About 44% of Dunwoody homes were built before 1980, with the 1970s alone accounting for roughly 28%, so a lot of copper under local slabs is fifty years old. DeKalb County Watershed Management is responsible only up to the meter. Call the number on this page to be connected with a local plumber in Dunwoody.
Dunwoody combines the Perimeter Center business district with established neighborhoods around Dunwoody Village, many of them 1960s and 1970s ranches and split-levels. Water comes from DeKalb County Watershed Management. DeKalb maintains the line from the main through the meter; the homeowner owns the line from the meter to the house.
First steps
- Turn off every water-using fixture and appliance, including irrigation.
- Check the DeKalb meter, usually in a pit near the street, and watch for movement over several minutes.
- Test toilets with a few drops of food coloring in each tank.
- Walk the lower level and note any warm, damp or discolored floor areas.
- If water is surfacing, close the main valve before doing anything else.
- Book a pressure test, and if the meter pit itself is leaking, call DeKalb's emergency repair line instead.
Matching symptoms to causes
| Symptom | Likely cause |
|---|---|
| Warmth under a lower-level floor | Leaking hot line in the slab |
| Meter turning, nothing wet inside | Cold supply leak, or the line from meter to house |
| Cracked tile with damp grout | Water seeping up from below |
| Low pressure at upstairs fixtures | Flow lost to a leak before it reaches the taps |
| Musty smell in a finished lower level | Long-running slow leak |
Cost factors
- How long locating takes in a split-level with lines running between floors
- Repair at the leak or a new line through framing above the slab
- Flooring removal and replacement
- Drying and repair of finished lower-level space
- A single-trade component permit, required before work begins
Dunwoody's single-trade component permits cover stand-alone plumbing repairs, and work may not begin until the permit is issued. In split-levels, rerouting through the upper floor's framing is often easier than cutting the lower slab.
Repair or reroute in a 1970s house
Many Dunwoody neighborhoods were built in the 1970s, when copper under the slab was standard. If one section has worn through, others laid at the same time may be thin too. A plumber can pressure test the remaining lines to help you decide. A single repair makes sense when the rest tests sound. A reroute retires the buried pipe and is often the steadier choice in an original split-level or ranch. Because Dunwoody won't let work begin until the permit is issued, ask the plumber how quickly they can file; a slow leak can usually wait a day or two once the main is managed.
Slab Leak Repair questions in Dunwoody
Is a permit needed for slab leak work here?
Does the age of my home change the odds of a slab leak?
Who is responsible for a leak between the meter and the house?
Should the leaking pipe be repaired in place or rerouted?
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