Is My Slab in Jeapardy After Pipe Breakage?

[JB]

I have a two-story house in Southern California and recently had a fresh water line break in or under the slab it's built on. I suspect the soil under the slab is high in clay content.

The water that came inside the house was enough to wet the carpet across a ten by four foot area so it was not a great volume. The restoration has proven to be a major project and the next phase will be a very expensive floor. The house has been repiped throughout since the leak.

My water bill indicates I used about 800 cu ft more than usual during that period. I did not notice any runoff outside the house so I am speculating that most of it went under the slab.

I am now wondering if the slab has enough support left to keep from buckling.

Is this something I should be concerned about?

Thank you,

Mike

[Italian Mason]

Hi Mike, You know its really hard to say from your description of the water volume my first response would be NO its not a concern. However if this leak had gone on for a long time and undermined a large amount of dirt it may be an issue but still then I would only be concerned if it was near a corner or a load bearing wall. If you are in CA there is already plenty of rebar in place to hold the slab and house weight. A simple test you can do is take a small sledge hammer and hit the floor (not to hard as to chip it) in the area of the leak and then in an area away from the leak if you hear a sound difference then there has been erosion. Is this a concern..again probably not. Is the slab post tension? or standard? If you do not know check your garage floor if it is post tension there will be a stamp in the floor indicating this. Good Luck

[JB]