Find your water meter (usually at the curb in a metal lid). With no water running anywhere in the house, watch the small triangle or dial on the meter. If it's moving even slightly, water is flowing somewhere — and it isn't supposed to be. That's a leak, and the meter will tell you how big.
Why slab leaks are the OKC homeowner's nightmare
Almost every house in Moore and most of the OKC metro is built on a concrete slab — no basement, no crawl space. The hot and cold supply lines for your house run through the slab or just under it. When those lines fail, the leak is happening underneath your floor, hidden from view, and slowly soaking into the concrete and soil under your house.
By the time you see a damp spot on your carpet or a wall crack, the leak has often been running for weeks or months. The water bill spike is usually the first hard evidence — but plenty of homeowners overlook a jump until it becomes a jump.
This is why early detection matters so much. A slab leak found in week one costs to fix. The same leak found in month four can cost+ because of structural drying, flooring replacement, and concrete repair.
The signs — what to actually watch for
If you notice any of these, get a leak detection scheduled. None of them mean a slab leak for sure, but together they're the signal:
The obvious ones
- Warm or hot spot on your floor — this almost always means a hot-water line is leaking under the slab right there.
- Damp carpet or vinyl with no visible source above — water is migrating up through cracks in the concrete.
- The sound of running water when nothing is on — stand in a quiet room and listen near the floor.
- Mildew or musty smell in a room without obvious water exposure.
The subtle ones
- Unexplained spike in your water bill — even extra in a month means something is using water that shouldn't be.
- Drop in water pressure throughout the house (not just one fixture).
- Hot water that runs cold faster than it used to — your water heater is losing hot water to the leak.
- Cracks in walls or tile flooring that weren't there last year, especially along the same line.
- Mineral deposits or rust stains emerging from baseboards or floor joints.
- Foundation movement — water under a slab erodes soil and causes settlement, which causes doors to stop closing right or windows to stick.
Turn off every fixture and appliance in the house. Read the water meter. Wait 30 minutes without using any water. Read it again. If the number went up, you have a leak somewhere — could be slab, could be supply line outside, could be a toilet flapper. Call us and we'll find it.
How we actually find leaks
Most plumbers find leaks the same way most plumbers always have — by guessing and cutting drywall. We do it differently. Cutting concrete or sheetrock is the last step, not the first.
Acoustic leak detection
We use professional acoustic listening equipment that amplifies the sound of water escaping a pressurized line. Even a small slab leak makes a distinctive hiss that the equipment picks up through several inches of concrete. We grid the suspected area and find the loudest point — usually within a 12-inch radius of the actual leak.
Thermal imaging
Hot water leaks warm the slab and floor above them. A thermal imaging camera shows that warm spot clearly. For hot-line leaks, this is often the fastest detection method — we can usually pinpoint to within a few inches in 15–20 minutes.
Pressure isolation testing
By isolating sections of your plumbing system and pressure-testing each one, we identify which line (hot or cold) and which section is losing pressure. This narrows the search area before we ever turn on the acoustic equipment.
Tracer gas (for tough cases)
For deep slab leaks or buried supply lines where acoustic equipment can't reach, we introduce a safe tracer gas into the line and use a sensor to find where it surfaces. This is the most precise method available and works for leaks under driveways, patios, or deep slab penetrations.
Why OKC slab leaks happen — the real reasons
Slab leaks aren't random. They have causes, and understanding them helps you decide whether to spot-repair or repipe.
1. Old copper that's reached its life
Most OKC-metro homes built 1970–1995 have copper supply lines under the slab. Copper is great pipe — but Oklahoma soil and water chemistry slowly erode copper from the outside (soil acidity) and inside (water hardness + chloramine). After 30–50 years, pinhole leaks become inevitable. If your copper has leaked once, it'll leak again somewhere else within a few years.
2. Polybutylene failure
Homes built 1985–1996 often have gray polybutylene supply lines. The material was widely installed and then widely class-action sued because the chlorine in municipal water causes the pipe to become brittle and fail. If you have polybutylene under your slab, leaks are coming whether you've had one yet or not. Plan for a repipe.
3. Foundation movement
Oklahoma's clay soil expands when wet and contracts when dry. Over decades, that movement stresses pipes embedded in concrete. We see this most commonly in older Norman and OKC homes where the foundation has shifted noticeably.
4. Construction damage
Sometimes a pipe was nicked during construction and the damage takes 15 years to leak through. Less common, but happens — especially in homes where original plumbing was rushed.
Will insurance pay?
This is the second question most people ask, after "how much does it cost." Honest answer:
Most homeowner policies cover the water damage — drying, flooring replacement, drywall repair, displaced living costs if you had to leave. Most policies do NOT cover the plumbing repair itself — finding and fixing the actual pipe. Some policies cover "access" (cutting and repairing the concrete) but not the pipe repair.
We provide detailed photo documentation, leak location reports, and itemized invoices to support every claim. If you want help understanding your policy before filing, ask us — we've read enough of them at this point to spot what's covered.
Other leaks we detect (not just slabs)
- Wall leaks behind drywall or tile
- Underground water line leaks between the meter and the house
- Sprinkler / irrigation system leaks
- Hidden bathroom leaks (behind tubs, under tile floors)
- Pool plumbing leaks
- Foundation leaks where exterior water enters around penetrations
FAQ — Leak detection in OKC
The most common signs are: a warm or damp spot on your floor, an unexplained spike in your water bill, the sound of running water when nothing is on, mildew or musty smell with no visible source, cracks in walls or flooring near the slab, and low water pressure throughout the house. Any one of these is worth investigating. Two or more means call a plumber today.
We use acoustic listening equipment, thermal imaging, and pressure-testing to locate the exact spot of a leak under your slab — usually within a few inches. That way when repair happens, we open only the spot we need to. The detection fee is waived if you proceed with the repair through us.
Depending on the situation, three options: spot repair through the concrete (open a small section, replace the failed pipe, patch), reroute the line through walls or ceiling to bypass the slab entirely, or a section repipe if multiple failures are present. We walk you through options during the diagnostic visit and give you a written quote before any work starts.
Most homeowners policies cover the water damage caused by a slab leak (drying, flooring replacement, drywall) but not the cost of the plumbing repair itself. The leak detection fee is sometimes reimbursable. Read your policy or call your agent — we'll provide detailed documentation to support any claim.
No. Slab leaks always get worse over time as the surrounding concrete erodes and the pipe deteriorates further. A small leak that costs to fix today can become a emergency in six months. Water under a slab also undermines the foundation — delay is genuinely expensive.
Most slab leak detection visits take 60–120 minutes. We isolate sections of plumbing, pressure-test, listen with acoustic equipment, and use thermal imaging to confirm the leak location within inches before any concrete is opened up.
Call the family
The longer you wait on a slab leak, the more expensive it gets — both the repair and the water damage. If you've got even one of the signs above, give us a call. Worst case, we tell you everything's fine and you sleep better. Best case, we catch it early and save you thousands.