I am preparing to do some reparing to the plasterwork of my daughter's
house. She has stripped off the wallpaper and this has pulled off some of
the worst plaster. It has exposed a very rusty pipe near to the fireplace.

Can anyone suggest how I can check (or have it checked) to ensure it isn't
still connected to the gas supply. Tracing the pipe would be tricky as it
would mean lifting floor to find it.

Suggestions please.

john wrote:
I am preparing to do some reparing to the plasterwork of my daughter's
house. She has stripped off the wallpaper and this has pulled off
some of the worst plaster. It has exposed a very rusty pipe near to
the fireplace.

Can anyone suggest how I can check (or have it checked) to ensure it
isn't still connected to the gas supply. Tracing the pipe would be
tricky as it would mean lifting floor to find it.

Suggestions please.

If it's rusty, then chances are it's an old wiring pipe not a gas pipe?
Old gas pipes where of the lead type.

anyway just replaster over it, wouldn't do any harm.

"ben" wrote in message
. uk...
john wrote:
I am preparing to do some reparing to the plasterwork of my
daughter's
house. She has stripped off the wallpaper and this has pulled off
some of the worst plaster. It has exposed a very rusty pipe near
to
the fireplace.

Can anyone suggest how I can check (or have it checked) to ensure
it
isn't still connected to the gas supply. Tracing the pipe would be
tricky as it would mean lifting floor to find it.

Suggestions please.

If it's rusty, then chances are it's an old wiring pipe not a gas
pipe?
Old gas pipes where of the lead type.

anyway just replaster over it, wouldn't do any harm.



NOT a safe assumption - many gas pipes were mild steel ("black iron").
Typically you can expect two vertical runs 9" in from the extremes of
a chimney breast coming downwards from the floor above to lighting
points, and also a run to one side of the fireplace for a gas fire or
gas poker to light a coal fire.

Having said that - it would be unusual circumstances for a internal
gas pipe to be corroded to the point of leaking - it would have had to
be damp for a considerable period or affected by something more
corrosive like the hygroscopic salts in a damp chimney.

AWEM

"Andrew Mawson" wrote in message
...

"ben" wrote in message
. uk...
john wrote:
I am preparing to do some reparing to the plasterwork of my
daughter's
house. She has stripped off the wallpaper and this has pulled off
some of the worst plaster. It has exposed a very rusty pipe near
to
the fireplace.

Can anyone suggest how I can check (or have it checked) to ensure
it
isn't still connected to the gas supply. Tracing the pipe would be
tricky as it would mean lifting floor to find it.

Suggestions please.

If it's rusty, then chances are it's an old wiring pipe not a gas
pipe?
Old gas pipes where of the lead type.

anyway just replaster over it, wouldn't do any harm.



NOT a safe assumption - many gas pipes were mild steel ("black iron").
Typically you can expect two vertical runs 9" in from the extremes of
a chimney breast coming downwards from the floor above to lighting
points, and also a run to one side of the fireplace for a gas fire or
gas poker to light a coal fire.

Having said that - it would be unusual circumstances for a internal
gas pipe to be corroded to the point of leaking - it would have had to
be damp for a considerable period or affected by something more
corrosive like the hygroscopic salts in a damp chimney.

AWEM


The chimney is in a corner. The wall is damp and has been treated. Should I
try to expose the bottom end to see if it has a cap?

john wrote:

The chimney is in a corner. The wall is damp and has been treated. Should I
try to expose the bottom end to see if it has a cap?

sounds reasonable, then youll know if its gas or lec. The other option
is to cut it off below floor or above ceiling, and if necessary cap it
there. Turning the gas off first of course.

NT

wrote in message
oups.com...
john wrote:

The chimney is in a corner. The wall is damp and has been treated. Should
I
try to expose the bottom end to see if it has a cap?

sounds reasonable, then youll know if its gas or lec. The other option
is to cut it off below floor or above ceiling, and if necessary cap it
there. Turning the gas off first of course.

NT

The condition looks so poor that any manipulation / capping is out ot the
question.

In article ,
ben wrote:
If it's rusty, then chances are it's an old wiring pipe not a gas pipe?
Old gas pipes where of the lead type.

No - in my London Victorian house when I bought it all the original gas
pipes were iron barrel and they were everywhere. And some live, some
disconnected.

--
*A bicycle can't stand alone because it's two tyred.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
ben wrote:
If it's rusty, then chances are it's an old wiring pipe not a gas pipe?
Old gas pipes where of the lead type.

No - in my London Victorian house when I bought it all the original gas
pipes were iron barrel and they were everywhere. And some live, some
disconnected.

--
*A bicycle can't stand alone because it's two tyred.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Back to the original question - is there a way it can be checked without
trying to uncover its route? I guess I could turn off the gass, cut the pipe
and then turn the gas back on to see what happens.

Would it be worth calling out Transco - would they have a way of checking?

john wrote:

The condition looks so poor that any manipulation / capping is out ot the
question.

How about starting from the other end? Look at the gas meter and see
what type of pipe it feeds. In most cases the old iron pipe will have
been disconnected years ago and there may still be some form of pipe
stub visible near the meter. The new piping will frequently be copper.


--
Cheers,

John.

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In article ,
John Rumm wrote:
How about starting from the other end? Look at the gas meter and see
what type of pipe it feeds. In most cases the old iron pipe will have
been disconnected years ago and there may still be some form of pipe
stub visible near the meter. The new piping will frequently be copper.

I thought that too in my place when I bought it, as the easily visible
pipework in the cellar and to the kitchen appliances was copper. However,
the cellar isn't the full size of the ground floor, so seeing all pipe
runs wasn't easy as it was left full of junk. ;-)

But it seems the upstairs front bedroom had once been used as a sitting
room and had had a gas fire fitted. So all the iron barrel on that floor
and above was still live. To fireplaces, centre of the ceilings and to a
couple of wall brackets. ;-)

But since I was fitting central heating and a new kitchen, I simply ripped
the lot out and started again in new copper.

--
*I took an IQ test and the results were negative.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

john wrote:

Back to the original question - is there a way it can be checked without
trying to uncover its route? I guess I could turn off the gass, cut the pipe
and then turn the gas back on to see what happens.

Would it be worth calling out Transco - would they have a way of checking?

I've no idea how the gas pros do it. I imagine a screw sized hole a lot
easier to seal than a cut end though. Gloop, washer, screw.

NT