About Below the Slab
Below the Slab is a homeowner information guide to slab houses, sewer lines, water heaters and city water in New Orleans and the Gulf South. It is not a plumbing company.
Who we are
Below the Slab is an editorial project of the team that also owns SoftPro Water Systems. It publishes plain-language guides for people who own or rent slab-on-grade houses on the soft, shifting soils of the Gulf South. The guides cover slab leaks, sewer lines, water heaters, freezes, permits and what the utilities' own reports say about New Orleans and Jefferson Parish tap water. Pages are signed "the Below the Slab editors" because no named expert writes them.
What this site is not
This site is not a plumbing company, a contractor referral service or a utility. It does not do repairs, send anyone to a house, or take bookings. Every page points readers to a licensed plumber, their water utility or their insurer for decisions about their own home.
The site has no connection to any business that used this web address in the past. Nothing here speaks for, continues or refers readers to a former owner of the domain.
How we research the pages
Each figure on the site comes from a primary source that was opened and read: the 2025 water quality reports posted by the Louisiana Department of Health, the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, EPA, CDC, FEMA, NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy, state regulators, university research and makers' manuals. Each page ends with a method note that names its sources, the date they were checked, and what was left out. Repair costs are national contractor-survey estimates, named and dated, never local quotes. When a figure could not be confirmed, such as East Jefferson's 2025 water numbers, the page says so instead of guessing. Readers can find the full topic list on the guides page.
Links to SoftPro Water Systems
One store is owned by the same team as Below the Slab: SoftPro Water Systems. A handful of city-water pages link to its filters and softeners, always with a note beside the link, and always framed as optional. Those links earn the team money when readers buy. The ownership disclosure explains which pages carry them and how the store's claims are handled.
More guides: the Below the Slab home page.