When you think of professional plumbing services, chances are you don’t think about your gas lines. After all, a plumber in Littleton, CO is someone who works with pipes that carry water and sewage right? They install and repair faucets, sinks, garbage disposal systems, and sewer lines, right? Yes, that is true, but natural gas piping is another very important part of the services that many professional plumbers provide, so long as they are licensed to do such work!
Why Do You Need Professionals for Your Gas Line Services?
There’s actually quite a bit in common in the piping for a plumbing system for freshwater and wastewater and the piping that carries natural gas. For instance, the pipes are made from similar material. This might be galvanized steel, copper, or plastic.
Most of natural gas piping is actually made from copper, due to its corrosion-resistance and how lightweight it is. Gas plumbers use plastic pipes for some specific uses, like flexible piping for small areas and narrow gas lines. A well-trained professional plumber will know it is essential to ensure that gas piping has the same attention as any other type of piping to prevent leaks.
In fact, in most jurisdictions, it’s actually illegal for anyone to work on a pipe or appliance connected to a gas main unless they have the specific training and licensing to do so. Professional gas plumbers are the only ones with the skill to do the job and the only people allowed to do the job, and for good reason. Leaking gas lines, as you can imagine, are tremendous health hazards. Make sure you stay safe and see that properly licensed professional plumbers handle whatever your gas line needs are.
“What if I Suspect a Gas Leak?”
If you fear this is the case, then you need to exit the property right away, and give your utility company’s emergency line a call—or even dial 911. In the meantime, do not flip any electrical switches, unplug anything, or even turn off a gas-powered appliance that’s currently running. Doing this can cause a spark to go off and ignite a fire.
One sign that indicates you may have a leak of this kind is the smell of “rotten eggs.” This smell is added by your gas company to ensure that if there is a leak, you’ll know about it, as otherwise gas is odorless. Another common sign is a hissing noise coming from outside or inside your property. This may be indicative of a refrigerant leak from your HVAC system, but that’s still something you shouldn’t ignore.
The hissing sound is usually a rarer sign of a gas leak since it only applies to gas lines that are readily accessible, but if you hear this noise then you should alert a professional to it, even if you don’t smell anything.
One last possible sign of a gas leak is dying vegetation in your front or backyard. Leaking gas will kill anything around it. Keep in mind that this may also be a sign of something wrong with your irrigation system that’s not allowing water to reach that area of your vegetation. This is, of course, a much less urgent problem, but still one that we can adequately help with!
