Turn off every faucet and appliance that uses water. Then look at your water meter. If the dial is still moving, water is escaping somewhere you can't see, often under the slab.
Walk the house barefoot. A warm patch on tile or laminate usually sits right over a leaking hot water line. Note where it is so the plumber can start there.
Late in the evening, put your ear near the warm area. A faint hiss or running-water sound with everything off is a strong sign of a pressurized line leaking.
If the meter is spinning fast or the floor is buckling, close the main shut-off valve to stop the flow until the plumber arrives.
Slab leaks happen when a water line running through or under the concrete foundation springs a leak. On hot lines you often feel the warm spot first. On cold lines you might just see a jump in the bill, damp baseboards, or a musty smell before anything else shows.
Marina sits on sandy soil near the bay, and that ground shifts and settles more than solid clay would. Over time that movement stresses the copper lines cast into older slabs, and a pinhole opens. Hard water minerals moving through those pipes wear them thin from the inside too. Both are common causes we find on the Peninsula, from Marina to Pacific Grove and Del Rey Oaks.
A plumber locates the exact spot with electronic listening gear and line tracing, so we're not guessing or opening the whole floor. Once we pinpoint it, options are spot repair, rerouting the line, or repiping if the plumbing is old and likely to fail again elsewhere. We walk you through what makes sense for your home.
Don't sit on this one. A leak under the slab can undermine the foundation, ruin flooring, and feed mold in the walls. If your meter keeps ticking with everything off, call and we'll get a plumber out to you, usually within about 45 minutes.
Describe what you're seeing to a real Marina plumber: call (210) 555-0134 or send the form. Free, no obligation.