It's 10 PM. Do You Know Where Your Gas Lines Are?

If your home or property has anything that's gas-powered — or there's any chance gas lines are located in the area — you must take some extra precautions when digging or remodeling.

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This is also true if your home used to have gas-powered appliances and someone changed to electric-powered items in the past, as unused gas lines might have been left behind.

Where Are Gas Pipes Located?

Gas lines or pipes can be located in a variety of spaces, including underground and in the walls of homes or other buildings. You normally have gas lines inside the walls or other parts of your home if you have gas-powered appliances such as ovens or water heaters. If this is the case, the gas lines probably also run underground on your property, as this is how the gas gets into your home in the first place.

However, you may have gas lines on your property even if you don't have any gas-relevant appliances in your home. This is because utility companies sometimes establish what's known as a right of way that legally allows them to have pipes or lines running through private property. The purpose of these rights of way is to ensure that lines can deliver gas to other areas, and no one can build permanent structures or plant trees near enough to disturb the lines or create safety issues in the future.

How Do I Know Where the Gas Lines Are in My House?

Understanding where gas lines run in your home is important. First, knowing where these lines are helps you identify a potentially hazardous issue more quickly. If you hear an odd hissing sound in the wall, for instance, and you know that's where a gas line runs, you can address a potential gas leak quickly.

Second, knowing where your gas lines are reduces the chance you might damage them or cause an accident when you're remodeling, hanging pictures or doing anything else that might impact the inside of your walls.

You may be able to use a gas line locator tool to find potential gas lines in your walls. You can also consult building plans, ask a professional to help you locate gas lines in the house or carefully open up small pieces of the wall to look inside with small cameras to visually identify gas lines. You can purchase these types of camera tools as accessories for your smartphone.

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What Does a Gas Line Look Like?

The look of your gas lines depends on what they're made of. Older homes typically have steel or iron gas pipes, which will be heavy-looking pipes. Older pipes may have some rust or other damage on them. Newer homes have gas pipes made of more flexible stainless steel piping. Often, gas lines inside or outside the home are yellow to help identify them.

How to Find Gas Lines on Your Property

If you want to locate buried gas lines on your property before you dig for any reason, there are several steps you can take. You should always call 811 before you dig. Professional locators come out to mark gas and electrical lines with paint or flags on the ground. This is a free service that's invaluable in reducing damage to underground infrastructures and potential dangers to homeowners or others who are seeking to make changes to the landscape. You do need to call 811 in advance of digging — call at least three business days ahead of time or earlier if you can.

If you're working with professionals for landscaping, construction, plumbing or other work, your service provider may have a gas line locator. In cases where they don't, they may ask you to call 811 for the purpose of locating gas lines. These are good questions to ask when you talk to potential service providers, as you want to work with someone who's responsible and proactive about locating gas lines before they do any work.