Newport Beach Slab Leak Detection & Repair
One patch of floor warmer than the rest. A water bill that stepped up and stayed there. A meter turning with every faucet closed. Newport Beach slab leak repair starts by naming the buried run and the side it belongs to. On copper poured in the seventies, replacing that run overhead beats cutting concrete to close a single hole.
- 60-min response window
- Overhead PEX reroute on aged copper
- Tile & flooring untouched
- CSLB License #920054
Said plainly at the start: slab and water lines are the work. Pool and spa leaks, irrigation, and natural-gas lines sit outside it. Anything inside the slab, beneath the foundation, or in a wall feeding a fixture is ours.
Three eras of foundation, and only one of them behaves like a slab leak.
Before anything else we settle what is under your floor, because in this city that genuinely varies. Census figures put 7.8 percent of the housing before 1950, most of it on the peninsula and the island, from a period before slab-on-grade was the normal way to build here. Where a house sits over a crawl space the pipe can be reached directly, and that is a different and generally cheaper afternoon than a bypass.
The middle era is the one that produces most of this work. Around the harbor the Census ZIP medians run from 1954 on Balboa Island to 1973 in West Newport, which puts that copper fifty years and more cast into concrete, with no maintenance window and no way to inspect it. A run buried that long has aged identically along its whole length, so when one section gives way the sections either side are the same age and the same wall thickness.
Then there is Newport Coast, where the Census median is 1998. Foundations of that era are more often post-tension, which carry tensioned steel cable through the concrete and must never be cut into. That happens to suit how we already work, because we do not cut conventional slabs either. Whichever of the three you have, the failed line gets capped and its replacement runs overhead.
No Callout Charge
The service call costs nothing. No trip charge and no add-on before anyone has looked at the house.
Always On Call
Nights, weekends, holidays, a slab leak does not wait. We isolate the line, cap the water, and stop the damage now.
Written Estimates
Reroute scope in writing, with the diagnostic behind it. The price lands before any drywall opens.
Slab work across two very different housing ages
Census ZIP medians from the 1950s to the 1970s on the harbor side and 1998 up on the coast means two sets of buried pipe inside one city. The older runs fail from age, the newer ones at fittings and connections. These six jobs cover both, and the diagnosis decides which applies.
Naming The Buried Run
Our locate answers one question: which line under the floor has failed, and on which side of the system. We work listening equipment along the pipe and confirm the loss with a gauge. We open nothing to reach that answer.
- Hot and cold separated at the heater
- Escape followed along the metal
- Gauge reading recorded as evidence
Overhead PEX Replacement
Our usual answer where the copper is fifty years old. We cap the buried run and abandon it where it lies, then take a PEX-A line over through the wall and the attic, leaving your flooring exactly as it was.
- Old run capped at both ends
- PEX-A carried above the ceiling
- Pressure tested and warranted
Fittings On Newer Builds
On later construction we frequently find the pipe sound and the connection not. A failed fitting under a floor still forces the same decision, but a system with decades left in it changes what we recommend around that decision.
- Failure point identified before pricing
- Remaining service life assessed honestly
- Replacement scoped to what has actually gone
Repairs You Can Reach
A valve under a cabinet, a connector at the heater, a line inside a wall: not every suspected slab leak is buried. We repair those on the visit that found them, with no concrete involved at any point.
- Spent section cut out and renewed
- Copper or PEX, the owner's choice
- Tested before the opening is closed
Whole-House Repipe
Where more than one run has gone on older copper, we put the system into PEX and end the sequence rather than interrupt it. We work overhead in stages and do not touch the slab at any point.
- Both sides renewed in PEX-A
- Two to four days, phased
- Pressure regulator verified afterward
Insurance Evidence
Slab claims are read closely and refused on paperwork as often as on facts. We prepare the cause of loss, the dated photographs and an itemized scope, and send them to the adjuster with the reasoning behind the repair we chose.
- Cause of loss recorded at the visit
- Photographs indexed and captioned
- Carrier billed direct where the policy allows
Finding it without touching the concrete.
We reach the answer with the concrete untouched. Six moves, beginning at the meter and ending on a specific conclusion: which line, which side, and whether a bypass is needed at all. None of it requires opening the floor.
We settle all of that while the floor is still intact, which is the reason these jobs finish with a patch of drywall rather than a rebuilt room. The jackhammer and the educated guess belong to somebody else's method.
Start at the meter
House closed down, every outlet off, and the meter watched. A dial that holds still means nothing is escaping. A dial that creeps means something is, and at this stage that is the only thing worth establishing.
Narrow it to the building
Closing the main separates the house from the service line. A dial that stops puts the loss inside, concrete included. One that carries on puts it out toward the street, which is a different job and not a slab leak.
Split the system at the heater
Shutting the cold inlet halves it. A signal that drops away implicates the hot run, one that persists implicates the cold. A warm spot underfoot is suggestive only, so what the listening gear says is what counts.
Listen on the metal, never the floor
Valves, the heater, any run within reach. Concrete swallows the sound and shifts where it appears to originate, so listening through it misleads. We are not marking a spot to break open. We are identifying a line to retire.
Confirm with a gauge
Gauge onto a hose bib, main shut, needle watched. A steady drop is independent proof that water is escaping right now, and the rate of the drop indicates roughly how much.
Thermal where it earns a place
A hot-side failure under a hard floor occasionally reads clearly on a thermal scan. It corroborates the acoustic finding rather than replacing it, and most jobs are settled without it.
The floor is the obstacle, not the repair.
Where the failure lies under concrete, the line is bypassed rather than dug out. Two things decide that, and both are laid out before anyone commits to a scope.
One is the condition of what is buried. Copper poured in the mid-seventies has half a century of service in it and wears evenly, so if we seal the point that gave way we leave the rest untouched and no younger. The other is the collateral cost: breaking into a floor means saws, dust, and vibration carried straight along the pipe we are trying to save.
A replacement run above the slab
We climb new PEX up the wall, across the attic and back down at the fixture. We seal the old line and leave it where it is. We take no concrete out and match no finishes afterward.
Cutting in to seal one point
Opening the floor repairs the spot that surfaced and leaves every other foot of the same run in service. The following failure usually appears on that line, and the work of reaching the first can be what starts it.
Taking the buried line out of service
For any pipe failure under the concrete, hot or coldWe stop the leak by retiring the failed run and carrying its replacement above the floor. Our reasoning is practical rather than presentational:
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The remaining length stops being a liability We replace the run and settle the whole line, rather than the one point that announced itself.
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We put nothing percussive near tired copper Cutting equipment transmits shock through the slab and into the pipe, which can open a second failure while we are closing the first.
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Your finishes stay as they are That matters more here than in most places, because a good deal of the flooring in this city is stone, hardwood or tile we could not match from stock.
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We warrant the new work PEX comes with long-term coverage on parts and labor, which we could not honestly give a patch into fifty-year-old copper.
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Nobody can cut a post-tension slab at all The cables inside them are under load. Working above the floor sidesteps the question entirely, whichever foundation you have.
When a straightforward repair is the right call
When the leak is NOT in the slabNot every leak a homeowner calls a slab leak is one. Where the failure sits above the floor we do an ordinary repair, and our diagnostic usually establishes that quickly.
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At a valve in the open Under a sink, behind a toilet, at the laundry connection. Old part off, new part on, done on the visit.
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At the heater A flexible connector, a union, the inlet fitting. Visible, reachable, and we repair it without opening a thing.
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Inside a wall cavity A pinhole on a fixture feed, well above the floor. We make a small opening, replace the section and patch the drywall.
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Through concrete, not at any price Where our diagnostic places the failure under the slab, we bypass the line. That does not change with the quote.
Anyone offering to open a floor in order to patch one hole in copper this old is worth a second opinion before you agree to it. The arithmetic seldom favors it and the rest of the run stays exactly as it was.
Our thanks to the people who keep Newport Beach running.
A 5% discount (up to $200 off) for first responders, military, healthcare, teachers, seniors, and nonprofit staff serving Newport Beach and the surrounding area. Mention "Community Heroes" when you call our dispatch; we'll take care of the rest.
- First Responders
- Military
- Healthcare Workers
- Seniors
- Teachers
- Nonprofit Employees
First Responders 
Military 
Healthcare Workers 
Seniors 
Teachers 
Nonprofit Employees 
Applies to repairs over $500. Cannot be combined with other promotions. Proof of eligibility may be requested at the time of service.
The Newport Beach neighborhoods where we do slab work weekly.
A long city rather than a compact one, so we run it the way it is laid out. Pacific Coast Highway carries the length of it, Jamboree Road and MacArthur Boulevard carry the inland side, and Superior Avenue covers the western end. All five ZIP codes are inside the response window, peninsula and hillside alike.
Irvine Office
Irvine, CA 92602
Neighborhoods we service for slab leaks
The parts of the city we are in most weeks. If yours is close by and not listed, we still cover it, just call.
Slab leak specialists serving Newport Beach since 2008.
Cali's Choice
Leak detection and slab leak specialists working Newport Beach and the surrounding area.
Slab leaks located and repaired
Reroutes and reachable repairs, combined.
California License
C-36 Plumbing classification. Bonded & insured statewide.
Leak detection
Free when we do the slab repair.
What homeowners say about our slab work.
Verified Google reviews from slab leak jobs handled by the team that serves Newport Beach.
I've recently suffered a slab leak and then an unrelated leak. I used Cali's Choice for the first problem and they were great. Sergio was the lead, and was very upfront, courteous and did very good work…attention to detail. That experience was great so I called Sergio again for our last problem.
A water leak under our slab was carefully fixed by Sergio and Levi. They worked for 11 hours straight so that we could have running water that evening .Estimates were reasonable, repairs were explained, areas were cleaned upon job completion…what more can one ask for? A+ all the way!
Their service is awesome! were quick and very honest people Their services professional, and super helpful.
We build the claim file. You do not touch it.
None of the claim is yours to do. We assemble it, submit it and defend it where it is queried: the event in the insurer's language, the costs broken out, and pictures of the metal that gave way.
It matters because of everything a household policy deals with, a buried failure with water damage is read the most closely. Anything absent and the claim simply stops moving.
- How the loss occurred, in writing. Which side of the system failed, the era of the build, the material, phrased for the adjuster.
- The photographic record. The readings, the opening, the spent copper, everything the water reached, dated and ordered.
- Costs broken out, bypass against reachable repair, each element with the reason it was necessary.
- The adjuster hears from us, not from you. Pushback is answered here and further evidence goes over from here.
- The argument for going overhead rather than through the floor, with the investigation attached to it.
What slab leak repair costs in Newport Beach.
Any figure we quoted before seeing the house would be a guess. The spread here is wider than most cities, because a single-story harbor-side house from the seventies and a two-story build from the late nineties are different jobs with different access. Below is every factor that moves the number, so the written quote reads as arithmetic.
What sets the number
How old the buried run is
Copper from the mid-seventies that has failed once is generally worn along its length, which often turns a single reroute into a whole-house conversation. Later pipe with a failed fitting usually does not.
One line or several
A single run we replace from the heater to one part of the house is the common job. Two runs, or a full repipe, scale up from there in both labor and materials.
Route and roof space
Our labor tracks how far we have to take the new line and what the space above it is like to work in. A shallow attic, a flat roof or a second story all add time to the same repair.
What has to be opened and restored
Two drywall openings covers most jobs. Awkward routes want a third. We quote the patching and texture matching with the work, and where a finish is unusual we price it before we start, not after.
Damage that was already there
Anything soaked before we arrived belongs to a separate scope and a different trade. We document it for the claim and keep it off the plumbing invoice.
Can the city check our meter before we call a plumber about a slab leak?
Yes. The city’s Utilities Department says field staff will come check your meter if you suspect a leak or see a high bill. Call 949-644-3011. City staff can help confirm a leak exists, but the city notes the repair is usually yours to fix or hire out. That’s where we come in.
Water is running from the meter box. Is that our slab leak?
Not necessarily. The city says that if water flows from the meter box, it will send someone to fix gaskets, valves or the meter itself. If the leak is on the service line from the meter to your home, that repair is yours. Neither one is under your slab, so we test inside the house first.
Our home is in 92660 and was built around 1980. Should we expect slab trouble?
Not expect, but watch for it. The Census puts the median home in 92660 at 1980. Copper in a slab that age is over forty years old, so wear is possible. Keep an eye on the bill and the meter. If either changes with no reason, we can confirm in one visit whether the slab is involved.
Can you tell whether the hot or cold line failed before opening anything?
Yes, and it’s one of the first tests. We close the cold inlet at the water heater and listen. If the leak sound fades, the hot side is losing water. If it holds, the cold side is the problem. Knowing that early keeps us focused on the right pipe and avoids opening the wrong wall.
What becomes of the copper line you bypass?
It’s capped at both ends and left in the slab. Since no water flows through it anymore, it can’t leak again, and there’s no need to cut concrete to remove it. Your fixtures get their supply from the new PEX line that runs overhead. The old copper simply sits there, out of service.
Our house has a flat roof and almost no attic. Can you still go overhead?
Usually. Without a roomy attic, we look for a route through walls, ceiling cavities or soffits instead. It may take more planning, and sometimes an extra drywall opening. Your tech checks the space on the first visit and lays out the route in the written quote, so you see the plan before any work begins.
Will we have water while the reroute is going on?
Almost the whole time. We run the new PEX and secure it while the old supply still feeds the house. The water goes off only while we tie in the new line at each end. We tell you before it goes off, so you can fill a few pitchers or finish a load in the washer.
Is slab work in Newport Beach permitted by the city?
It depends on the job. A small repair and a larger reroute or repipe are treated differently. We pull permits if necessary, and we’ll tell you before you sign whether your scope needs one. If it does, the fee appears on the quote, so nothing surprises you on the final bill.
Is finding the slab leak free if you do the repair?
Yes. Slab leak detection is free when we do the repair, and coming out costs $0. Once we know which line failed, you get a written quote that covers the route, the drywall openings and the patching. Work begins only with your approval, and the final invoice matches what you signed.
What will our insurer need from you after a slab leak?
A clear record. We provide a written cause of loss in the terms adjusters use, dated photos of the failed copper and every wet surface, and a scope priced item by item. We submit the file, answer the adjuster, and push back when a reroute is questioned. Any dry-out is a separate scope we document.
Could we wait a few weeks before fixing a slab leak?
We wouldn’t advise it. A slab leak runs all day, every day, so the water bill climbs and moisture can spread into flooring and walls. The longer it runs, the bigger the damage scope gets. If the leak is slow, we can locate it now and you can review the written quote before deciding.
Do you offer a discount for teachers or healthcare workers?
We do. Community Heroes, including teachers, healthcare workers, first responders, military, seniors and nonprofit staff, get 5% off, up to $200, on repairs over $500. Mention it on the phone with our dispatch, and the reduced price shows on your written quote. It applies to the slab repair itself.
How can we check that you're a licensed contractor?
Search CSLB license #920054 on the California State License Board site. That’s Cali’s Choice, which has found and repaired slab leaks since 2008. Your technician can show the license on arrival and walk you through each test before any decision about the repair is made.
Slab leak in Newport Beach? We're 60 minutes away.
A real technician in a stocked truck, and a written quote setting out the options before anything is opened. If the job is not ours, we will tell you whose it is.
3943 Irvine Blvd, Ste 419 · Irvine, CA 92602 · CSLB #920054