Gas pipe
I’m interested in an older home. The owner said she wanted me to know there used to be a kitchen on the upper floor. The kitchen was made into a bathroom three decades ago. She said, “I want you to know the gas pipe is still there in case you do a renovation.” I would eventually–way down the line–want to renovate the bathroom. What questions should I be asking now? I still haven’t done an inspection. Is this a huge worry? Thank you.
stephanie
in Building Code 13 years and 1 month ago
5
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5 replies
ellenlourie | 13 years and 1 month ago
Building code is very specific in regards of handling gas lines. And those rules written with blood.
callalily | 13 years and 1 month ago
There is no issue with having an old gas pipe in the wall, as long as you know it’s there and you don’t cut into it. As for the rec that you eliminate it, that may or may not be a good idea. The third-floor stove gas line is interwoven with light fixtures on various floors in ways you can’t see because the connections are inside the walls. It’s probably in fine working condition, and if you ever wanted to use it again, you could. I say this as someone who had a third floor gas line that had not been used in many years.
greenmountain | 13 years and 1 month ago
My clients sometimes want to preserve, even update a vestigial kitchen when I renovate a bathroom in the same space. They want to be able to sell the house as a multifamily, even though current layout is a one family. It has never been as easy or as cheap as it seems. Wall cavities allowed for new pipes are often much bigger than those used by the old ones. New vents may need connecting to old stacks or out the roof in new ways. It’s hard to convince a plumber to charge only for a bathroom, because no kitchen cabinets or appliances will be installed, when all new kitchen pipes are requested. Plumbers don’t do partially functional jobs. It’s all or nothing. In this example, the gas pipe was old and may be unreliable. Even if it passed the pressure test before it was taken out of service, it might not when and if it is needed again. To anybody trying to preserve resale value as a two or three family house, when you renovate as a one family, expect to pay substantially more and replace all the kitchen lines as well as all the bath lines. Otherwise, scrap the old kitchen and leave the next renovation entirely to the next owner. Presumably, if the DOB knows the house as a two or three family, because of its tax status (no c of o), it will still be valued as a two family for resale, regardless of the dubious presence of old pipes in the wall. And if you do install new kitchen pipes, document them. Just telling a buyer about what they would find if they broke in to a wall, may not be convincing or attractive.
ellenlourie | 13 years and 1 month ago
To do it right,dead branch pipe must be disconnected from live gas line, tee for dead branch must be removed from live line, gas work must be done by a licenced plumber and filed with building department, the live pipe must be pressure tested 3 PSI for 30 minutes after work is done.
anotherposter | 13 years and 1 month ago
I wouldn’t worry too much, but mention it to the inspector. We bought a house with the same thing and it hasn’t been a problem. There was a room that was a kitchen decades ago, used as an office when we bought, but that still had water and gas lines sticking out of the wall. We put in cabinets there (wet bar) and the plumber just capped the gas pipe closer to the wall. Once we decided for sure not to use it, we had the gas completely shut off and remove the meter for that line since that meter was only for that pipe and there was another for all other gas in the house.