Clay soil and Edmond's slab homes
Census estimates show that the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s together produced about half of Edmond's current housing, and many homes from that era sit on slab-on-grade foundations, often with copper water lines buried in the gravel beneath the concrete. The ground under those slabs is the problem. Oklahoma Geological Survey research puts potential sources of expansive soil under most of the state, and the swelling clay minerals in that soil can expand to 1.5 to 2 times their size when they take on water. A slab poured on that ground rises and settles with the seasons.
Every wet spring and dry summer flexes the slab a little, and the pipe moves with it. Where a line rubs against concrete or gravel, or bends up through the floor to a fixture, the wall of the pipe can thin until it pinholes. Hot water lines often fail first, since they also expand and contract every time the water heater runs.
Summer watering and the soil around your foundation
Under the regional conservation plan it shares with Oklahoma City, Edmond limits lawn watering to odd or even days by address all year, and the city's 2018 sustainability report says its conservation goals focus on summer landscape irrigation. On a fixed schedule, it is easy to soak the yard on your days and let the clay dry and shrink in between.
What that means for your slab: soil that is soaked on one side of the house and bone-dry on the other moves unevenly. Keep sprinkler heads from spraying directly against the foundation, fix irrigation leaks quickly, and aim for steady moisture around the perimeter instead of drenching it twice a week and letting it crack in between. Stable soil is easier on both the foundation and the pipes inside it.
Signs of a slab leak
- A warm spot on a tile or concrete floor
- The sound of running water when every fixture is off
- A water bill that jumps with no change in use
- The leak indicator on your water meter spinning with the house shut down
- Damp carpet, cupped wood flooring or a musty smell with no visible source
- A water heater that seems to run constantly
A warm floor plus a moving meter is about as clear as it gets. If you suspect the hot side, closing the cold supply valve on top of the water heater usually stops the leak until we arrive, and the rest of the house keeps its cold water.
How we find and fix a slab leak
- Meter test. With every fixture off, we watch your Edmond water meter to confirm water is leaving the system.
- Hot or cold. Isolating the water heater tells us which side is leaking.
- Pinpoint. Acoustic listening, line tracing and thermal imaging narrow the leak to a spot on the floor.
- Choose the repair. A spot repair through a small opening, or a reroute through walls and the attic that abandons the line under the slab.
- Test and restore. We pressure-test the repair before the floor or wall is closed.
Rerouting means new piping, which the City of Edmond's permit guide treats as permitted work, and the city's inspection list includes a plumbing wall inspection before drywall goes back up. We handle both. Our main slab leak detection and repair page explains each method in detail, and our Edmond plumbing page covers local soil and housing.