Expert: Bruce E. Johnson - 9/10/2009

Question
My house was built in the 50's, and on a concrete slab. I have always wondered, and so have a lot of my friends, where would the water pipes be? I had a leak a few years ago, at one side of the house, just outside which was easily fixed. A rock had apparantly dropped, and broken the water pipe. My concern is, would there be any water/sewer pipes underneath the house? All plumbing are on the outer perimeter. Please advise, thanks.

Answer
Hi Vera, it is common for the main sewer lateral to be outside and the water main to be outside the house "footprint".  However to get from inside the house to the water main or the sewer main you will have some piping underneath the slab.  If all of your plumbed locations are at the perimeter walls then it is possible that you have minimal piping under the house.  Without seeing a floor plan it is difficult for me to actually say one way or the other.  I live in Florida and almost all the houses are built on slabs with underground plumbing.  Very seldom do I ever hear about any underslab plumbing problems.  However it is not the end of the world if you do have a break under the slab.  Water piping can be run overhead and the water disconnected that goes under the slab.  Sewer is a little trickier because it involves gravity but sewer breaks are not that common in protected, underslab areas and there are various methods to fix broken sewer lines without having to cut out any concrete, however even if concrete cutting is required it's not as big a deal as you may think and if your plumbing is close to the outside walls you might even be able to dig in from the outside to get to the broken pipe.  I hope this information helps please feel free to write again regarding this or other matters, sincerely bruce e johnson..bejohnsonconsulting.com