Fairview, Texas, is north of Dallas and part of the Dallas metro area. The homeowner states that plumbing work is being done on a home that is only 10 years old. This is probably a home on a slab foundation that is experiencing movement.
The plumbing system and pipes under a house built in 2005 should last 50 to 100 years. The pipes should be made of PVC which has some degree flexibility. Unfortunately the homeowner is having plumbing problems after only 10 years.
The most likely cause of the homeowner’s under slab plumbing problems is soil movement, which is moving and cracking the slab foundation. The movement has become so great that it has broken some of the plumbing pipes. Unless the homeowner stabilizes and levels his concrete foundation, this plumbing problem will probably return in a short amount of time.
Our advice is to stabilize and level the foundation FIRST. Then the plumbing issues can be resolved.
We see these issues every day because most residential home builders build “minimally functional foundations.” That is, they use a minimum of concrete and steel rebar. These weaker concrete foundations simply cannot withstand the forces of nature after a period of time. In this case, it took about 10 years of moving, flexing, and cracking to cause significant and serious damage to the plumbing system.
We install Bell Bottom Piers – the Highest Quality Foundation Repair method available in Texas. It requires more concrete, more steel rebar, more labor, and more time as a repair method. But the end result is a permanent solution that is stronger and better able to handle very heavy loads.