- Leaks don't stand a chance.
Slab Leak Detection in Gainesville, Florida
Your water bill doubled and nobody can tell you why. Or there’s a warm patch on the floor that was never there before.
Rather text? Send a photo of the problem to 352-377-9447 and we’ll tell you what it sounds like.
Two year parts and labor warranty
On the repair, with the manufacturer warranty on top. Licensed Florida Plumbing Contractor CFC1430748. Leak Detection in Gainesville, FL
Flat rate to come out and find your slab leak. No hourly meter running.
$
375
What you pay if we don't find it. That's the whole guarantee.
$
0
Emergency line. A burst line under a slab does not wait for business hours.
24
/7
Slab leak detection in Gainesville, in short. A slab leak is a water line leaking under your home’s concrete foundation. First Choice Plumbing locates slab leaks across Gainesville and Alachua County using acoustic listening gear, thermal imaging and pressure testing, with no guessing and no random jackhammering. The visit is $375 flat, and if we don’t find the leak you don’t pay. We are a licensed Florida plumbing contractor, so we can repair what we find.
- The problem
What is a slab leak, and why do they happen so often in Florida?
Most homes around here are built slab on grade. There’s no basement and no crawlspace. The concrete gets poured, and the water lines that feed your kitchen, your bathrooms and your water heater run through or under that concrete. When one of those lines springs a leak, the water has nowhere to go but into the ground under your house, or up through the slab and into your flooring.
Florida is hard on those lines. Sandy soil shifts. The water table sits high, so the ground under the slab is rarely dry and stable. Copper that was fine for thirty years starts to pinhole. Older homes bring their own history: houses built or repiped between 1978 and 1995 may have polybutylene, which tends to fail at the fittings.
Here’s the part that makes people crazy. A slab leak doesn’t announce itself. There’s no puddle under a sink to point at. You get a water bill that makes no sense, or a spot on the floor that’s warm, or the sound of water running at midnight when every faucet in the house is off. You call somebody, and they tell you they’ll “start looking.” That usually means a hole in your floor, then another one, then another one, and a bill that grows with every guess.
That’s not how we do it. We locate first, we tell you exactly what we found, and then you decide.
- What it costs
How much does slab leak detection cost in Gainesville?
$375 flat. If we don’t find it, you don’t pay.
That’s the whole thing. Not a range, not “starting at,” not an hourly rate that grows while somebody wanders around your house with a flashlight. Go look at the other leak detection pages in this town and try to find a single number on any of them. You won’t.
Why we do it this way: the number one thing people ask on the phone is what it’s going to cost, and the number one reason people put off calling is that nobody will tell them. A hidden leak that runs another two months costs a lot more than $375, both on the bill and in what it does to your flooring and drywall.
For a small visible drip that has nothing to do with the slab, our regular service call fee is $69, and it gets waived on larger jobs. Drip and hose bib repair. If you call us about a slab leak and it turns out to be a $69 problem, we’ll tell you that and charge you accordingly. We’re not looking for the biggest ticket in your house. We’re looking for the leak.
Repairs are quoted separately once we know what we’re dealing with, and financing is available through Wisetack on jobs over about $500.
- $375 slab leak detection
- Flat rate to come out and find it. If we don't find it, you don't pay.
- $69 service call
- For a small visible drip that has nothing to do with the slab. Waived on larger jobs.
- Meet the owner
Who's actually coming to your house
First Choice Plumbing is a locally owned shop out of Hawthorne. Will Harrod is the licensed plumbing contractor, Florida CFC1430748, and he still writes the estimates himself. Big Mike runs the service calls and has seen every drain in Alachua County twice. Kim answers the phone and does the dispatching, and she batches jobs by area so nobody’s driving back and forth across the county while your floor is wet.
Leak detection is the work Will likes best. In his words: “I like looking and finding things that other people can’t find.” That’s not a slogan we wrote for him. That’s why the guarantee exists.
- Will Harrod, owner. Licensed plumbing contractor, Florida CFC1430748.
- Big Mike runs the service calls.
- Kim answers the phone and does the dispatching.
- Warning signs
How do I know if I have a slab leak?
Any one of these on its own can be something else. Two or three of them together usually means water is moving under your slab.
The five minute test you can do right now: turn off every faucet and appliance in the house, go out to the water meter and look at the small triangular or star shaped leak indicator. If it’s spinning, water is moving somewhere with everything shut off.
1. Your water bill jumped and nothing changed.
No houseguests, no new irrigation, no filled pool. A steady underground leak runs 24 hours a day, so the bill climbs and stays climbed. GRU also runs a leak adjustment program for customers hit by a hidden leak, which is worth asking about once the leak is documented.
2. A warm or damp spot on the floor.
If the leak is on the hot side, the concrete above it holds heat. People notice it barefoot before they notice anything else. On tile it feels warm. On carpet or wood it feels damp or spongy.
3. You hear water running when everything is off.
Shut off every fixture, stand still in a quiet house and listen. A faint hiss or trickle in the floor or the wall is a strong signal.
4. Your water pressure dropped.
Not at one faucet. Everywhere. A leak under the slab bleeds pressure out of the whole system.
5. New cracks in flooring, baseboards or drywall.
Water washing soil out from under a slab causes settling, and the house tells on itself with hairline cracks that were not there last year.
6. A musty smell, or mold at the base of a wall.
Moisture wicking up through concrete feeds mold in the carpet pad, the baseboard and the drywall behind it.
- Repair options
Once you find it, how do you fix a slab leak?
There are three honest ways to handle a slab leak, and the right one depends on the pipe, the house, and how many times this has happened before.
Spot repair
We open a small access in the slab directly over the leak, cut out the bad section, and repair it. Best when the line is otherwise in good shape and this is the first leak you’ve had. It’s the least expensive route and the fastest to finish. We patch every hole we cut, professionally, and you bring the paint color.
Reroute
Instead of chasing a bad line under the concrete, we abandon that run and reroute a new line through the walls or the attic to the same fixture. Best when the leak is in an awkward spot, under expensive flooring, or when the buried line is long and questionable. It costs more up front than a spot repair and it takes the pipe out from under your foundation for good.
Full repipe
New water lines for the whole house. Best when you’ve had two or three leaks already, or the house has polybutylene or badly pinholing copper. At that point you are not fixing a leak, you are replacing a system that has told you three times it’s finished. Same promise on the drywall: every hole we cut gets patched.
We will tell you which one we’d do if it were our house. If that’s the cheapest one, that’s what we’ll say. General pipe repair work in copper, CPVC, PEX A and B, PVC, cast iron and galvanized is all in house. Pipe repair in Gainesville
- How we find it
How do you find a slab leak without tearing up my floor?
We isolate it.
Before anything touches your floor, we prove the leak is actually under the slab and not in a wall, at the water heater, in the irrigation, or out at the service line. That means a meter check and a pressure test that separates the hot side from the cold side. Plenty of “slab leaks” turn out to be something cheaper, and we would much rather tell you that.
We pinpoint it.
Acoustic listening equipment picks up the sound of water escaping a pressurized line through concrete. Thermal imaging finds the heat signature of a hot water line leak. Line tracing maps where the pipe actually runs, which is often not where the plans say. Where it helps, we run a camera. We work the house until we can put a mark on the floor and say “it’s here.”
We show you and we price it.
You get the location, photos, and a straight explanation of what we found and what the repair choices are. If you want it fixed, we fix it, usually the same day. If you want to think about it or get a second opinion, that’s fine too. The $375 buys the answer, and the answer is yours either way.
Nothing about this involves opening your floor to “have a look.” If we do have to make an access cut, it’s after we know exactly where the pipe is, it’s as small as we can make it, and we patch every hole we cut.
- The difference
The difference is in the details
Licensed, insured, background checked, and the owner’s still the one writing your estimate.
| What matters when a pipe is leaking under your house | First Choice Plumbing | Typical Leak Detection Service / Big-Name Franchise |
|---|---|---|
| Price published before you call | $375 flat, right here on the page | "Call for pricing" |
| If they can't find it | You don't pay | You pay for the trip anyway |
| Can they repair what they find | Yes. Licensed plumbing contractor, usually same visit | Detection only, then you hire a second company |
| Who shows up | Small local crew. The owner still runs estimates | Rotating tech from a call center dispatch |
| Drywall and flooring we cut | Every hole we cut gets professionally patched | "Repair of finishes by others" |
| Insurance paperwork | Written up for your claim, with photos | An invoice |
| License holder named | Will Harrod, CFC1430748 | Not published |
| Warranty | Two years parts and labor, plus manufacturer | Often 30 days to one year |
| After hours | We answer at 2 a.m. | Answering service, callback in the morning |
- Insurance
Does homeowners insurance cover a slab leak in Florida?
Sometimes, and it usually comes down to two words in your policy: sudden and accidental. Florida policies commonly cover the damage a slab leak causes and the cost of getting to it, which can include breaking and repairing the concrete, the ruined flooring and the drywall. What they typically do not cover is the failed pipe itself. And if an adjuster decides the leak was a slow drip going on for months, that’s when claims get denied as wear and tear.
Which is exactly why what we hand you matters. We work with insurance companies all the time, and we write the visit up for the claim: where the leak is, what failed, photos, and the date it was found. Getting it documented properly and quickly is the single best thing you can do for your own claim.
Read your policy, talk to your carrier, and let us give you the paperwork. More on insurance claim leak detection here.
- The stakes
What happens if you wait
A slab leak does not stop on its own and it does not get smaller. It keeps running while you’re at work and while you’re asleep. Every week it keeps washing soil out from under the concrete, keeps feeding moisture into the flooring and the baseboards, and keeps adding to a water bill you didn’t budget for. It also weakens your insurance position, because the longer it runs the easier it is for an adjuster to call it wear and tear instead of sudden and accidental.
What it looks like when it’s handled
Someone comes out, finds it, and puts a mark on the floor. You know what’s wrong and what it costs before anybody breaks anything. The repair gets made, the hole gets patched, your bill goes back to normal, and you have paperwork with photos and a date on it in case you need it. Then you go back to not thinking about your plumbing, which is the whole point.
Let’s find it today.
You don’t have to keep guessing, and you don’t have to let somebody start opening holes in your floor to go looking. $375, we find it, and if we don’t you don’t pay. Questions first? Contact us. Book online.
Leaks don’t stand a chance.
What should I do while I wait for a plumber?
1. Shut the water off at the main.
On most Florida homes the shutoff is at the meter box near the street, or on the side of the house where the line comes in. Turn it clockwise. If you have never found yours, go find it now, before you need it.
2. If the spot on the floor is hot, shut off the water heater too.
Gas valve to off, or breaker off for electric. That stops hot water from feeding the leak.
3. Get your stuff off the floor
In the affected room, and pull up any rugs.
4. Take pictures now.
Wet flooring, the warm spot, the meter, the water bill. Time stamped photos help your claim later.
5. Call us.
We answer after hours. Emergency plumber, Gainesville and Alachua County.
- FAQ
Slab leak questions we get every week
Ours is $375 flat, and if we don't find the leak you don't pay. That covers the visit and the location work. The repair is quoted separately once we know what failed and where it is.
Yes. We locate with acoustic listening gear, thermal imaging, pressure isolation and line tracing before anything touches the concrete. If an access cut is needed for the repair, it happens after we know the exact spot, and we keep it as small as the repair allows.
Most residential slab leak locations take one to three hours depending on the size of the house and how many lines have to be isolated. Straightforward spot repairs are often finished the same day. Reroutes and repipes take longer and get scheduled once you approve the price.
It depends on your policy and on whether the leak reads as sudden and accidental. Florida policies commonly cover the resulting water damage and the cost of accessing the pipe, and commonly exclude the failed pipe itself. We document the leak with photos and a written report so your carrier has what it needs.
A spot repair is usually the least expensive if the rest of the line is sound and this is the first leak. If the same line has failed before, or the run under the slab is long, a reroute or a repipe usually costs less over time than paying for the next three repairs.
Yes. We're based in Hawthorne and we cover Greater Alachua County, including Micanopy, Waldo, Windsor, Newberry, Archer, Alachua, High Springs, Melrose, Interlachen and Keystone Heights.
No. We patch every hole we cut. A professional drywall contractor does the patch. We don't paint, so you bring the paint color and we'll leave it ready for it.
- FAQ
Slab leak questions we get every week
Ours is $375 flat, and if we don't find the leak you don't pay. That covers the visit and the location work. The repair is quoted separately once we know what failed and where it is.
Yes. We locate with acoustic listening gear, thermal imaging, pressure isolation and line tracing before anything touches the concrete. If an access cut is needed for the repair, it happens after we know the exact spot, and we keep it as small as the repair allows.
Most residential slab leak locations take one to three hours depending on the size of the house and how many lines have to be isolated. Straightforward spot repairs are often finished the same day. Reroutes and repipes take longer and get scheduled once you approve the price.
It depends on your policy and on whether the leak reads as sudden and accidental. Florida policies commonly cover the resulting water damage and the cost of accessing the pipe, and commonly exclude the failed pipe itself. We document the leak with photos and a written report so your carrier has what it needs.
A spot repair is usually the least expensive if the rest of the line is sound and this is the first leak. If the same line has failed before, or the run under the slab is long, a reroute or a repipe usually costs less over time than paying for the next three repairs.
Yes. We're based in Hawthorne and we cover Greater Alachua County, including Micanopy, Waldo, Windsor, Newberry, Archer, Alachua, High Springs, Melrose, Interlachen and Keystone Heights.
No. We patch every hole we cut. A professional drywall contractor does the patch. We don't paint, so you bring the paint color and we'll leave it ready for it.
What should I do while I wait for a plumber?
1. Shut the water off at the main.
On most Florida homes the shutoff is at the meter box near the street, or on the side of the house where the line comes in. Turn it clockwise. If you have never found yours, go find it now, before you need it.
2. If the spot on the floor is hot, shut off the water heater too.
Gas valve to off, or breaker off for electric. That stops hot water from feeding the leak.
3. Get your stuff off the floor
In the affected room, and pull up any rugs.
4. Take pictures now.
Wet flooring, the warm spot, the meter, the water bill. Time stamped photos help your claim later.
5. Call us.
We answer after hours. Emergency plumber, Gainesville and Alachua County.
- Service area
Where we find slab leaks
We’re based in Hawthorne and we cover Gainesville and Greater Alachua County: Gainesville, Hawthorne, Micanopy, Waldo, Windsor, Newberry, Archer, Alachua, High Springs, Melrose, Interlachen and Keystone Heights.
Older Gainesville neighborhoods are where we see the most of this work. The city grew hard in the 1960s and 70s, and a slab poured back then has original supply lines running through it that have now had fifty plus years of Florida ground water around them.
- Service area
Where we find slab leaks
We’re based in Hawthorne and we cover Gainesville and Greater Alachua County: Gainesville, Hawthorne, Micanopy, Waldo, Windsor, Newberry, Archer, Alachua, High Springs, Melrose, Interlachen and Keystone Heights.
Older Gainesville neighborhoods are where we see the most of this work. The city grew hard in the 1960s and 70s, and a slab poured back then has original supply lines running through it that have now had fifty plus years of Florida ground water around them.
Don’t see your town? We likely still come out — call 352-377-9447
- Leaks don't stand a chance.
Tell us what's going on and we'll take it from there
You get a real person, a $69 visit, a flat price before we start, and a company that patches what it cuts and answers the phone when you call back. If a smaller fix is the right call, we’ll tell you that too.
First Choice Plumbing is a locally owned, owner led plumbing company working Gainesville, Hawthorne and Greater Alachua County. Leak detection, repipes, water heaters, drains, trenchless lining, well water filtration and septic. We find it, we fix it, we guarantee it.
Florida Certified Plumbing Contractor CFC1430748
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First Choice Plumbing
6940 SE 221st St
Hawthorne, FL 32640 - Office Mon to Fri, 8 to 5. Emergency line 24/7.
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