We take call back requests from anywhere in the City of Dallas. Older and newer parts of town tend to leak in different ways. These are the patterns that come up most.
The quickest way to read any Dallas house is to look at the bottom of the outside walls. Vents there usually mean pier and beam with a crawl space. A solid wall down to the ground usually means a slab.
Oak Cliff and Winnetka Heights
Winnetka Heights was platted in 1908, and the City of Dallas calls it one of the most intact early 20th century neighborhoods in Oak Cliff. It is mostly one story frame bungalows and two story Four Square houses. With more than 600 homes, it's the second largest historic district in Dallas.
If your house is raised off the ground on piers, a leak under it usually means water on the dirt of the crawl space, wet floor framing, and, if it sits, conditions that invite rot. Two story houses add another pattern: an upstairs bathroom leak that runs down through a ceiling and inside the walls before anyone notices. Because it's a Dallas landmark district, anything that touches the outside of the house should be checked with the City of Dallas first. Drying and replacing interior drywall or flooring is the common case and stays inside.
East Dallas and the M Streets
Greenland Hills, popularly known as the M Streets for streets like McCommas, Mercedes, Merrimac, Monticello and Morningside, was laid out in the 1920s. The City of Dallas conservation district plan says about 65 percent of its buildings are Tudor style, and the district rules require new houses to sit on a raised foundation at least 12 inches above the ground.
A house close to a hundred years old may have been replumbed in pieces, so old and new pipe can sit side by side. Watch for lines under a raised floor, old hardwood that cups and buckles when water gets under it, and walls and ceilings patched over decades. Saving old hardwood takes more patience than drying carpet on a slab, so say up front that you want to try. If repairs reach the outside of the house, check the conservation district rules before rebuilding.
Lake Highlands and Northeast Dallas
Lake Highlands covers a big part of Northeast Dallas. If your house is a single story brick ranch on a slab, that is the profile where slab leaks show up: a warm spot in the kitchen floor, a damp hall carpet near a bathroom, a water bill that creeps up. If the house has been remodeled, new laminate or engineered wood may sit over the original slab, and a leak can travel a long way under it before it shows.
Not every leak comes from below. If your water heater, water lines or AC unit sit in the attic, an overflow or a freeze break there comes down through the ceiling instead.
North Dallas and Preston Hollow
Parts of North Dallas and Preston Hollow have very large houses, some of them new builds. Bigger houses mean more plumbing in more places: second floor laundry rooms, multiple water heaters, long supply runs through the attic. When one of those lets go, water can travel through two floors and a lot of square footage before anyone sees it. Ask for moisture mapping of the whole affected area, not just the room where the water showed up.
The rest of the city
If your neighborhood isn't listed, we still take your request. Start with the page that matches your problem: burst and frozen pipes, slab leaks, mold or general water damage.
Sources: City of Dallas, Winnetka Heights, City of Dallas, M Streets Conservation District ordinance. Checked .