Wet Carpet


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Old 05-21-11, 08:56 PM
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Question Wet Carpet

Not sure if this is the right spot to post this - I apologize if not - I am new here.

We moved to our current home a year ago - it is a concrete slab home built around 1993 here in FL. My mother-in-law is the owner of the home and she and her husband were the first and only owners of the home.

She doesn't know much about the up-keep as her husband had done everything, and as soon as he passed, she moved to a condo.

I am unfamiliar with the design of homes in the south - do the water pipes typically run under the flooring (down inside the concrete)? We have had a wet spot on our carpet that I originally blamed on my 4 year old (he liked to lug around buckets of water), but after 4 days of sopping it up with huge towels, the spot is not going away. Each time I set a towel on the spot the towel soaks up tons of water and is soaked when I replace it. However the spot seems to be contained to that one area and hasn't migrated.

Could it be a leaky pipe or just seepage from underground water? We haven't had much rain lately and the ground is pretty dry.

Thanks for the help - I am really at a complete loss on this one.
 
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Old 05-22-11, 06:34 AM
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Yes, supply lines and drain pipes are all installed and pressure tested prior to slab pouring. During the testing all pipes are closed off and pressurized with air along with a pressure gauge installed. This is left for a few days and then inspected to ensure there has been no pressure drop. When leaks are found it is often related to PVC joints missed during the glue stage. Depending on the soil/clay in the area they often use pretensioned cable systems instead of traditional re-bar also to help reduce possible pad movement as well which can lead both to foundation issues and water pipe cracks. It is possible that you do have a pipe leak buried inside your pad. It could be waste water or a supply line. I would suggest you discuss this issue with a plumber and see what he recommends but a pressure test maybe required. With air pressue and sound equipment they will be able to determine if there is a leak and exactly where it is. It doesn't sound like ground water seepage from what you described because of the localization of the pooling water. I would at least now think about pulling back the carpet and underpadding also to investigate for cracks and to further understand the amount of water coming in, and to also remove the possibility of mold growth. Let's hope that the cause is only a saturated underpad from your children's bucket.
 
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Old 05-22-11, 09:22 AM
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In my area supply pipes are always in the attic of slab homes and drains underneath. A quick check of the attic should tell you if the waterpipes are in the attic. Of course it could still be a drain.
 
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Old 05-22-11, 10:19 AM
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I was only thinking about things the way I see them done in Dallas with both waste and supply lines. Everything there now comes up through the slab.
 
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Old 05-22-11, 10:40 AM
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Equinox, I to tend to think of things as I have seen them also. It wasn't till I joined this forum I learned they sometimes run under the slab. I thought though you had to go further north to see them under the slab. Learn a little bit every day.

Newbie 2011 sorry for going off topic with
Equinox but as suggested first thing is to get the carpet and pad up and see what's going on.
 
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Old 05-23-11, 03:38 AM
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In Florida, you may find mostly copper supply lines, rather than pvc. One problem they had with the copper lines is they did not wrap the copper with foam prior to the pour. The acidic content of the concrete eventually eats away at the copper and it fails. That is not to say you don't have pvc, since your OP didn't specify. If it is copper, then more problems loom in the future.
 
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Old 05-23-11, 06:03 PM
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Make sure all the water in the house is off. Go watch the small wheel on the water meter. If it's turning, you have a leak.
 
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Old 02-12-12, 11:37 PM
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I don't live in Florida, therefore I have NO EXPERIENCE with this particular type of problem. However, I do know that drainage lines are not pressurized unless something has broken thru (i.e. a tree root) and blocked the drainage line(s), in which case it would be back pressure. But, if that were the case, you'd have an even bigger mess to contend with.

It may be a broken / cracked supply line but, I doubt it's the result of hydrostatic pressure. Sam made a good point and, as another member suggested, I'd call a plumber just to be sure. I to would suggest you pull back the carpet / pad to at least help it dry, etc. Either way, I fear it's not looking good and hopefully you have insurance. Best of luck to you.

P.S. You might want to post your problem here and see if they can better advise you.
 

Last edited by ClaimsInspector; 02-12-12 at 11:54 PM.
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Old 02-13-12, 06:30 AM
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Post is seven months old and the original poster never came back after his first post.
 
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Old 02-15-12, 02:55 PM
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You're right, except when you're wrong.. Still, I would like to know how things turned out for him / her..
 
 

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