Water Suddenly Appeared in Middle of Room

I would guess that you have a pipe running through your concrete that now leaks. Water can get through concrete in many ways, albeit slowly. If it couldn't then all of the design work to make foundation sealing would be a waste of time and money.

Before the plumbing code outlawed embedding water supply pipes in the floor slab, this practice was common in inexpensive residential construction. Well-galvanized wrought iron pipe might outlast steel pipe by twenty or thirty years, but after several decades even that would fail. For this reason there are now companies that specialize in replacing iron and steel water pipes with copper.

If it is poorly mixed or badly poured, concrete can be fairly porous. However, concrete coated with waterproofing is still used to make barges. If the floor slab is cracked, water from under the slab may be percolating up into the house, but the source is more likely a decayed pipe in the slab, where the water is under much greater pressure.

Not unusual. Maybe the water table has risen. If you're lucky, it could be a pipe has broken. Check your meter to see if you have any water running with all faucets turned off.

Then, get a dehumidifier and put it over the spot and turn it on full. You'll have to empty the pan often or hook a hose up to drain the water outside.

I have a place in Minn. and we run a dehumidifier in the basement all summer long, even when no one is there, which is most of the time. If we didn't we'd have an inch of standing water there all summer long.

Get it dry first, then look for the cause.

I'm guessing a broken water pipe that's running through the slab.

Not good news, but if you're sure it's not dripping down from the ceiling, the only way to find out what it is and fix it, is to break away the concrete using a jackhammer or chisel and have a look.

If you've had an inordinate amount of rain lately, it could be peculating up through the slab, and may dissipate on it's own.

One way to tell if it's a water line would be to shut off the water to the house and relieve pressure on the lines. Dry up the spot and see if it stays dry. If it gets wet again when you turn the main water back on...........a line is your culprit. If rain runoff is causing it, you may be looking at installing some type of drainage around the perimeter of your home.

Your home may be on top of a suppressed natural water spring which now want to come in existence due internal pressure,Many years ago I had seen a home in middle Himalayan range with water spring in its kitchen. Of course only possible if its ground floor And no basement under it,This is just one possibility there can be many more reason.

How often do you let your dog out?

I concur with the others here. Elevated water table (less than likely) or broken water pipe in slab (more than likely).

As Lyn pointed out, check your water meter with all faucets closed in your home. If meter indicates flow = broken pipe.

Relative to elevated water table, do you have a sump pump? If so, is it operating properly?

Another possibility, is your slab heated (non-electrically)? Could also be a broken slab heater pipe/tube.

This is a problem but not the end of the world MrsMann.

Please let us know what you find.

Good Luck!

MrsMann,

Just for completeness sake, is this a single story house with carpet over the concrete slab, and, does the liquid have any particular odor or a soapy feel to it? I suspect the answers are yes, yes, no, but...

You're correct! Single story, carpet over concrete slab, and no odor or soapy feel.

Have you looked up? Maybe condensation dripping? I know it is a long shot but if this happened suddenly it could come from up there. A hole would have started very slowly and not create a big wet patch at once. It would get worse fast after that.

Like it was suggested, turn the mains off, dry patch, go and have lunch and when you come back and it's OK get the jack hammers in. I would go all the way because if there is one weak spot the pipe might have more and you wouldn't want to make this a hobby.

Just sayin', Ky.

Hi, Ky,

Maybe not such a long shot if there is a cooling system of some kind with ducting in the ceiling or attic. It's unlikely, but not impossible, that humidity is condensing somewhere (maybe a clogged drain pan?) and finding its way down to the first floor. But I'm afraid that unless dripping is seen or heard falling from the ceiling, I'd go with the group and say call a plumber that can track it down.

I had the same thing happen to me. In my case, the floor was warm where the water was. I determined the hot water pipe was broken under the slab. I broke out the concrete floor and found a copper pipe had corroded and was leaking. The cause of the pipe corroding was; when the slab was poured, some galvanized nails were in the ground and some nails in contact with the pipe caused it to corrode through electrolytic action. It takes many years to happen, but sooner or later, it will happen. The pipe was in pretty bad condition, so I ran a new line through the attic, bypassing the below slab entirely. BTW, do you have in-slab heating system? That can also corrode out in time.

A few years ago I was talking to someone with a similar problem. He found a plumber that had very sensitive microphone equipment. The plumber walked around the room and pressed the specialized microphone to the floor in a number of places. The signal was amplified and fed to headphones he was wearing. He could hear the spraying sound at the leak. A hole was made in the concrete and the leak was within about 8" of where the plumber said it would be.

Not bragging, but I did much the same thing without a mic. My leak was caused by a stone where the copper pipe went through the slab. I could hear the sound in bed at night. Finally, after a week or two I found the source just under the water heater in the utility room. (No carpet there)

Being the manly man, I rented a gas powered saw and some abrasive blades and went after it one Saturday morning. After a half hour of breathing sand and gas fumes and having made only about a 1 foot slot, I gave up and called a plumber.

He beat the holy crap out of the floor with a sledge hammer and had it fixed in about an hour. Don't remember what it cost, but it was worth every penny.

Most concrete slabs are poured at a rating of 3500 PSI. Water can defiantly make it through. However you can get a mix of 5000 PSI that wont allow water to penatrate and pass. It's a little late for that, just thought I'd share.

If you have a dog, especially a big dog, walk her before bedtime, take up her water bowl and see if the liquid spot is there in the morning.

A friend had a similar problem many years ago. Late one night we were discussing how we could easily find out what was causing it when here comes his great Dane who showed us very clearly how the floor was getting wet. The dog loved to drink water so her urine was very clear "like water". Friend walked her more in the evenings and took up the bowl. Problem Went Away!

Good Luck, Old Salt

MrsMann, Lots of feedback, most of it good. As you have stated your house is a slab on grade. I am guessing you are on fairly flat ground, and the ground around you is not overly saturated with water. I am also going guess that you do not have a leak from the ceiling, else you would have mentioned it by now. It is very unlikely you have any in-slab heating given your location (Do you have heating vents?)

If given all the above, you have a plumbing leak under your slab. The amount of water pressure from the leak is forcing water through the concrete. Unless the concrete is sealed properly, water can migrate through any concrete no matter what the strength rating is, whether it is 2000 psi or 7000 psi. Unless you are sitting on top of a percolating spring (IMHO, very unlikely), the only real source of a puddle on the floor (with no other signs) is a broken/leaking water pipe under the slab. Without digging it up we all are just speculating what could have caused it.

The short answer is that you need to call a plumber and have them open up the floor and fix the leak. You may find that whatever caused the leak may be a chronic situation and doing some repiping may be needed (yes, lots of $$$$). If so, I would run the piping through the attic and not under the slab again. Good luck!

All in all I agree. However I would call a leak detection service first (if it is a slab leak) "water meter moving with all faucets off". I have used them in the past with their sonic radar to locate a leak source in a slab hydronic system with in a 1foot sq area.

Concrete as with a roof can take in water from a few or more feet away and leak trough the path of least resistance, following a crack for some time before actualy leaking out. In the case of our Hydronic floor leak the actual leak was 6 feet away from where the water was raising up through the slab. The sonic radar certainly reduces the hole size and labor costs for repair.

If it is a Spring under the house, Drill a hole tap it and get into competition with Aquafina.

Call a plumber that specializes in leak detection, assuming a plumbing leak he can locate it within a few inches, minimizing the size of the hole in your slab. My copper piping was under the slab, it filled my central air ducts. It took a 1200 GPH pump 12 hours to empty the water out of my air ducts. Oh, by the way, the copper tubing had corroded from the inside, Tulsa water is delicious.

A couple of years ago a man from a home south of me came running in the door wanting help. Water was shooting up through his floor and was about 2 feet high. Being a half fast plumber I said turn off the well pump must be a busted pipe. we live in a rual location. He stated he did an hour ago. Big pressure tank, no the tank couldn't hold pressure that long turned on the sink, no pressure. Went back in the room and scrambling out of the water was a water dog, [salamander]..Terraces above the home had filled and found a crevous under his house. If it had not been for a water dog appearance, I would still be trying to stop the leak..When the water went out of the terrace the leak stopped..

GOOD MORNING AMIGO FROM MEXICO

LOOK AT www.kryton.com ITS AN EXCELLENT PRODUCT FOR WATERPROOFING

EXISTING CONCRETE. SHOULD RESOLVE PROBLEM, CONTACT THEM FOR SUPPORT.

PRODUCT STOPS WATER VERY FAST.

CHECK YOUR SOILS TEST REPORTS ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE HOUSE, MAYBE

PIPE PROBLEMS, UNDRGROUD RIVER, CRACK IN CONCRETE SLAB.

SALUDOS FROM MEXICO RAUL VILLARREAL ARCHITECT.

I gave some GA's to the ones I think are correct in their thinking that your problem is a broken or corroded water pipe in the slab floor or just below it. One thing I will mention so it doesn't add to the frustration you already have is that just before whom ever starts to rip up the floor, shut off the central air if you have it ,turn off the fans if any in that room, close doors to connecting rooms and stuff in a towel or rag along the bottom , hang a sheet or plastic in walk through openings without doors. This will hopefully keep the rest of the house from getting the very fine dust from the concrete being torn-up and will save you hours of additional cleaning. (Trust me on this one). Also , if you cant remove your sofa and chair , (or anything else you don't want covered in fine dust) cover them good with a sheet or plastic. Rescue

GOOD MORNING FROM MEXICO AMIGO

REMOVE CARPET, FEEL WITH HAND IF SLAB IS COLD OR HOT, GIVES YOU A FEEL FOR TYPE OF WTER PIPE WATER IS RUNNING THROUGH. REVIEW ANY DRAWINGS, PLANS YOU MAY HAVE OF HOME. CHECK PRIOR OWNER FOR ANY PROBLEMS THAY MAY HAVE ENCOUNTERED.

SALUDOS AMIGO BUENA SUERTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARQ RAUL.

There are what seem to be alot of great posts regarding the causes for the leak. I have a question regarding the fix, and please forgive me if it is ignorant (I'm an engineer not a plumber).

Given the leak is from a corroded pipe in a slab, wouldn't a cheaper acceptable fix to be to simply abandon the piping in the slab (i.e. forget busting up concrete) and run a line into the house from the nearest available spot to dig in the yard outside? I understand there are slight modifications that would need to be made, but surely they're cheaper than tearing up a slab.

Again, please excuse me if it is ignorant of plumbing code....

I think your (good) idea about rerouting the pipe may be the way to go, depending on what caused the leak. In my case, a rock penetrated the pipe where it went through the slab. No obvoius corrosion, so the plumber just repaired the existing pipe run. That's been over 10 years ago, and it is still leak free.

So, that's something the OP will have to decide at the time.

You idea is chaotic. The house is built on a concrete slab. The pipe is probably 6 feet deep to keep it from freezing. How would you get the new pipe into the house and keep it from freezing?

How would you get the new pipe into the house and keep it from freezing?

I'd propose the following: Dig the 6' deep hole in the yard (instead of inside the house), cut, elbow up, heat trace and insulate the above-ground piping (or into a small insulated enclosure), then into the siding.

It's not rocket science. There are numerous dwellings pretty much anywhere on the map that have piping exposed to atmosphere ... they just heat trace and insulate it.

Again, I'm not a plumber, but if it were me, I'd punch a 1" hole in my siding and run it from the outside before I let someone tear up the concrete and dig a 6' deep hole inside my house.

Ah yes, the heating tape approach to preventing pipes from freezing. You must live in a warm climate.

The real answer is to follow the local zoning rules.

If this problem is a leaking pipe problem, there's an additional very important piece of information that we do not know. (Besides the local zoning rules for water lines.) We need to know if this leak resides before or after the utility mains shut off? Actually we don't even know if this house has well water or utility water.

It amazes me sometimes the broad array of answers people propose here from insufficient information. For all we know, this could even be toxic waste from Tennessee's version of Love Canal.

Unless they put "the utility mains shut off" under the house, I think it's safe to say the leak is after it.

And it doesn't matter if it's city water, or well water, the floor's still just as wet.

I found enough information here to give what I think is a well reasoned response.

I do live in a warm climate, but haven't always. Heat trace and insulation works. I've seen it used successfully in Colorado and New York.

I would agree with you though on following local code. As I said, I'm not a plumber.

Its a 22 year old house. Locate Leak, Saw slab, Fix pipe, pour and set new slab after insulation and sand or call a plumber.

If the slab sawing is not advisable then the piping plan for the house will have to be found. They may have brought the main in from the meter under the house to a local interior riser and branched out in the walls to the closest bathroom's and kitchens from there to reduce initial piping costs. Most builds today come from the meter or well and enter the house at the retaining wall, top of slab at the sill plate. when we ran to our island I ran 1/2 inch soft (no fittings dehydrated and "type L" wall thickness) copper inside 1-1/2" ABS though the slab up into the island and foamed the ends (critters and such) which tied to the main in the wall before the rise to the attic and drop from there to the lavies...

Or this is a branch leading to an island in the kitchen, or wet BAR (ha ha wet bar) in the main living space where the leak has occurred. If this is true then the leak will have to be sawed and fixed. Running a new line in through the siding will not remove those individual runs such as to an island.

So now plumber, plans, leak detection company and repair.

Like lyn I used a copper pipe from slab to ear to hear the leak in my Moms Hydronic system many moons ago and had to jack hammer and fix. 15 years and still running....knock on wood.

They don't bury pipe six feet deep in Memphis. It doesn't get that cold there.

You've received some advice. In addition it could be condensation if you have an air conditioner. I had wet carpet from that because the drip pan outlet pipe plugged up from rust and minerals. In my case it was just outside the furnace area. Water was running under the carpet and coming up by a bedroom door. Check around the furnace for wetness.

To see if it is from high water table, go outside and dig a hole next to the house about a foot deep. Several holes around the house would be better. If the water table is high, one of the holes should fill with water after awhile. You may need to put drain tile around your house or a sump pump somewhere. Lets hope you don't one in the middle of the living room! Good luck.

I'm glad to hear you found the problem... and didn't have to tear apart half the house in order to fix it.

Thanks for the feed back. That's worthy of a GA.

It's really just good manners and that is sometimes missed here.

_{I still wonder were that sucking sound is coming from}

^{I am reminded of a certain cat, on approaching #200 GA.}

^{The sucking sounds were almost deafening.}

MrsMann

That's great, I mean that you found the cause of the problem. The other good thing is that I might just get a GA for suggesting such early on in the piece. #12

^{Were is that sucking sound emanating from?}

Hope all stays well, Ky.

Glad I could help. I appreciate Good Answer votes.

Just remembered, we had the same problem when a drain pipe plugged up. If you have a floor drain, check around it for water.

From what I'm reading everyone seems to take for granted its the main line that is leaking. Maybe its a line running to a bathroom or maybe to a outside tap on the opposite side of the house from where the main line enters the house.

A small drawing, as to the house lay-out would be of great help showing all faucets , hot water tank and water meter or where main water line enters house. Rescue

It could be but usually most branch circuits ae above slab since you do not want joints below slab.

Good point....Makes sense.

Well, re-routing doesn't always workout, today the peks pipe we re-routed through the attic 12 years ago, started leaking. When it rains it pours! The peks tubing cracked, the plumber, the insurance adjuster, the restoration appraiser and a friend in the house rental business all said they never heard of such a thing happening.

My guess would be 12 years of extreme heat in an attic made the Pex pipe brittle. Or the pipe froze at sometime and didnt crack open until now. Something we need to make note of.

Thanks for the info....Rescue

I've never heard of it happening either. PEX can easily handle 140 degree water (it should be rated for 180 degrees), so temp should not have been an issue. However, PEX is not UV resistant so if it was exposed to sunlight I could see that happening. The elasticity of PEX will allow water to freeze w/o splitting the tubing (but joints can crack). I suppose it could have also been a bad batch of PEX as well. Sorry about your repipe.

But what does MrsMann say to all this? She might be in real trouble by now, like not being able to see her monitor through all the dust.

Hope all went well, Ky.

I had a similar situation and my conclusion may be applicable to yours as well.

First you have to see whether you have water vapour/ moisture in your room (humidity)

may be escaping from the kitchen

If the floor below you uses air conditioning , the floor can get cold and condensation will result. See also if there is any ac duct below your floor, could give the same results

It's slab-on-grade. There's nothing below but dirt. Oh, and maybe a leaking water pipe.

Read thread before inserting foot in mouth.

We should lobby for an admonition to "Engage brain prior to typing".

Never mind. Nobody reads that stuff anyway.

What really chaps me is people wanting us to do their homework, or job, for them. Here's my current favorite example: ikram shehzad.

WOW, Ikram is a very needy guy.

The post that got me in this post was, oh about a dozen or so back about the Pex pipe leaking in the attic due to heat damage causing the water damage. The O poster mentioned that there was no moisture from the ceiling just up through the concrete.

Why pex in the attic?

I like the Mole men idea, they are trying to bring up their ancient Artisan Spring for all to enjoy.

I think the pex discussion was between two participants, not the OP.