Gas lines
If you smell gas, leave first and call from outside
Do not switch anything on or off, do not look for the source, and do not use a phone inside the building. Get everyone out, then call the utility emergency line and 911. Everything on this page is for after that.
Gas smell right now: leave the building, then call your utility emergency line and 911.
Scope
Gas work, and where the boundaries are
Licensed, permitted and inspected, this is the one area of plumbing where there is no informal version.
New appliance runs
A range, dryer, water heater, fireplace, generator or outdoor grill. Each needs a correctly sized branch, its own accessible shutoff, a sediment trap where required, and a pressure test before it goes into service.
System load calculation
Adding an appliance means checking whether the existing pipe and meter can feed everything at once. This is the step skipped most often, and it is why some appliances underperform for years.
Leak testing and pressure tests
A pressure test on the piping and an electronic and solution check at connections. Any suspected leak gets isolated and confirmed, not guessed at.
Shutoffs, caps and abandonment
Accessible appliance shutoffs, correctly capped lines where an appliance is removed, and old runs abandoned properly rather than left live behind drywall.
Adding a gas appliance? The load calculation comes before the shopping.
Ask About SizingHow we work
From plan to pressure test
Calculate the load and plan the route
Total BTU demand of every appliance, the developed length of the run, and the pipe sizing that follows. Then a route that respects clearances, protection from damage, and the code rules on where gas piping may and may not go.
Permit and install to code
Permitted work with black iron, CSST or approved materials as appropriate, properly supported, bonded where CSST requires it, with accessible shutoffs and sediment traps where the appliance calls for one.
Pressure test, inspect, commission
The system is held at test pressure and observed, connections are checked with an electronic detector and solution, the inspector sees the work, and each appliance is commissioned and checked for correct combustion and venting.
CSST bonding is not optional
Corrugated stainless tubing must be bonded to the electrical grounding system. Unbonded CSST has failed from nearby lightning strikes, and it is one of the specific things an inspector looks for.
Flexible appliance connectors are not gas piping. They connect a fixed shutoff to an appliance, they must be accessible, and they may not pass through walls, floors or cabinets. Old brass connectors from before the mid-eighties should be replaced on sight.
Safety
What to do, and what not to do
Gas is unforgiving of improvisation, and the correct response to a suspected leak is counterintuitive.
If you smell gas
Leave immediately. Do not operate switches, appliances or garage doors, do not use a phone inside, and do not try to find the leak. From outside, call the utility emergency number and 911. They come out for this at any hour and they do not charge you for being cautious.
Carbon monoxide is the quieter risk
Odourless, and produced by incomplete combustion in a faulty or poorly vented appliance. CO alarms on every level are essential in any house with gas appliances, and headaches or nausea that improve when you leave the house are a warning to take seriously.
Why DIY gas work is different
A water leak makes a mess. A gas leak makes a fire. Sizing, joint compound rated for gas, correct materials, bonding and a documented pressure test are not formalities, and in most jurisdictions unpermitted gas work also voids insurance.
Appliance connectors and old brass
Uncoated brass connectors manufactured before roughly 1985 can crack at the fitting and have caused fires. If you have one behind a range or a dryer, it should be replaced with a modern stainless connector.
Nothing else in plumbing has this ratio: the work is straightforward and the consequence of doing it slightly wrong is a fire.
Gas smell right now? Leave the building and call your utility and 911 from outside.
Then Call UsKentucky specifics
What the local conditions demand
Propane in rural counties, natural gas in the cities, and a lot of undersized older piping.
Propane and natural gas
They are not interchangeable
Much of rural Kentucky runs on propane, which operates at different pressure with different orifice sizing. An appliance set up for natural gas will not run correctly on propane without conversion.
We confirm the fuel and the regulator arrangement before specifying anything, including on appliance swaps.
Older undersized runs
Half-inch feeding too much
Houses piped decades ago for a furnace and a range now feed a tankless heater, a dryer and a generator on the same run, and everything underperforms at peak demand.
A whole-system load calculation, rather than teeing off whatever pipe is nearest to the new appliance.
Generators
Increasingly common, frequently undersized
A standby generator is a large intermittent load that arrives at full demand instantly, often on top of a system already at its limit.
Generator installs need their own load calculation and, sometimes, a meter upgrade with the utility.
Permits and inspection
Enforced, and worth it
Gas work is permitted work in Kentucky jurisdictions, and inspection covers materials, support, bonding, shutoffs and the pressure test.
Any quote that offers to skip the permit on gas work is telling you something about the rest of the quote.
Tell us the appliance, the fuel, and where the meter or tank sits.
Related work
Appliances that need gas, and the work that often comes with it.
Questions
Gas work, answered straight
Leave the building immediately with everyone in it. Do not switch anything on or off, do not use a phone indoors, and do not try to locate the leak. From outside, call your gas utility emergency line and 911. They respond at any hour and there is no charge for calling them out to check.
In almost every Kentucky jurisdiction this is licensed, permitted work, and for good reason, sizing, materials, bonding and a documented pressure test are what stand between a correct installation and a fire. Unpermitted gas work also tends to void homeowner insurance.
Possibly. It depends on the total BTU demand of everything on the system and the length of the run. High-demand appliances, tankless water heaters, generators, large ranges, frequently exceed what an older half-inch branch can deliver. The calculation comes first.
Corrugated stainless steel tubing, a flexible alternative to black iron that installs faster in finished spaces. It is safe when installed correctly, and correct installation includes bonding it to the electrical grounding system, a specific requirement that exists because unbonded CSST has been damaged by nearby lightning.
A visual and leak check whenever an appliance is serviced or replaced is sensible, and a full inspection is worth it if your piping is decades old, if you have had work done by someone unknown, or if you have any brass appliance connector from before the mid-eighties.
A short capped drop before the appliance that catches debris and moisture rather than letting it reach the appliance gas valve. Required for most appliances by code, cheap to fit, and frequently missing on older installations.
Many appliances have a manufacturer conversion kit for the orifices and the regulator. It has to be the correct kit for that model and the appliance must be re-commissioned afterwards. Running a natural gas appliance on propane without conversion is dangerous.
Yes, and it matters. A line left with only a valve and no cap, or worse abandoned live inside a wall, is a hazard for whoever comes next. Proper capping or removal back to a live tee is part of the job.
Gas work is the one to have done properly
Load calculated, permitted, pressure tested and inspected. There is no shortcut version of this worth having.