In Garner, a slab leak is a water supply line leaking under a concrete floor, and the line from the property line to the house is the owner's responsibility under Raleigh Water's rules. A plumber locates the leak, then repairs it through the slab or replaces the buried run with a new line above. Call the number on this page to be connected with a local plumber in Garner.
Why would a Garner home have a slab leak?
Garner has the oldest housing of the inner Wake towns. About 28.4% of its homes were built before 1980, far more than Cary, Apex or Knightdale, though the median build year is 2001, per Census survey data. That mix means two kinds of slab leaks. In older houses, buried copper or galvanized pipe can wear thin after decades under concrete. In newer homes, the cause is more often a fitting, a section of pipe damaged during construction, or pipe rubbing where it passes through the slab. Garner's older homes near the downtown historic district are more likely to sit on crawl spaces, so check your foundation first.
Who pays: me or Raleigh Water?
The City of Raleigh owns and operates the water system serving Garner. Raleigh maintains water lines up to the property line, and from there to the house is the property owner's responsibility. A leak under your slab is on your side and is a private repair. If water is coming up near the street or in the right-of-way, contact Raleigh Water. Garner's water comes from Falls Lake and from Lake Benson right in Garner; it's soft, about 25 ppm hardness, and treated with chloramine most of the year.
Will the floor have to be torn up?
Not necessarily. After confirming the leak with a pressure test and finding it with listening or thermal equipment, a plumber has two main options. One is a small, targeted opening in the slab to repair the pipe. The other is a reroute: the buried section is capped and new pipe runs through the walls or attic to the fixtures. A reroute avoids concrete work and is common when the leak sits under tile, hardwood or cabinets, or when older pipe has leaked before.
Before anyone cuts concrete, it's worth ruling out the simple things. A toilet flapper that leaks or a dripping outdoor spigot can move the meter too. A good plumber checks those first, then confirms with a pressure test that the loss is really under the slab, so you aren't paying to open a floor for the wrong problem.
Garner permit note
Plumbing permits in Garner go through the Town of Garner Inspections Department's online Permit and Inspection Portal; paper applications are no longer accepted. The plumber can tell you whether your repair needs a permit.
Slab Leak Repair questions in Garner
Who pays to fix a leak between the water meter and my house?
What's the simplest way to use the water meter to check for a leak I can't see?
After one slab leak, should I expect more?
What makes one spot on a tile or concrete floor feel warm?
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