Just this year while walking about the kitchen, I noticed spots oin the floor that are very warm - almost hot. The rest of the kitchen floor is very cold. There are about three spots that are very warm. Could this be a leak of hot water?

Hi Tonkin...

If you have hot water or heat pipes going into a concrete slab floor then it certainly could be leaky pipes.

First thing to do is to shut off the water supply to all fixtures and then go to the water meter and see if you can see a red triangle at the gauge moving. Watch for some time and see if it moves at all. If the needle moves then you may have leaking pipes (or leaky toilet).

Next, I would shut off the cold water feed into the water heater for a couple hours and see if the warm spots in the floor become cooler. If the floor cools a bit over that time frame you'll want to turn the water back on and see if the floor heats back up again. If it does then it looks like an underslab leak to me... ;)

You would most likely need a leak detector service company to come in and locate the leak to a specific location(s).

If none of this leads to anything conclusive then let me know about your heat pipes. Do they go under the slab, too?

Questions? Let me know, OK?

Mark

Hello Mark,

It would not let me give you a positive rate, and I agree with your excellent advices as usual, Thanks.

John

Sounds like good advice. I will try what you suggest, but I see $$$$ signs dancing in my head.

Toni

You may not even have a leak, right? And if you do, you may be able to run new water pipes above the floor and just eliminate the pipes under the floor.

Try the tests and let us know what you find.

MARK

PS: Thanks John!

When you think it may be a hot water leak, check the leak indicator on the top of the water meter. Watch it spin. Turn off the water supply to the hot water heater, then go back out and take another look at the leak indicator. Hopefully, it has stopped, and that would indicate a leak on the hot water line.