Outside of my kitchen is a deck, about 8 feet off the ground.
Let’s say I want a gas grill on my deck that I want to hook up to the gas line in my house.
There is already a gas line through the basement, to the kitchen, to feed the stove. To get to the deck, we’d have to go through a wall, and then under the deck a couple of feet, then through the deck to feed the grill.
So, what I imagine they would have to do is:
put a new “branch” on the gasline to the stove.
drill through the wall
Run the new branch about 15 feet total (maybe 8 ft. from gasline to wall, another 7 feet to where the grill would be)
Hooking a grill to a half inch pipe is easy. I can do that myself.
Does that sound like a $100 job? A $1000 job? An impossible job? Or something in between?
Am I missing any complications, like running a gas line through a wall isn’t allowed or something?
Thanks to anyone with experience doing this, having it done, or otherwise.
How handy are you? This is not out of the realm of DIY. I ran a gas line to my patio when I bought this house. (probably 75 feet had to drill the foundation twice.)
From your description, you would have to cut one existing pipe to disassemble what you have, replace the elbow with a T run new pipe, and drill the foundation. Home Depot (and other places) will rent you a hammer drill and bit for about $50.
Cost for DIY maybe $150. cost for a plumber, the way they fuck people around here, probably $1000 and up.
We had almost the same exact job done about 7 years ago, though we needed a longer run of gas line out to the deck. In our area, there are stringent requirements and regulations regarding who can do this type of work. This makes sense to me, as I imagine this work can be dangerous in the hands of a novice.
Our job was a little over $900.00, but included installing a set of gas logs and also converting our entire system to a “2 pound” system. I’m sure it would have been significantly less if we only needed to run the line out to the grill on the deck.
Yeah you will have to cut one pipe. It really isn’t as scary as it sounds.
About it being a gas line, do you know one way to check for a gas leak? Yeah with an open flame. if you just turned on the gas, there will be no accumulation of gas, so there won’t be an explosion, just a small flame from the point of the leak. No I don’t recommend that you leak check the pipe this way (brush very soapy water on the joints and look for bubbles) I say this to point out that plumbing a gas pipe is not brain science or rocket surgery.
Yes it is just as easy as turning off the valve. The hard part is relighting the pilot lights afterward.
Using a hammer drill it is not that hard to go though a foundation. I did it twice when I ran my gas line. I spent maybe two hours total drilling. I was working in a crawlspace and did not have a hammer drill. Just a big assed contractors drill. For comparison I had to put three holes in a 12" thick slab the other day, and using a rental hammer drill, it took me less than 30 minutes.
BTW if you are doing this for a gas BBQ, natural gas and propane take different jets(? orifices?). You will have to change the jet in the BBQ to get it to work properly. check with the maker of your BBQ to make sure a natural gas jet is available.
Allow me to be the voice of caution rather than the voice of DIY.
I’ll usually undertake most tasks in a house, although I’ll get confirmation from smarter people when making more complicated wiring connections. Nevertheless, I would never touch a gas line. I know that it is simpler than water connections, but I really don’t care. I can’t think of anything that could cause more devastation while simultaneously invalidating my homeowner’s insurance than having an adjuster find a non-permitted gas connection.
On the other hand, you really don’t need to pay a licensed gas fitter the big money to core that hole in your wall, and he won’t want to do that anyway. You could do that, and just let him connect and hang the pipe.
Well if that is the dilemma take a look over here. One of these will set you back probably less than having a plumber do your gas line. You will be able to smoke at 200 degrees or sear a steak at near 1000 degrees. Being ceramic it will never rust out. I have a large, and you can take it from me when you pry it from my cold dead hands.
To do it correctly: the interior of the pipe must be deburred at each joint, metallic piping must be protected with a sleeve where it passes through or comes in contact with cementitious materials, e.g. CMU, or monolithic pour. A valve shall be required within 4’ of a barbecue or outdoor hearth, and shall be readily accessible.
