Copper or PEX under your slab changes the search
| Copper | PEX | |
|---|---|---|
| Common in | Many homes built before the 2000s | Many homes built since |
| How it leaks | Pinholes from wear and hard water; rubbing against gravel or concrete | Fittings and crimp rings, damage during construction, rarely the pipe itself |
| Sound | Usually loud enough to hear through the floor | Often quiet; plastic carries little sound |
| Main methods | Acoustic listening, thermal imaging | Tracer gas, thermal imaging, pressure testing |
If you don’t know which you have, look at the pipes coming out of the water heater or under a sink: copper is orange-brown metal, PEX is flexible plastic, usually red, blue or white.
Signs of a slab leak
- A warm patch on tile or wood, often in a kitchen, laundry room or hallway.
- The meter’s leak indicator turning with everything off.
- A water heater that runs nonstop, or a gas bill that climbs with the water bill.
- A faint sound of running water under the floor at night.
- Damp carpet or swelling baseboards away from any fixture.
Many Center Grove homes also have sprinklers or a pool on the same meter, so a high bill alone doesn’t prove a slab leak. The test below separates them.
Think you have a leak? Call and tell us what you’re noticing in your Center Grove home.
(877) 729-0265Rule out the sprinklers and pool first
- Turn everything offAll indoor water, the sprinkler controller and the pool auto-fill.
- Close the irrigation shutoffUsually near the backflow preventer by the house. If the meter stops, the sprinklers are leaking; see sprinkler leak detection in Center Grove.
- Close the house main shutoffIf the meter stops now, the leak is inside the house or under the slab. If it keeps going, it’s the buried service line; see water line leak detection in Center Grove.
- Isolate the water heaterClose the cold inlet valve. If the meter stops, the leak is on the hot side, which matches a warm floor.
How we pinpoint it
Isolate
Valves separate hot, cold and branch lines. Manifold plumbing in newer homes makes this faster: each line can often be shut off by itself.
Pressure test
The suspect line is pressurized and watched on a gauge to prove it’s leaking.
Trace the route
We find where the line runs under the slab so testing happens along the pipe.
Listen, image or gas
Acoustic listening for copper, thermal imaging for hot lines, and tracer gas for quiet PEX leaks.
Mark it
The spot is marked on the floor, with photos and readings for the repair.
After the leak is found
Our plumbing partner can repair it through one small opening, or reroute the line out of the slab, which is often simple in homes with a PEX manifold. See slab leak repair in Center Grove.
Slab Leak Detection: questions from Center Grove homeowners
Can you find a PEX leak under a slab?
Yes. PEX leaks are often too quiet to hear clearly, so we combine pressure testing and line isolation with thermal imaging and tracer gas, which escapes at the leak and is detected at the floor surface.
How do I know the leak isn’t my sprinklers?
Close the irrigation shutoff with everything else off. If the meter stops, the sprinkler system is leaking. If it keeps moving, close the house main to tell a slab leak from a service line leak.
Do newer homes really get slab leaks?
Less often than older copper homes, but yes. Fittings, crimp rings and pipe damaged during construction can leak under the slab years later.
Is my home in your service area?
Yes. Center Grove and White River Township are right next to our base in Bargersville, including Greenwood 46142 and 46143 and Bargersville 46106 addresses.
Guides that go deeper
Sources: Indiana American Water; Town of Bargersville Water Utility; Indiana 811; Indiana Administrative Code, Title 327. Updated October 1, 2026.