Broken water line in concrete floor

[Ford_man]

Has anyone have a waterline break in a concrete floor. How do you know where to break up the floor to fix it.

[mike_belben]

Try a temp gun.  Groundwater should be around 55.  I suspect Itll bring your slab up or down in the localized spot of leakage. put air pressure in the lines then listen for bubbling with a mechanics stethoscope to verify your suspected spot.  


Good luck, doesnt sound like fun. 

[Ford_man]

I have a company coming today with a Thermal Imaging Camera to see if we can pin point the leak.

[hedgerow]

Ford-Man
 I installed a car lift in my shop about four years ago that had in floor heat and had no map as were the lines were so I borrow a thermal imaging camera from work that we used a lot to image big breaker boxes and switch gear   it worked very well to find the location of the lines so I could install the lift without damage to the pex. 

[Ford_man]

The thermal imaging showed all the lines very clear. It did not locate where the leak was at. I have a company called American leak locators com to see if they can pinpoint the leak.

[doc henderson]

so is it a water line or pex from a in floor heat.  In a home or a shop?  You can also wet a concrete floor with a mop and crank on the heat and it will evaporate quickly over the lines.  I assume it is pex. I would not put pvc into concrete per say cause when the concrete cracks, it would break the line.  How thick is the slab.  I like the air idea, or poss. water based dye to see if it will color the slab.  Pex usually does not break, even if frozen.  Connections can degrade which is why it is not recommended inside the slab.  We have radiant heat in house and shop.

[doc henderson]

We bought the house with lines installed, but when I built my shop, I planned it out with 6 lines in a 34 x 50 foot area.   The lines are every 6 inches x 3 along the walls, and every foot in the interior.  I have photos of the pex. laid out.  for future ref.  

[Ford_man]

It is pex in the concrete there are no splices in the floor. American leak detection located the possible leak location. the water was not coming out of the cracks any where close to the leak.

[doc henderson]

keep us in the loop (sorry, pun not intended)  hope you find it and get it fixed soon, I assume no heat, or only from other loops.  that is the nice thing about commercial manifolds with shut-off valves to Isolate a "leaky loop"

[Ford_man]

Well I'm going to do the job myself. The co that the ins co sent out wanted me to pay in advance and sign a contract he had on his smart phone, I told hem that was not going to happen. the estimate included a 12 cubic yard dumpster to haul away the broken concrete(about a 5 gal bucket full).