration on your flooring that appeared without any obvious cause. These aren't coincidences.
Note:Cold water line leaks don't produce warm spots. But they still saturate the foundation and cause the same long-term damage. The meter check will catch those.
Walk barefoot on your tile.
A warm spot in an unexpected location = potential hot water slab leak.
Listen for Running Water
At night, when your house is quiet, put your ear to the floor near the bathroom or kitchen. Turn off the TV. If you can hear a faint rushing or hissing sound with all fixtures off — that's water moving somewhere it shouldn't be. Slab leaks often make a sound like a distant faucet that won't turn off.
Our acoustic leak detection equipment can hear this through the concrete, pinpointing the exact location before any concrete is touched.
Check Your Water Bill
A slab leak under pressure can lose hundreds of gallons a day. Your water company charges for every gallon — so when the bill comes in and it's double or triple what you expected, that's the first hard data point.
Compare your last 6 months. A spike without a clear reason — hot summer, full house of guests — should be investigated. The leak isn't going to stop on its own.
Mildew, Mold Smell, or Cracked Drywall
A persistent musty smell that won't go away after cleaning is one of the earliest signs we hear about. Same for drywall that's bubbling, softening, or cracking along the bottom of a wall — moisture is wicking up from somewhere it shouldn't be. By the time you can see visible mold growth or paint peeling at the base of a wall, the leak has been running for weeks at minimum.
The fix is the same as any slab leak: we find it with acoustic and thermal detection, then sleeve or re-route. The longer it runs, the more remediation the insurance company has to cover on the back end — and the more drywall, baseboard, and flooring has to come out.
Quick test: Press a finger firmly into drywall at the base of suspect walls. If it gives or feels spongy, you have active moisture.
The mold inspection people will tell you they need to test before you can fix anything. We can find and fix the source of the moisture today — the mold remediation can happen in parallel.
What Happens If You Ignore It
The longer you wait, the more expensive this gets. Free leak detection. Call us now.
(951) 283-0756How We Find It
We don't guess and we don't start breaking concrete without knowing exactly where the leak is. Our detection process is non-invasive — we find it first, then fix it.
Acoustic Detection
Specialized microphones placed on the slab surface pick up the sound signature of pressurized water escaping a pipe. We can localize a leak to within inches without touching your floor.
Thermal Imaging
Infrared cameras show the temperature differential created by hot water leaks. Even cold water leaks create visible moisture patterns. We see what you can't.
Pressure Testing
We isolate sections of your plumbing and test them under pressure to confirm which line is compromised and the approximate location before any detection equipment is used.
How We Fix It
Two approaches. We never tunnel under your house or saw the slab — sleeving or re-route, every job. We start with the least invasive option that will actually solve the problem.
Pipe Sleeving
We insert new PEX pipe inside the existing damaged pipe, sealing it from the inside out. Typically requires only 2–3 small drywall openings. Your floors stay completely untouched. This is our first choice whenever fixture counts and water pressure allow for it.
Pipe Re-Route
We run a new PEX line through the walls and attic, bypassing the damaged section entirely. No concrete work, no slab penetration — your floors stay untouched. The right call when the damaged line has multiple problem spots or sleeving isn't an option.
Will Homeowners Insurance Cover It?
Usually yes for the water damage, usually no for the pipe itself. Most policies sold in California cover the cost of findingthe leak (called "access" coverage) and the cost of repairing the damaged drywall, flooring, baseboards, and personal property — but not the actual plumbing repair. Some stricter policies only cover "sudden and accidental" damage, meaning if the leak was slow and you missed the warning signs they may push back on parts of the claim.
We give you an itemized invoice that separates the detection, the access work, and the repair so your adjuster can process each line item correctly. We've worked alongside State Farm, Farmers, Allstate, Liberty Mutual, Mercury, and the smaller California carriers plenty of times — we don't get paid by the insurance company, but we know what they ask for and we'll fill out what we can on your behalf.
Document everything before you call us: photos of the wet floor, the wall damage, the meter reading, the bill spike. The earlier those timestamps exist, the cleaner the claim.
Free Detection. Lifetime Warranty.
We don't charge to find your leak. We use the detection visit to understand the full picture — pipe condition, leak location, what's above it — before we give you a recommendation. We start with sleeving when we can and re-route when we should. Either way, your floors stay intact. And when the repair is done, it's covered for life.
More plumbing questions? See our plumbing FAQs.
Slab Leak? We Find It Free.
Non-invasive detection, same-day response available. Lifetime warranty on repairs.