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Slab Leak Detection — Forster and the NSW North Coast
Find it first. Cut once.
A slab leak — water leaking from a pipe embedded in or under a concrete slab — is one of the most damaging plumbing problems you can have. Left unaddressed, it can damage flooring, weaken the slab itself, cause subsidence, and silently waste enormous volumes of water. But the fear most homeowners have is the fix: ripping up large sections of concrete floor in the hunt for the leak. With the right detection, that's not what happens.
AVP uses thermal imaging, acoustic detection and where needed tracer gas to pinpoint a slab leak before any concrete is cut. The repair then targets just the leak — usually a small access cut, the spot repair, and a tidy reinstatement.
Signs of a slab leak
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Warm or hot patches on the floor (hot water slab leak)
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Damp or wet patches appearing on the floor surface
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Sound of running water when no taps are on
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Sudden jump in the water bill with no other explanation
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Cracks appearing in floor tiles or the slab surface
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Mould or musty smells at floor level
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Loss of hot water pressure (if the leak is on the hot water line)
How we approach a slab leak
First, isolation — confirm it really is a slab leak rather than a wall leak draining down to the slab, by pressure testing the hot and cold lines independently.
Second, location — thermal imaging followed by acoustic detection narrows the leak to a small area.
Third, marking — we mark the exact spot clearly and let you make the call on the repair option (spot repair vs. re-route around the slab, depending on what's appropriate for the situation).
Common slab leak questions
Q: Will I have to demolish my whole floor?
A: Almost never. With proper detection, the repair usually means cutting a small section of concrete — often less than a 30 cm square — over the leak itself, doing the repair, and reinstating. The rest of your floor stays intact.
Q: Is it cheaper to re-route the pipe instead of repairing the slab?
A: Sometimes. If the slab is finished with expensive tile or stone, or if there are multiple leaks suggesting the pipe is failing along its length, re-routing the pipe through the wall cavity or ceiling can be the better economic call. We'll lay out both options.
Q: How urgent is a slab leak?
A: Treat it as urgent. The damage compounds — water under and around the slab undermines foundations, ruins flooring, and creates conditions for mould. Don't sit on it.