Most modern homes are connected to their local utility company’s natural gas lines. Gas is used to fuel heating systems, cooking stoves, clothes dryers, water heaters, and more. Sometimes, enthusiastic backyard barbecuers even have their grills connected as well! All these applications for gas mean that work frequently needs to be done on gas lines.
Extending gas lines, connecting gas appliances, performing maintenance or doing repairs — all of these things need to be done by an expert. DIY gas line repair is a terrible plan for many reasons. If you can’t work on gas lines yourself, who should? A plumber! Here’s everything you need to know.
The Hazards of Gas Line DIY Work
If you pick up a random wrench and start trying to do something to a gas line in your home, you’ll immediately be opening yourself up to all kinds of hazards!
- Safety: Perhaps most critically, there are safety issues at stake. In the moment, you could expose yourself to leaking gas or cause an explosion. Even if things seem to go well at the time, there’s the risk that you’ve created a slow gas leak, carbon monoxide leak, or future fire hazard with your amateur experiments. Take your safety seriously! Rely on a qualified professional.
- Legality: In most places, there are legal requirements surrounding who is allowed to work on gas lines and gas appliances. Without the proper licensing, you could be creating a major legal problem for yourself, especially if injuries or damage occur.
- Insurance: Qualified plumbers have insurance to cover their wellbeing and your property should anything go wrong. Your homeowner’s insurance is likely not going to cover you DIY-ing dangerous jobs like gas line work, so any costs incurred from anything that happens to you or your home will not be reimbursed by your insurance.
- Warranty: Gas appliances come with warranties. Should there be a problem with the appliance down the line, if it’s still under warranty, the manufacturer may cover certain costs. The moment someone with no qualifications tries to install, maintain, or repair a gas appliance, that warranty will be voided, forcing you to cover all costs in future, even if they relate to a manufacturing defect.
- Time: A qualified professional who does these jobs every day can do them quickly and efficiently. An amateur will take many hours to figure out how to approach a job, watch internet instructional videos, take multiple trips to the hardware store, etc., for a job that would take an expert twenty minutes.
- Money: After all that, you’ll probably end up spending more than you would have if you just called a plumber in the first place. And you may yet have to call them, when you realize your project isn’t working out so well!
Plumbers and Gas Lines
Why is it a plumber who needs to do work on gas lines? Because they are so similar to water lines! Installing and repairing these systems requires many of the same tools and much of the same training and expertise. The pipes are often made of the exact same materials, and making tight seals and avoiding leaks is every bit as important. So when you need gas line repair in Sterling, VA, you need a plumber.
AllTech Services, Inc. is your trusted resource for all your gas line concerns. Contact us today!