An Arvada slab leak is water escaping from a supply line under a concrete floor, and roughly half of the city's homes are old enough for buried copper to be a suspect. The City of Arvada owns the line only to the meter pit, so the pipe from there to the foundation and everything under the house is the owner's. Call the number on this page to be connected with a local plumber in Arvada.
Is my Arvada house likely to have one?
Age is the biggest factor. Census survey figures put the median Arvada home at 1979, with about 52.5% built before 1980. Arvada grew quickly after World War II out from Olde Town, so many neighborhoods have copper lines that have been under concrete for decades. Copper can thin where it rubs against gravel or a rebar chair, and a joint can weep for months before anyone notices. Newer houses are less likely suspects, though not immune: a fitting crimped or soldered poorly during construction can fail at any age. Basements are common in this part of the metro, and a basement floor is simply another slab with supply pipe beneath or inside it, often feeding a laundry, a bathroom or the water heater.
Is the water to blame?
Arvada's annual report shows soft water, with average hardness of about 43 ppm from the Ralston plant and about 65 ppm from the Arvada plant, chlorine disinfection and no violations. The city's service line inventory found mostly copper lines and no lead lines. None of that points to the supply as a cause; pipe age, installation and soil movement are the usual culprits. Note that a few areas inside city limits get water from other districts, such as Ralston Valley or Consolidated Mutual, so your utility could differ.
Who handles which part of the line?
The city owns the water service line from the main to the meter pit, and the property owner owns the stretch from the pit to the home's foundation. Under the slab, it is all private plumbing. That means a plumber, not the city, finds and repairs the leak. If the job involves replacing pipe, the plumber will pull a permit through Arvada Building Services; work on water or sewer service in the public right-of-way needs a separate city contractor license, which matters only if the problem turns out to be closer to the street.
One Arvada note
Before calling, read the meter in the pit, wait an hour with nothing running, and read it again. If it moved and the yard is dry, the leak is likely inside or under the house. Tell the plumber the result; it saves time on the first visit.
Slab Leak Repair questions in Arvada
Who pays to fix a leak between the meter and the house?
Does slab leak work need a permit here?
The water bill jumped but nothing looks wet. What should I check?
Can a slab leak wait a few days?
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