Lessons Learned From A Gas Leak?

ARFlyer

ARFlyer

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ARFlyer
So a few days ago I smelled gas while laying in bed. I called our gas company, they came and found that every joint in the piping was leaking. The guy said he had to take our meter until we got it fixed.

Well come to find out our Landlord and his plumber friends got ****ed off that I called the gas company. They said it takes twice as much time and work because a state inspector has to come out. Plus, they said it may take up to two days for the gas company to come back out to reinstall our meter.

So is the take away from this is to never call the gas company? :dunno:
 
ARFlyer said:
So a few days ago I smelled gas while laying in bed. I called our gas company, they came and found that every joint in the piping was leaking. The guy said he had to take our meter until we got it fixed.

Well come to find out our Landlord and his plumber friends got ****ed off that I called the gas company. They said it takes twice as much time and work because a state inspector has to come out. Plus, they said it may take up to two days for the gas company to come back out to reinstall our meter.

So is the take away from this is to never call the gas company? :dunno:
Click to expand...

When I was a kid, a long, long time ago, the guy down the street decided to do it his way and avoid the complications of gas companies, inspectors, and other meddling bureaucrats.
Parts of his house (and body) are still falling out of the sky. The houses on all 4 sides of him were also destroyed.

Usually I'm all in favor of radical, do it yourself anarchy, but not in this case.
 
Or don't have landlords....

You did fine, and might have saved lives.

I will agree. A little spark at the wrong place and time and you might not be sitting here complaining online.

It has been a very long time since I rented but if the owners are not making repairs or going slowly you might be able to withhold rent payments until such repairs are made. Check with renters rights group or online for your state.

The owner is upset because he will have to pay for repairs, re-installing the gas meter and the inspection. I guess he thinks your life is not worth that price.

What does a plumber have to do with gas lines? Let them be ****sed off.
 
ARFlyer said:
So a few days ago I smelled gas while laying in bed. I called our gas company, they came and found that every joint in the piping was leaking. The guy said he had to take our meter until we got it fixed.

Well come to find out our Landlord and his plumber friends got ****ed off that I called the gas company. They said it takes twice as much time and work because a state inspector has to come out. Plus, they said it may take up to two days for the gas company to come back out to reinstall our meter.

So is the take away from this is to never call the gas company? :dunno:
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Your landlord is a dork. Never wait for a landlord when your safety is at issue. If he doesn't like it, let him talk to your civil suit.
 
ARFlyer said:
So is the take away from this is to never call the gas company? :dunno:
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No, the take way is that you did exactly what you should have done. :thumbsup:

The landlord is p*ssed because now he'll have to fix it right instead of half-assing it like he has been over the years to get it to the condition it was in. There is a good reason for some regulation, ordinances and codes. Not all, but some.

He got mad because you protected your safety and now he's mad because ensuring the apartment is adequately safe for habitation is going to negatively affect his pocketbook. Does this sound like a Landlord? No.

Slumlord? Yes.

F him.

Natural gas is nothing to screw around with...propane deserves even more respect.

I'd be looking for another place if this becomes a trend (or has already proven to be).
 
Oh, and did I mention that, with K out of town for a month yet, those cold showers will be good for you.

They'll keep you out of trouble! :goofy:
 
ARFlyer said:
So a few days ago I smelled gas while laying in bed. I called our gas company, they came and found that every joint in the piping was leaking. The guy said he had to take our meter until we got it fixed.

Well come to find out our Landlord and his plumber friends got ****ed off that I called the gas company. They said it takes twice as much time and work because a state inspector has to come out. Plus, they said it may take up to two days for the gas company to come back out to reinstall our meter.

So is the take away from this is to never call the gas company? :dunno:
Click to expand...
Something smells here...
Every joint leaking? Take our meter?
A joint, two, or even a few I could see but every joint seems an exaggeration. Taking a meter seems odd as well; I have seen the gas company just turn it off and lock the meter but not take the meter in cases of leak.

It has been my experience that the gas company is not necessarily the most competent either. I had our local gas company come service a heater. After they left I came home to the smell of gas which turned out to be from the heater they had serviced incorrectly. On another occasion I found a leak in a gas line under a deck outside. I could not be home but pulled up a deck board, marked the site and described the exact location of the leak. They came out; I thought it was fixed. On my next bill was a fee for a service call and a note stating they pressure tested the line and no leak was found. Well obviously they did not squirt some soapy water on it because the leak was still there plain as day exactly where I described when I rechecked.

As a landlord I can see why they may be upset. If you reported an issue to the landlord and they did nothing I could see why you should be upset. It is my experience that issues such as this may be handled promptly and professionally by licensed personnel working in the private sector with less drama and downtime in the end for the tenants.
 
Years ago I was renting a small workshop that had gas heat. When the pipes wouldn't pass inspection (pressure, sniff) they took the meter. I moved to another shop before winter came. After nearly 20 years I drove by that old shop. Someone has rented it and using it for automotive repair. I noticed there is still no meter.
 
ARFlyer said:
So is the take away from this is to never call the gas company? :dunno:
Click to expand...

Nope. SOP is to leave the premises and then report the leak/smell of gas. There is the awkward bit of making sure no one else enters the home.

The landlord needs to get his/her/its priorities straight. Yes, the problems must be fixed by a licensed plumber or pipefitter and inspected...that's the law on rental property in most states even without the gas company involvement. Of course, Arkansas might be different...
 
FORANE said:
Something smells here...
Every joint leaking? Take our meter?
A joint, two, or even a few I could see but every joint seems an exaggeration. Taking a meter seems odd as well; I have seen the gas company just turn it off and lock the meter but not take the meter in cases of leak.

It has been my experience that the gas company is not necessarily the most competent either. I had our local gas company come service a heater. After they left I came home to the smell of gas which turned out to be from the heater they had serviced incorrectly. On another occasion I found a leak in a gas line under a deck outside. I could not be home but pulled up a deck board, marked the site and described the exact location of the leak. They came out; I thought it was fixed. On my next bill was a fee for a service call and a note stating they pressure tested the line and no leak was found. Well obviously they did not squirt some soapy water on it because the leak was still there plain as day exactly where I described when I rechecked.

As a landlord I can see why they may be upset. If you reported an issue to the landlord and they did nothing I could see why you should be upset. It is my experience that issues such as this may be handled promptly and professionally by licensed personnel working in the private sector with less drama and downtime in the end for the tenants.
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It's standard MO for CenterPoint to take the meters if there is a leak or lack of bill payment. The two building apartment complex is owned by a guy 40 miles away.

Yes, everything from the inside shutoff valve onward was leaking. The shutoff valve was the worst leak, while the two 90s and an extender were small leaks.
 
ARFlyer said:
So a few days ago I smelled gas while laying in bed. I called our gas company, they came and found that every joint in the piping was leaking. The guy said he had to take our meter until we got it fixed.

Well come to find out our Landlord and his plumber friends got ****ed off that I called the gas company. They said it takes twice as much time and work because a state inspector has to come out. Plus, they said it may take up to two days for the gas company to come back out to reinstall our meter.

So is the take away from this is to never call the gas company? :dunno:
Click to expand...

Wrong, always call the gas company, you have a slumlord, not a landlord if all the joints in your gas pipes are leaking.

In Ocean Beach SD I lived in an old apartment on the beach with a 1930s or 40s vintage stove that would give off a small explosion every time I'd light it. I asked the land lady if I could have a new stove. "Oh no honey, I'll get the gas man out to repair it." Gas man came out, about **** himself, turned off the valve and condemned the stove. "I guess we'll have to get a new stove for you."
 
ARFlyer said:
So a few days ago I smelled gas while laying in bed. I called our gas company, they came and found that every joint in the piping was leaking. The guy said he had to take our meter until we got it fixed.

Well come to find out our Landlord and his plumber friends got ****ed off that I called the gas company. They said it takes twice as much time and work because a state inspector has to come out. Plus, they said it may take up to two days for the gas company to come back out to reinstall our meter.

So is the take away from this is to never call the gas company? :dunno:
Click to expand...

In most states it is illegal for non licensed repairmen to work on rental property, especially gas lines for this very reason. An annonomous call to the codes department for your area will tell you if AR is among those states. The land lord is an idiot if he is working on gas lines in a rental without a license. Even if you own the rental property there are certain things you cannot do by yourself.

Calling a licensed plumber is not that big of deal and they will be done quicker than the landlord doing it because the inspectors and plumbers all get along and work with each other. Inspectors HATE "do it yourselfers" and will delay inspections.

The land lord MUST make expeditious repairs so that utilities are restored ASAP. Being Friday they must have it done today to avoid having the gas shut off for the weekend.
 
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Clark1961 said:
Nope. SOP is to leave the premises and then report the leak/smell of gas. There is the awkward bit of making sure no one else enters the home.
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I smelled small amounts at night whenever my roommate would take a shower. It took me a week to trace it down to the air return. Which happens to be in the same crawlspace as the water heater. So the gas was leaking out of the pipe joints and flowing along the floor into the air return blower. My bedroom is the first off the return upstairs and blows into my face at night.

Ironically this setup allowed me to smell the leaks where my roommate could not.
 
Leaks at every joint?...every now and then you find someone who didn't use black pipe.

I hate the prices AmerenUE charges, but I will give them credit for showing up within minutes, 24/7, of calling to say you smell gas. They are very thorough and incredibly friendly.

I'd say your landlord is getting off easy just by you not suing him. Keep in mind that he's likely obligated to provide you comparable housing while your home is not habitable.
 
Henning said:
Wrong, always call the gas company, you have a slumlord, not a landlord if all the joints in your gas pipes are leaking.

In Ocean Beach SD I lived in an old apartment on the beach with a 1930s or 40s vintage stove that would give off a small explosion every time I'd light it. I asked the land lady if I could have a new stove. "Oh no honey, I'll get the gas man out to repair it." Gas man came out, about **** himself, turned off the valve and condemned the stove. "I guess we'll have to get a new stove for you."
Click to expand...

Our gas guy about **** himself. His scanner wasn't picking up anything until he held it next to the joints. The first leak he was cool about it. But by the 4&5th leak he was surprised we weren't in low earth orbit.
 
Gerhardt said:
Leaks at every joint?...every now and then you find someone who didn't use black pipe.

I hate the prices AmerenUE charges, but I will give them credit for showing up within minutes, 24/7, of calling to say you smell gas. They are very thorough and incredibly friendly.

I'd say your landlord is getting off easy just by you not suing him. Keep in mind that he's likely obligated to provide you comparable housing while your home is not habitable.
Click to expand...

He is not obligated to provide other housing, he is obligated to repair the property immediately.
 
Gerhardt said:
Leaks at every joint?...every now and then you find someone who didn't use black pipe.

I hate the prices AmerenUE charges, but I will give them credit for showing up within minutes, 24/7, of calling to say you smell gas. They are very thorough and incredibly friendly.

I'd say your landlord is getting off easy just by you not suing him. Keep in mind that he's likely obligated to provide you comparable housing while your home is not habitable.
Click to expand...

According to this:

http://m.arktimes.com/arkansas/no-rights-for-tenants-in-arkansas/Content?oid=2681818

And this:

https://news.vice.com/video/arkansas-the-worst-place-to-rent-in-america

Renters have no rights.
 
Gerhardt said:
Leaks at every joint?...every now and then you find someone who didn't use black pipe.
Click to expand...

When I replaced the water heater in my current home I found a nipple with only two threads engaged. It didn't leak but obviously the mechanical integrity was somewhat less than ideal. The water heater was 17 years old so I assume the piping had not been touched in at least that long. All the piping was inspected/repaired after finding that.
 
Clark1961 said:
When I replaced the water heater in my current home I found a nipple with only two threads engaged. It didn't leak but obviously the mechanical integrity was somewhat less than ideal. The water heater was 17 years old so I assume the piping had not been touched in at least that long. All the piping was inspected/repaired after finding that.
Click to expand...

Ours didn't look fully tightened. The plumber said that the dope was the main cause for the valve leak.
 
ARFlyer said:
It's standard MO for CenterPoint to take the meters if there is a leak or lack of bill payment.
Click to expand...
If they leave the meter in place with a lock on the valve it's all too easy to cut the lock off and restore service.
 
I'm a landlord in several states. Keeping track is troublesome. In AR, the state is very landlord friendly, it's typically because most tenants(no offense to the OP) are dirt poor, mouth-breathing, incestuous, brain-dead whackadoos.

Having said that, the landlord in this case is way in the wrong. The gas company did right by taking the meter. In fact, in TX once I had the meter removed by the utility for non payment(by tenant), and they actually tried to get a dryer flex pipe to bypass it. Jeez.....

At this point, you need to work with the landlord to have it all fixed right. What I would do in your situation if you want to stay is to have the landlord hire YOU as the sub and fix all the leaks at an agreed rate. If you don't have time, that won't work, but if you do, I've had tenants I trusted fix various things in the house for compensation. If he wants you to do it for free, pass. Don't know what to tell you if he won't fix it. Move I guess.
 
ARFlyer said:
So a few days ago I smelled gas while laying in bed. I called our gas company, they came and found that every joint in the piping was leaking. The guy said he had to take our meter until we got it fixed.

Well come to find out our Landlord and his plumber friends got ****ed off that I called the gas company. They said it takes twice as much time and work because a state inspector has to come out. Plus, they said it may take up to two days for the gas company to come back out to reinstall our meter.

So is the take away from this is to never call the gas company? :dunno:
Click to expand...

Sounds like if an inspector came out the job would be done correctly.

Don't be surprised if your lease isn't renewed.

You still did the right thing.
 
They took the meter because they deal with jerks like this everyday. People believe because they can hold a wrench it makes them a mechanic or repairman.
 
I am going through something very similar here in NV. We moved into a house, smelled a musty smell, kinda like sewage.. Complained to landlord. she did nothing, we brought in a plumber, she still did nothing (told plumber to stop fixing it). Turned out the house had a slab leak (which i knew about, and was "fixed"), and had mold.. We GTFO as quickly as we could and lawyered up.
 
As an owner of a fair amount of rental property I have had gas leaks which required repair or even removal and replacement of meters and valves from time to time. As such, I have the name and number of a licensed gas contractor in my phone. If this were my property and I received the call, immediately after evacuating I would have called my contractor who would have found and repaired the leaks rather than have the city come and remove the meter which leaves my tenant(s) with no hot water or whatever else the gas served.
 
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As a tenant, you may have done the only thing you could; cannot substitute my judgment for yours here.

But when, at my old home, I smelled a little gas, called the gas company, they did the ONLY thing they do, and cut off the gas. At that point, it could not be turned back on until a permit had been pulled and a city Code Inspector had issued a green tag.

Problem is, while the actual failure was minor (a leak at a joint, easily repaired and repaired properly), every single gas device in the house was no longer code-compliant - that meant two fireplace fire-starters, and four wall-mounted space heaters, while in no way dangerous, could no longer be connected to the gas system. There was no way to make the wall heaters compliant, and no replacements which were exist, so no more heat in the bathrooms on a cold morning.

I just paid for a new gas line from the meter to the furnace and water heater, and learned my lesson (around $1,800.00 with the friend-discount); as a homeowner, if I smell gas, I turn off the gas at the meter (easy to do, and everyone should know how to do this anyway) call a trusted plumber (no way mine would have let me keep a dangerous system), and let them trouble-shoot the problem.
 
docmirror said:
I'm a landlord in several states. Keeping track is troublesome. In AR, the state is very landlord friendly, it's typically because most tenants(no offense to the OP) are dirt poor, mouth-breathing, incestuous, brain-dead whackadoos.

Having said that, the landlord in this case is way in the wrong. The gas company did right by taking the meter. In fact, in TX once I had the meter removed by the utility for non payment(by tenant), and they actually tried to get a dryer flex pipe to bypass it. Jeez.....

At this point, you need to work with the landlord to have it all fixed right. What I would do in your situation if you want to stay is to have the landlord hire YOU as the sub and fix all the leaks at an agreed rate. If you don't have time, that won't work, but if you do, I've had tenants I trusted fix various things in the house for compensation. If he wants you to do it for free, pass. Don't know what to tell you if he won't fix it. Move I guess.
Click to expand...
I think that in some states, a licensed plumber or pipefitter is required to work on gas plumbing.
 
SCCutler said:
As a tenant, you may have done the only thing you could; cannot substitute my judgment for yours here.

But when, at my old home, I smelled a little gas, called the gas company, they did the ONLY thing they do, and cut off the gas. At that point, it could not be turned back on until a permit had been pulled and a city Code Inspector had issued a green tag.

Problem is, while the actual failure was minor (a leak at a joint, easily repaired and repaired properly), every single gas device in the house was no longer code-compliant - that meant two fireplace fire-starters, and four wall-mounted space heaters, while in no way dangerous, could no longer be connected to the gas system. There was no way to make the wall heaters compliant, and no replacements which were exist, so no more heat in the bathrooms on a cold morning.

I just paid for a new gas line from the meter to the furnace and water heater, and learned my lesson (around $1,800.00 with the friend-discount); as a homeowner, if I smell gas, I turn off the gas at the meter (easy to do, and everyone should know how to do this anyway) call a trusted plumber (no way mine would have let me keep a dangerous system), and let them trouble-shoot the problem.
Click to expand...

Not all areas though is that the gas company policy. I remember growing up in St Louis we had a gas leak, mom called the gas company, they were out very quickly as we waited at the neighbors, and fixed it on the spot.
 
Henning said:
Not all areas though is that the gas company policy. I remember growing up in St Louis we had a gas leak, mom called the gas company, they were out very quickly as we waited at the neighbors, and fixed it on the spot.
Click to expand...

1974<>2014

In 1974 there was lots more corporate benevolence, lots less fear of liability and lawsuits.
 
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