I’m getting a natural gas generator installed. The electrical contractor suggested I use my regular plumber for the gas hookup. The generator will sit about 6 feet from the house. The electrician the wire(s) in conduit will be in the ground. I wanted to get that short run of gas line buried too. Giving a much cleaner look and avoiding any trip hazards.
My plumber indicated burying the gas line wasn’t practical. I don’t see why. Homes in the 60’s and 70’s had natural gas lanterns in the yard next to the driveway. The gas line out to them was buried. I’m pretty sure my dad’s line was just copper tubing. It doesn’t rust out like black pipe. I’ve used this plumber for 15 years and he’s always been very reliable and charges a reasonable rate. He’s saying the only material that can be buried is a special plastic line that the gas utility company uses. It requires special welding. The pipe is a very expensive material and he’s not qualified to do the plastic welding. He doesn’t even have the necessary equipment.
What’s changed? Why is it a big deal to get a 6 ft section of gas line buried? Is it really no longer practical to do that?
I remember the gas company taking out TV ads (1960’s) extolling the beauty and practically of gas yard lamps - the lamp AND installation were free - they had more gas to sell, and people were starting to use ELECTRIC cooking devices.
Yeah, things have changed - just ask why all those gas stations closed - they were finally told, “this time we mean it” - you have to replace your rusted-out, leaking tanks with new plastic ones.
That was it for the small, independent stations - they are now auto repair (if they had repair bays).
Absolutely no reason for your plumber to lie - he’s love to have the work - but he values his license too.
Gas codes have gone nutty in the past decade or two. To bury that six foot run to the generator will require the special pipe (yellow polyethylene) with special fittings and special means to connect them. From experience, you’d be looking at about $500 in materials alone. Plus permits and labor, and as you’ve discovered, the skillset and tools are not in the realm of the average plumber.
Have you checked with the gas utility? Some will do small installations like this.
My advice? Put up a short fence or plant some shrubs or flowers to hide the pipe and keep people from walking between the generator and house.
In rural Arkansas with gas tanks, it is black steel above ground and copper under ground. You lay the copper run to the tank, and the gas company tests it and hooks it up.
They may have changed the rules here, too.
That isn’t an idle threat either. We have had several houses blow up (I am mean get completely and instantly destroyed) because of gas explosions here in Massachusetts in the last few years. The most notorious one buried two young girls in debris and they died from it resulting in a $17 million dollar settlement from the gas company. You can see how that would make gas companies less than enthusiastic about adding another buried line that will hardly ever get used.
Besides just general regulations, everyone has to know who is responsible for keeping a utilities map of that part of the line and making sure it is maintained over the decades. That also costs money over time. Hitting an undocumented gas line 20 years from now during routine excavation can be really bad news. I don’t think I would want to add additional buried lines for that reason alone. Above ground lines may be a little inconvenient and unsightly but they are much easier to repair if they ever develop a leak or get severed.
Constab isn’t that expensive. I sell 150’ rolls for less than a hundred bucks. Risers are about 80 bucks and couplings are about 50 so a complete setup will be less than 400 dollars. Where it gets pricey is paying some poor sap to dig a trench. A lot of plumbers just don’t want the hassle.
Shagnasty, I thought you used heating oil in New England.
A house on tanked gas exploded several years ago by my house in the woods, although it was a leak under the house rather than the line to the tank. The house was completely destroyed, the woman unscathed in her bed, her son uninjured but blown into the yard.
Any idiot can buy the pipe and fittings at Home Depot and put it together. Plumbers here in Texas charge 1000.00 for a 20 ft trench they pay an illegal alien 40.00 to dig. Cut the trench yourself and shop around for a different plumber. Shoot, there’s little yellow gas lines running everywhere in people’s yards these days, generators, grills, firepits, fireplaces, I see them cut all the time by contractors, it’s a helluva lot cheaper than cutting fiber optic cables. Don’t think I’d let a plumber who couldn’t do this job work on my water pipes, either, that actually takes skill.
Most people do use heating oil in New England but natural gas is still an option in some areas. Here are a few examples of houses and businesses blowing up in Massachusetts because of it. It happens every year because of ill thought out or poorly maintained lines that leak into the house. Sometimes people come home from work and flip on a light switch and the whole thing goes boom in explosion that can be heard for miles. Some live through it and some don’t.
Those are just a few examples. Natural gas has the potential to cause instant catastrophe like few other things can. Don’t think I am anti-natural gas either. Natural gas mineral rights and drilling are my family’s main business and major source of wealth. I just want people to be safe about it and know the risks about putting lines below ground lines for cosmetic or superficial reasons when it is much safer to route them above ground.
Holy cow. I think it’s past my bedtime. I read this entire thread amazed that a device existed that would generate natural gas and aceplace57 was installing one in the yard.
Thank you for explaining this. I didn’t realize the code requirements had changed so much. I suspect the old 3/8" copper tubing used in the 60’s and 70’s wouldn’t meet today’s code.
Also, the more I think about it, I can see why a 1" line that breaks would be a lot more dangerous than a 3/8". That 1" line would pump out a lot of natural gas into the ground. A explosive situation. A leak in a 3/8" line (like a outdoor lantern uses) would just be a trickle.
This strikes me as funny, because one thing my dad did about a year before my parents moved out of their old house, was to dig a little trench and run an electric cable to the old gas yard lamp, and replace the gas stuff with a 100 watt CFL bulb and frosted panes of glass. It’s like the circle was complete or something.
No one else has commented on this point yet, but are you connecting to an existing low pressure line already serving your property or are you tapping into a gas main (in the street or easement)?
You can get bottled gas which would be propane. For natural gas the pipeline has to be there already out on the street, so natural gas usage is limited everywhere. I wish there was a gas line on my street, heating with natural gas costs much less than oil these days, and cooking with gas is much better than electric, and natural gas much better than propane, and Cooking With Gas is a Doper who obsesses about eggs.
Coming directly off the gas meter. They didn’t want to tap into any of the existing gas lines because they might not be big enough. The contractors mentioned if the pressure dropped too much it could kill my water heater’s pilot light.
I have central gas heat, gas clothes dryer and gas water heater. Only my range is electric. Theres never been any pressure problems. So, hopefully I have a good gas supply line from the street.
I don’t see why. Homes in the 60’s and 70’s had natural gas lanterns in the yard next to the driveway. The gas line out to them was buried. I’m pretty sure my dad’s line was just copper tubing. It doesn’t rust out like black pipe. I’ve used this plumber for 15 years and he’s always been very reliable and charges a reasonable rate. He’s saying the only material that can be buried is a special plastic line that the gas utility company uses. It requires special welding. The pipe is a very expensive material and he’s not qualified to do the plastic welding. He doesn’t even have the necessary equipment.