Gas Appliances and The Gas Company

Most kitchens are a very busy or active area. Whether your home has an open concept style into the kitchen or the normal galley style surrounded by walls, some of the appliances in or around them have gas hook ups.More and more, when I have to do some kind of upgrade or remodel to a kitchen, I’m noticing that stoves or dryers, etc. do not have gas shut off valves located at the immediate appliance. This is not a difficult task to remedy but, there are precautions that need to be taken into consideration before attempting any installation of a gas shut off valve at the appliances gas supply line.Know the size and length of any modification to the supply line(s)
Since these lines do not get looked at very often… check to make sure they are in good shape. Replace if necessary.
Know where and how to shut off the gas to the home. This is good to know for emergency purposes.
Tip: I keep an old crescent wrench hanging at the gas meter in case I need to shut down gas to the home.
And lastly, if there is any scent of natural gas, check to see if a pilot light has gone out. The gas company will assist you with this and this is a good time to ask questions.One of the properties we own, is an older property and the gas meter is in the ground out by the street curb. Recently we had an issue with the meter and the gas company came out and told us that the meter will need to be replaced. We do not have to pay for the new meter but, we must accommodate their needs to complete the move.At this point we inquired about moving the meter closer to the house and put it above ground like normal meters. The gas company said that it can be done if we were to trench the existing line up and modify the gas line under the house to stub out at a specific location along a wall.Now we have a lot of work ahead of us but, I think it will benefit the house in the long run.When ever you have issues that involve gas appliances of any kind, like;Stoves
Water heaters
Furnaces
Dryers
FireplacesDefinitely give the gas company a call and they will help you and answer any questions you may have.