What happened if the underground hot water pipe is leaking?  What is the estimate cost to find the leaking pipe underground if I must demolished the concrete?  Any good advice?

–Ashley

Ashley, what you have is called a “slab leak” and digging/tearing up the concrete is a pretty expensive and time consuming way to solve your pipe leak problem, possibly costing in the neighborhood of $2,000 to $5,000.  Epoxy lining the affected pipe might be a faster and more cost-effective option –if the leaking pipe isn’t too badly damaged (an epoxy lining company should be able to determine that). In the lining process, hoses are connected to fixtures or valves at both ends of the pipe, so there’s no need to tear up your concrete. The pipe gets cleaned out and then lined with an epoxy that restores the pipe to like-new condition.

-Brian