CenterPoint Energy has partnered with HomeServe USA Corp, an emergency home repair firm, to provide homeowners with gas line protection.
Do homeowners insurance cover gas leaks?
The section of the gas line that is your responsibility, like your electrical and plumbing lines, is usually covered by homeowner insurance coverage. Gas leaks and other faults with the line are frequently covered by insurance coverage. Every homeowner’s insurance policy, however, is unique, and you should always read it or have it read by an expert to fully comprehend what it contains.
Some insurance coverage do not cover gas lines. In this instance, a service line insurance policy may be required to cover any costs associated with the line’s repair. However, the chance of a gas line problem and the costs of such a problem should be weighed against the cost of the insurance policy. Simply because a corporation sells a policy does not guarantee the risk-reward ratio is favorable to you.
What do you need a gas line for?
Gas lines are mostly used to carry extremely flammable gases to various fire-based equipment. Ovens use fire to cook food, water heaters use fire to boil water, and fireplaces use fire to burn wood. What’s crucial to remember is that gas lines are extremely dangerous and should never be tampered with by someone who isn’t qualified. The dangers of a gas leak are significant, and the dangers of starting a fire are considerably higher. When it comes to gas lines, consult a professional whether you are installing a new appliance, smelling gas in your home, or wanting to maintain a specific area.
What is a service line in a home?
A network of outside, subterranean utility lines or pipes that supply electricity, gas, water, and sewer functions to a home is known as a service line. These lines connect a home’s main supply of these services to the city’s main supply. A water main, for example, is a pipe that runs beneath the street and distributes water to a home via a water service line.
Each year, the American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that 240,000 water main breaks occur. This is owing in part to deteriorating pipe infrastructure across the United States, and in part to the bitterly cold winters in the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and Northeast. Of course, the city is in charge of the main lines, but what about the service lines, which may be subject to the same problems?
If a service line to a homeowner’s property breaks, the homeowner is liable for the repair or replacement costs, not the city. Damages of this nature can be highly costly, inconvenient, and not covered by a regular homeowners insurance policy. Depending on the location of the damaged pipes, special machinery may be required to dig pipes from beneath the ground, which may necessitate the excavation of your home, garden, or driveway. If you’re like most Americans, you probably don’t have enough money set up to pay for such a repair or replacement on your own.
Service Line Protection is a feature that certain insurance companies, such as Mercury, give to their clients as an add-on to their normal homes policy to help pay for unforeseen service line failures.
The good news is that these improvements are fairly reasonable – Service Line Protection, for a few dollars a month, provides coverage for both external and subsurface service lines, including:
- Water piping that connects a public water supply or a private well to a house or other structure on the property.
- Sewer piping connects a home or other structure to a public sewer or a private septic system.
- Geothermal, natural gas, propane, and steam piping are all used for heating.
- Power lines that supply electricity to the house or other construction.
Who pays for a gas leak?
Repairs to gas lines are usually done by plumbers and gas company technicians. Leaks on the gas company’s side of the meter are the responsibility of the gas company, whereas leaks from the meter to the rest of the house are the responsibility of the homeowner. If you smell gas on your property, you’ll almost certainly need a plumber to fix it.
The homeowner’s gas lines will not be repaired by the gas companies in North Dallas. It becomes your concern and liability at that point.
When a professional plumber arrives, they will typically ask the “who/what/when/where” questions to expedite the leak detection process. They may turn off the gas quickly if there is a large leak. They’ll then perform thorough tests to pinpoint the source of the leak.
This could entail using compressed air to pressurize the line, soaping any exposed fittings, isolating lines, accessing lines through the wall, and excavating lines underground.
They should be able to provide you a pricing for the repair and a schedule for repairs and inspections once the leak has been discovered.
Does insurance cover gas explosion?
Explosions triggered by gas leaks are covered by a basic homeowners insurance policy. It may also cover a leak caused by a covered natural disaster (such as a windstorm, hail, fire, blizzard, or lightning), which damages the appliance or its gas line. What’s more crucial to understand is what your homeowner’s insurance won’t cover in the event of a gas leak.
Homeowners insurance will not cover gas leaks in the following scenarios:
- A slow and continuous gas leak can cause harm to the home’s appliances and other fixtures.
- The gas leak is caused by an out-of-date appliance that you have neglected to maintain.
- The gas leak is caused by a connection fault in an appliance that was put incorrectly.
- The gas leak occurs as a result of uninsured damage to an appliance caused by a natural disaster (e.g., flood, earthquake, or mudslide).
It’s critical to have a gas-powered appliance installed by a professional you can trust in order to have the best chance of avoiding future mishaps. Maintain the routine maintenance as well. As the homeowner, you are responsible for ensuring that the appliances in your home are in safe operating order.
Is it OK to paint gas pipes?
Gas pipework is made of nonporous, robust metal. This property causes it to reject painted finishes unless they have been pre-treated with an acidic etching primer designed specifically for metal.
How do you protect exposed gas pipes?
Before covering, gas pipes must be safeguarded and tested. Covering with PVC sleeving can give protection. If compression fittings are used to join gas pipelines, they must be accessible for inspection. A gas pipe must be 50mm apart from any other metallic utility, such as cables.
Installing a Carbon Monoxide Detector
Carbon monoxide detectors are similar to smoke detectors in that they are designed to alert you to natural gas pipe leaks that could be spewing carbon monoxide into your home. Don’t forget to change the battery in your detector on a regular basis and inspect it to make sure it’s working properly once it’s been placed.
Inspecting the Vents on Your Appliances
Blocked vents can lead to carbon monoxide buildup in your home, therefore they should be repaired right once. Inspect any natural gas appliances’ chimneys, flues, and vents, and report any concerns to your natural gas provider.
Check the Ventilation of Your Room
If you have a gas oven, don’t use it for heating. To avoid a moderate to severe gas piping leak, make sure the room’s ventilation is working properly if you use gas space heaters to warm it.
Hire a Professional to Check For Leaks in Your Gas Pipes
To check for gas line leaks, have all of your natural gas-powered appliances tested at least once a year. A licensed plumber will also ensure that the gas piping connections to each of your appliances are safe.
Become Familiar With the Symptoms of a Gas Piping Leak
If everything else fails, you can still protect yourself against carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a gas piping leak by keeping an eye out for signs and acting quickly if you or a loved one exhibits them. Nausea, headache, dizziness, confusion, tiredness, and fast breathing are common early symptoms.
If carbon monoxide builds up in your home as a result of a gas piping problem, get out as soon as possible; the longer you or your loved ones are exposed to the gas, the greater the risk of lasting brain or organ damage. If anyone shows signs of carbon monoxide poisoning, call the fire department or 9-1-1, as well as emergency medical assistance, once you are safe from the gas.
What are the typical problems in gas piping?
Many households in the northern half of the country will have to turn on their heating systems at the beginning of October. Natural gas is one of the most cost-effective and efficient fuels for a furnace or boiler. With its benefits come questions about safety and obligations for homeowners. It is your role as a home inspector to assist in the detection of flaws that may jeopardize the safety of residents in natural gas-powered homes. We’ll go through some of the fundamentals of gas piping inspection.
The gas supply line, also known as the building line, is the plumbing that runs throughout the house. Individual appliances are served by branch lines. The branch line finishes in a drop line, which is a vertical pipe that drops down from an overhead branch line to the appliance. If it carries gas up to an appliance from a branch line below the appliance, it’s called a riser.
A sediment trap or dirt pocket, commonly referred to as a drip leg, is normally present at the appliance connection point and consists of a nipple and a cap. This pipe extension, which is normally at least 3 inches long, is designed to catch any water or foreign material that may be present in the gas before it enters the appliance. The solids and liquids fall into the pocket, which is just a gravity mechanism.
The homeowner is normally responsible for the pipework downstream of the gas meter. The gas company is normally responsible for the piping upstream of the gas meter, as well as the meter itself.
Steel, copper, and brass are the most prevalent materials for gas piping. In some cases, galvanized steel, copper, brass, or CSST (Corrugated Stainless Steel Tubing) can be used, but copper is prohibited by some utilities. Copper is widely used in different parts of the world. You should be aware of what is considered acceptable in your neighborhood. Black steel piping with malleable iron or steel fittings is common. In other cases, galvanized steel is also used.
Flexible connectors are allowed to be used to connect appliances to gas pipelines. A shut-off valve must be installed at the rigid piping connection. This valve must be located in the same area as the appliance.
Accessible and three or six feet long: The flexible connectors cannot pass through walls, floors, or ceilings, and they cannot be hidden. Except for gas stoves and laundry dryers, the flexible connector length is normally limited to 3 feet. 6 feet is usually allowed for these equipment. Using nipples to splice or join connectors is frequently forbidden. Flexible connectors are only authorized in some jurisdictions for gas stoves, dryers, outdoor barbecues, and other semi-portable equipment. Flexible connectors may be prohibited on gas furnaces, water heaters, space heaters, and other similar appliances. Flexible connectors are more likely to be utilized on all appliances in earthquake-prone areas because they give some protection against gas piping leakage or rupture during an earthquake. To find out what is and isn’t permitted in your area, consult your local gas code.
The use of white thread seal tape (often referred to as Teflon tape) as a connecting compound for steel gas piping is not recommended. Cutting oils on the pipe threads from the manufacturing process may hinder the tape from sealing. Yellow thread seal tape is permitted in some regions. Pipe dope is favored and may be the only option available. You might wish to double-check with the gas company. Inquire about if any piping installations with thread seal tape of any color should be reported as a defect.
Although certain exceptions exist, most appliances should have a shut-off valve nearby.
The use of gas piping as a grounding mechanism for the electrical service is prohibited by most authorities. In many areas, however, bonding the gas piping to the electrical grounding system is required. This is often accomplished by connecting the gas pipe to the supply water piping (assuming it is grounded) near the water heater. We want to keep the gas piping at zero electrical potential by attaching it to the grounding system to prevent an electrical potential accumulation within it that could lead to arcing, which could ignite gas.
All of these issues have the potential to result in gas leaks and explosions.
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