The slab under a La Mesa house has held its water lines for a long time, for decades in the older neighborhoods, and back then copper under concrete was the standard way to build. When one of those lines finally leaks, the signs are usually indirect, like a warm patch on the kitchen floor, a bill that climbed 2 months straight, or the faint sound of water in a quiet house with every fixture off. That's the time to get it looked at.
Finding it doesn't have to mean tearing up the floor, which a lot of people don't realize. Detection equipment can listen, trace the line and map temperature through the concrete, and how to use it on a given job is the contractor's call. With the leak found, the options open up, and opening the slab is only one of them. If the contractor's findings point that way, the better choice can be abandoning the leaking run entirely and rerouting new line overhead, through the walls and ceiling, leaving the slab sealed. The old line just stops carrying water.
Which path fits depends on the house, the line, and the history, a first leak reads differently than a third one, and repeat leaks can open a talk about rerouting or repiping, based on the line itself. You'll get that conversation straight, in plain English, every option with its tradeoffs, and the decision stays entirely yours, with a licensed contractor performing the work when you're ready. Once the leak is found, the fix is usually easier to handle than it first sounds.
