Gas Line Services in Greensboro, NC

If you smell gas

Get out first. Don't switch lights or appliances on or off, don't use a phone inside, and don't try to find the leak. Once you're well away from the house, call 911 or Piedmont Natural Gas at 800-752-7504, the number Piedmont lists for anyone who smells gas or suspects a leak. Piedmont Natural Gas is the gas utility serving Greensboro. Don't go back inside until the utility or fire department says it's safe.

A plumber is not the first call for a gas smell. Once the utility has made the situation safe, a plumber can repair the piping on your side of the meter.

What you own and what the utility owns

In most homes the utility's equipment ends at the meter. Piping after the meter, including lines running across the yard to a pool heater, grill or detached building, is generally the customer's. Federal pipeline rules require gas utilities to tell customers that they don't maintain buried customer piping, that unmaintained pipe can corrode and leak, and that it should be checked periodically and repaired if unsafe. Plumbing contractors are among those who can locate, inspect and repair it.

Common gas line jobs

• Running a new line for a gas range, dryer, water heater or furnace
• Lines for gas logs, an outdoor kitchen, a pool heater or a standby generator
• Replacing old flexible connectors at appliances
• Repairing a leak on the house side of the meter, after the utility has made it safe
• Pressure testing to confirm a system is tight before service is restored

Before digging a yard line

North Carolina's 811 service marks publicly managed underground lines for free with three working days' notice. Private lines on private property are not marked, so any existing yard gas piping you own has to be located another way before new trenching starts. Federal guidance to customers is to dig by hand near buried gas piping.

Permits

The City of Greensboro issues plumbing permits, and its fee schedule lists a gas connection for water heater replacements. Ask the plumber which permit and inspection your job needs; they normally handle it.

What affects the cost

The length of the run from the meter or nearest tap, whether the line goes underground, the number of appliances, whether the existing system can carry the added load, and permit and inspection requirements all affect the price.