When the crew damages the plumbing coming through your slab
My stub-ups were straight in April and leaning, scuffed and gouged in September, with tire tracks around them. The contract I signed says that is my problem. Here is how I am handling it anyway.
Where this comes from
My project record
Plumbing that comes up through a slab is the most exposed thing on a job site once the concrete is down. Crews move steel and equipment across it for days. If you did not photograph it before, do it now; if you did, as I did in photo P-01, you have the “before” that makes everything else possible.
Photograph everything the day you find it
Each pipe from two angles, with a tape, with the slab and any tread marks in frame, and a wide shot that shows where on the pad it is. Date the photos. Mine are P-06 through P-08 on this site.
Pull your before photos
Any pre-pour photo that shows the stub-ups standing straight. The comparison is the evidence. If you have none, ask the county whether its under-slab or slab inspection included photos.
Notify the company in writing that day
What you found, when, with the photos attached, and a request that they tell you what happened and how they will make it right. Keep it factual: “I found the stub-ups in this condition this morning after your crew worked here yesterday.”
Get a plumber to assess below the slab
A pipe leaning at the surface can be cracked at the joint below. A plumber can camera or pressure test it and give you a written finding and a repair estimate. That estimate is what turns the photos into a number.
Read the clause before you argue
My terms have the customer indemnify L&G for damage to pipes and lines during construction. Whether that clause reaches plainly visible above-slab plumbing damaged by the installer is a question for an attorney. Know what your contract says before the conversation with the company, so you are not surprised by it.
Ask for the installer’s insurance
If the installer is a separate company, its general liability policy is the one that would respond. Ask for the certificate. If the seller will not produce it, note that too.
Why a customer wrote this
In February 2026 I signed a $98,750 contract with L&G Building & Concrete of Asheboro, North Carolina. By September I had a cracked slab, damaged plumbing and half a steel frame. This site documents it, with the contract, photos, texts and public records. The resources exist so the next buyer does not need to learn the same things the same way.
General information from one customer’s experience and research. Not legal, engineering or financial advice.