What is a slab leak and how do I know I have one in Hollywood?
A slab leak is a break in a pipe running under your home's concrete slab. Signs include a rising water bill with no clear cause, a warm or damp spot on the floor, low water pressure, or the sound of running water when every fixture is off.
The Warning Signs to Watch For
A slab leak is a broken or corroding pipe running under your slab, common in Hollywood homes where cast iron drain lines from before the 1970s sit beneath terrazzo or tile floors. Signs include a water bill that jumps with no clear cause, a warm patch on flooring near an AC line, low pressure at fixtures, or damp carpet edges. Terrazzo and tile can look dry while the slab underneath stays soaked.
The first clue is usually the water bill. If your usage climbs with no new appliance, no extra guests, and no obvious leak inside the house, the water is likely going somewhere under the slab instead of down a drain you can see.
Why Your Floor Feels Different
A warm or damp patch on tile or terrazzo, especially over a hot water line, is a common sign in Hollywood Lakes and Hollywood Hills homes with older slab plumbing. Terrazzo and tile sit right on the slab, so heat and moisture from a leak transfer straight up.
Hard flooring can also hide a leak longer than carpet would. The surface stays dry to the touch while water tracks sideways under the tile toward a wall line, so by the time you see a stain or hear a hollow sound, the loss has usually been running for a while.
Pressure Drops and Older Pipe
Low water pressure at a faucet or shower, especially if it changed gradually rather than all at once, points to water escaping the line before it reaches the fixture. Pair that with a running-water sound near the slab when everything is turned off, and a slab leak is a reasonable suspicion.
Older homes around Emerald Hills or Hollywood Lakes may still run on drain piping laid decades ago, and that material corrodes from the inside as it ages, long before anything visible fails. Signs show up as sluggish drains, backups, or dampness right at the edge of the slab rather than a sudden burst you'd notice right away.
Other questions people ask
How long does water damage restoration take in Hollywood?
Extraction typically finishes within a day, drying runs three to seven days depending on how far water traveled, and reconstruction adds days to a few weeks based on how many rooms and materials were affected.
Will insurance cover my water damage in Hollywood?
Florida homeowners policies generally cover sudden, accidental water damage, like a pipe that bursts without warning, but exclude gradual leaks, seepage, and flood. In Hollywood, a slow air handler drain line or a rusted drain pan often falls on the wrong side of that line, since insurers treat gradual and sudden causes very differently.
Is water damage from a hurricane covered by my homeowners policy in Hollywood?
Hurricane wind and rain damage falls under your homeowner policy's hurricane deductible, not a flood exclusion. Storm surge, the seawater a hurricane pushes onshore, is excluded from that same policy and only covered under a separate flood policy. Hollywood homeowners near the coast often need both, since one storm can cause both kinds of damage at once.
How do I know if I have mold after water damage in Hollywood?
After a leak or flood in a Hollywood home, mold can start within 24-48 hours if materials stay wet, per the EPA. Warning signs split into what you can see and smell, and what hides behind walls, under flooring, or inside cabinets near the Intracoastal Waterway's humid air.
Noticing These Signs at Home?
If your Hollywood home is showing any of these signs, get it looked at before the slab or flooring absorbs more water. Connect with a licensed local pro for an inspection.
Call (954) 676-1222