Attached is picture of the gas line (and meter) which is at the bottom of the building, my condo is on 3rd floor.
There is a gas leak somewhere in the line, behind walls and ceiling. Leak is not inside my unit but somewhere within walls, before pipeline comes out in my unit.
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What is the usual fix for this kind of problem? I know that line has to be replaced or joint has to be tightened, but how do they go about find the location of the leak ?
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How much of the wall or ceiling they have to cut ?
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do they replace it with similar metal pipeline or use flexible gas line ? I guess flexible line would be easy to install.
I am just worried about the cost here.
Best Answer
Usually it involves hacking into the wall and checking joints. The problem is almost always at a joint. I have had (as did many of my neighbors 20 - 30 years ago) pinhole leaks in copper water pipes. I have never heard of leaks in gas pipes, only in joints.
That depends on how quickly they find the problem and how many joints there are and how accessible they are.
It looks like there are two different (maybe more than two...) types of "flexible" line. One is the type normally used for the last section connecting to an appliance. That type can't be inside walls. There is another type (CSST) which apparently can be used in place of the traditional black pipe. However, some jurisdictions and utilities restrict its use, and an earlier version of CSST was found to have some serious problems. In addition, the expected lifetime is 30 years compared to 75 years for traditional gas pipe. However, it does have the advantage of fewer joints, and since joints are where you get leaks, that can be a big plus.