On Fri, 7 Oct 2016 19:13:34 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

I cannot get my water heater out without removing a couple of feet of natural gas black piping, 1-inch OD. The pipe goes horizontally into the wall, joins with an el, and then proceeds vertically down. There is a bracket on the el, fastening the el to a 2x4. How risky is it to put my large pipe wrench on the pipe and try to unscrew the pipe, and then screw it back into place? Is this just damned foolish?

Plan B is to take out wallboard so I can get a second wrench on the el.


If you go with plan A, can you get to the fitting to check for leaks
once reassembled? If so, it may not be much risk if the pipe comes
apart readily. It is critical though, that you can check for leaks
after.