"Jeff Six" wrote in message
om...
When my house was built (about three years ago), the builders
neglected to paint the gas pipe on my side of my meter and that pipe
has now developed a nice coat of surface rust

Paint it if it gives you a warm fuzzy feeling. The chances that it will rust
through in your life time is pretty slim.
I have seen alot of gas pipe that is 30-40 years old, that other than the
nice coating of rust, is in good condition.
Code in our area now requires it to be painted, but I have installed a ton
of pipe that was not painted, before the codes changed.
Greg