Most homes here sit raised on piers or pilings rather than on a slab, which changes this job entirely.
If your house is raised
There is no concrete to break up. The pipework runs underneath where it can be seen and reached, so a leak that would be a significant job on the mainland is often something we can find and repair in a single visit. If someone has quoted you slab leak work on a raised island home, that is worth questioning.
Where slabs do exist
Some later additions and ground-level sections are on slab. There we use listening equipment and thermal imaging to pinpoint the leak before opening anything, so it is one deliberate opening rather than a search through finished floors.
What tends to give it away
- A water bill that climbs with no change in use
- Water running when everything is switched off
- The meter still moving with every tap closed
- Damp or staining where there should not be any
Damp under an old house
Because island air keeps timber damp, a leak underneath does its damage to framing rather than announcing itself. Worth looking under the house occasionally even when nothing seems wrong.