Gas leaks: what to do and what we do
If you smell gas, leave first. Do not flip switches, unplug anything, or use a phone inside the building. From outside, call 911 or your utility emergency line — SoCalGas at 1-800-427-2200 or PG&E at 1-800-743-5000, depending on your area. The utility will shut the meter and make the scene safe. They will not repair your house-side piping; that is where a licensed C-36 plumber comes in.
Once the meter is off, we isolate and pressure-test the system to find where the loss is. Air or nitrogen is introduced at a test point and the pressure is held for the duration the code official requires. A drop means a leak, and from there we section the system to narrow the location — at the appliance connector, at a threaded joint, at a corroded run, or underground.
Common causes on the Central Coast are corroded black iron in crawlspaces and along exterior walls, coastal corrosion on outdoor runs, failed appliance connectors, and old joints that were never properly doped. Underground polyethylene and coated steel lines to detached garages, pool heaters, and outdoor kitchens can be damaged by root growth or landscaping work.
Permits, pressure testing, and inspection in SLO County
Gas work is permit-gated for a reason: an unpermitted repair has no record that it was ever pressure-tested. In San Luis Obispo County and every incorporated city on the Central Coast, gas line repair, replacement, and new appliance lines require a permit, a pressure test at the required PSI and hold time, and a passing inspection before the meter is unlocked.
We pull the permit under our license, perform the work, meet the inspector on site, and handle re-energizing with the utility. You do no paperwork. The final signed permit is the document your insurer or a future buyer's inspector will want to see, and it is the reason we never do gas work off the books.
Sizing matters as much as tightness. The California Plumbing Code sizes gas piping from total connected BTU load, developed length, and allowable pressure drop. Adding a tankless water heater — commonly 150,000 to 199,000 BTU — to a system built for a 40,000 BTU tank is the most frequent undersizing we see, and it shows up as appliances that cut out when two things run at once.
New gas lines: ranges, dryers, BBQs, and pool heaters
New runs are a large part of what we do. Kitchen ranges for homeowners converting from electric, dryers, fireplaces, pool and spa heaters, generators, and outdoor kitchen stubs all get the same treatment: load calculation, correct pipe size and material, an accessible shutoff at the appliance, pressure test, and inspection.
Material depends on the run. Black iron is the workhorse for interior and exposed runs. CSST is faster in finished walls and attics but must be bonded to the electrical grounding system per code — a step that unlicensed installs routinely skip. Underground runs use coated steel or approved polyethylene with a tracer wire and correct depth and backfill.
Most single-appliance runs finish in one day. Cost tracks distance from the meter, wall and slab penetrations, and whether the existing system has capacity for the added load. If the meter itself is undersized for what you want to add, we tell you before you buy the appliance and coordinate the utility upgrade request.
