Slab Leak Cleanup in Fairbanks, AK

Why Fairbanks Homes Face Slab Leak Cleanup Risks

Local geography, climate, and housing stock all affect how water damage occurs in Fairbanks. These are the most common causes our certified teams respond to in this area.

• 1The Chena River, which flows through downtown Fairbanks, is the city's primary flood threat; the catastrophic 1967 Chena River flood inundated roughly 80 percent of the city, leading to construction of the Moose Creek Dry Dam completed in 1990—but properties outside the protected basin remain at risk.
• 2Permafrost degradation beneath Fairbanks structures is accelerating as temperatures rise; when the permafrost active layer thaws deeper each summer, it allows groundwater to migrate laterally into basements and crawl spaces that were previously frozen-dry.
• 3Ice jams on the Chena River, which form when spring breakup creates pressure ridges of river ice, can raise water levels several feet within hours, threatening properties in the Graehl subdivision and other riverside areas north of downtown.
• 4The Tanana River, six miles south of Fairbanks, drains over 44,000 square miles of Interior Alaska and can push tributary backwater into low-lying areas of the Fairbanks North Star Borough during extreme breakup events.
• 5Fairbanks's extreme freeze-thaw cycles—temperatures can swing from -50°F in winter to 90°F in summer—cause repeated pipe bursts in structures with inadequate heat tape or insulation, making internal pipe failure one of the leading sources of water damage claims in the borough.