An Alexandria slab leak is a pipe leaking inside or beneath concrete, most often a basement floor, a rowhouse ground floor or a townhouse slab. Virginia American Water supplies the City of Alexandria, but the plumbing inside the home is the owner's to repair. Call the number on this page to be connected with a local plumber in Alexandria.
Alexandria's mix of old and new
Alexandria is an independent city with an 18th-century Old Town, close-in neighborhoods like Del Ray and Rosemont, and denser towers and townhomes in the West End and Potomac Yard. The city's median home dates to about 1974, but the range is wide, from very old masonry houses to recent construction. Older homes can have supply and drain lines that were patched or extended many times, and some of those runs end up under concrete when basements are finished or floors are poured over them.
Water inside city limits comes from Virginia American Water, which buys treated water from Fairfax Water. Its report notes that service lines can be partly utility-owned and partly customer-owned, while household plumbing is always the owner's job. Many addresses with an Alexandria mailing label, such as 22306 through 22312 and 22315, are actually in unincorporated Fairfax County, where Fairfax Water serves the home and Fairfax County handles permits. Inside the city, the Department of Code Administration issues permits through its APEX system.
Repair options compared
| Option | Best fit | Trade-offs |
|---|---|---|
| Open the slab and repair | One pinpointed leak on a line that is otherwise sound | Requires cutting and patching concrete and refinishing the floor above |
| Reroute above the floor | Older copper, a leak under stone or cabinetry, or a basement with an open ceiling | Leaves the slab alone; new pipe runs through joists or walls |
| Repipe the house | Repeated leaks or aging pipe throughout | Largest project, but retires every old run at once |
Signs to take seriously
- A meter dial that keeps creeping with all water off
- Damp spots on a basement or ground-floor slab during dry spells
- Musty odor or lifting vinyl planks in a finished lower level
- Lower pressure at fixtures on one side of the house
- A water heater that runs more often than it used to
Timing notes
A leak under concrete keeps feeding moisture into flooring, framing and the soil below, so it is worth dealing with in days rather than weeks. Alexandria's heavy summer storms complicate the picture, because rainwater seepage in a basement can look like a leak. If dampness persists in dry weather and the meter test fails, a pipe is the likely cause. In older parts of town, ask the plumber to look at the condition of nearby pipe before choosing a spot repair over a reroute. Virginia American Water's customer service line, 1-800-452-6863, can help with questions on the utility side of the meter.
Slab Leak Repair questions in Alexandria
Water is seeping up through my basement floor. Is it groundwater or a pipe?
Is rerouting the pipe better than breaking up the concrete?
Does slab leak work need a permit here?
Do older homes here have more slab leak risk?
More plumbing services in Alexandria
Slab Leak Repair nearby
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