Slab leak repair is the plumber's job. The water damage from weeks of slow leakage is ours. IICRC-certified extraction and structural drying, direct insurance billing, full restoration across the DFW metroplex.
Here's what to do — and what not to do — in the next 5 minutes. The window between the loss starting and significant structural damage is short. Every hour matters.
Slab leaks are a DFW-specific problem driven by the combination of slab-on-grade construction, blackland clay soils, and water chemistry. Most homes built in the metro since 1960 are at risk.
DFW sits on blackland prairie clay that swells and shrinks dramatically with moisture cycling. That movement applies cyclical stress to copper and PEX supply lines running through and under the slab. Over 30-50 years, the cumulative stress eventually cracks the line at a weak point — usually a joint, a bend, or a location where the line passes through the slab itself.
Copper supply lines in DFW water chemistry have a typical service life of 50-70 years. Homes built in the 1950s-1970s are now well into the failure window. Pinhole leaks are the early warning; full ruptures come later.
Homes built 1978-1995 with gray polybutylene piping have a documented failure pattern: brittle joints, chlorine-induced degradation, and unpredictable rupture. Many DFW PB-equipped homes have already had failures; many haven't yet. PB in service today is on borrowed time.
DFW foundations move with the soil. Foundation settlement that exceeds the flexibility of the supply lines below produces immediate ruptures — often presenting as a sudden, large slab leak rather than a slow weeping failure.
We arrive after the plumber has completed (or scheduled) the slab repair. In the first 60 minutes onsite: assessment of the water-damaged area, moisture mapping with non-invasive meters, photographic documentation for the carrier, extraction of any standing water, identification of saturated subfloor and wall cavities, and positioning of structural drying equipment.
The next 24-48 hours: continuous structural drying of slab, subfloor, baseboards, and any saturated wall cavities; antimicrobial pre-treatment; daily moisture monitoring; assessment of which flooring materials can be dried in place versus removed; coordination with your insurance adjuster on scope and reconstruction. Slab leak losses often take longer to dry than above-slab leaks because the concrete itself absorbs water and must be brought down to specified moisture content before reconstruction begins.
We bill your insurance carrier directly so your out-of-pocket cost is typically just your deductible. We work with every major Texas carrier — and the high-net-worth specialty carriers for custom-home losses.
Same-hour dispatch to all of these DFW cities plus 30+ more. Our crews are local to the metroplex — we know the neighborhoods, the building codes, the soil conditions, and the carriers.
Most homeowners policies cover the water damage from a slab leak (extraction, drying, demolition of affected flooring and baseboards, reconstruction) but exclude the pipe repair itself under wear-and-tear language. Some carriers offer 'water line coverage' or 'service line coverage' that includes the pipe repair. The water damage scope is typically the larger portion of the total loss, and we bill that directly to the carrier.
Classic slab leak signs: warm spot on the floor (hot water line), continuous water bill increase with no usage change, sound of running water with no fixture on, hardwood floor cupping or warping in a defined area, and damp baseboards in a specific room. A plumber with leak detection equipment can confirm in 30-60 minutes. We can recommend slab leak detection plumbers across DFW if you don't have one.
Two common approaches: spot repair (jackhammer through the slab to expose and repair the line), or pipe rerouting (abandoning the slab line and running a new line through the attic). Spot repair is faster and cheaper but leaves the rest of the original slab plumbing in service — which can have additional failures over time. Pipe rerouting eliminates future slab leak risk on that line but is more expensive upfront. Your plumber will recommend the approach based on the specific home and failure pattern.
If a home has had two or more slab leaks within a few years, the slab plumbing is at end-of-life and continued spot repairs are not cost-effective. Most plumbers will recommend full repipe — abandoning all slab plumbing and running new lines through the attic. The cost is $8,000-$20,000 depending on home size, but it eliminates future slab leak risk permanently. We coordinate water damage restoration if multiple leaks have caused cumulative damage.
If the leak was small and caught early, the water damage restoration scope might be only 5-7 days of drying plus a week or two of reconstruction. If the leak was undetected for weeks (typical), the water damage scope includes demolition of flooring, baseboards, and possibly drywall — total project 4-8 weeks. Sub-slab moisture takes time to dry properly; we don't rush it because incomplete drying leads to repeat damage.
Same-hour IICRC-certified crew dispatch. Direct insurance billing. Free on-site assessment. The longer you wait, the bigger the loss.