shovelshort

I want to tuck the main gas line coming into my house up into the floor joists so I can finish my basement/ceiling. This is purely for aesthetics. However, the builder never put in a coupling anywhere in the line. I am only a few feet inside the house from the meter (as far as where I need to make alterations to tuck pipe). A friend says that I will have to begin at the meter and start taking things apart until I get to where I need to be. Problem, we are in the middle of a cold snowy winter.

My question is this: is a builder / contractor required to put one or more couplings in line for future repair work? or is this purely courtesy?

glennjanie

Call it courtesy or CYA ( I may be the one to make the changes) I like to put a union in occasionally. Some plumbers don't like unions because they have to be exactly in line and exact fit to keep them from leaking; no unions, no problems.
You may cut the line where ever you need to make a change, take the pipe from each side of the cut and have the local hardware store to thread them and cut one side in two pieces, threaded and include a union. This allows you to insert what ever you need without having to unscrew the whole house of pipe. Caution:be sure you cut out some pipe to allow for the extra fittings you are installing.
Glenn

shovelshort

Excellent! Thank you very much. This should save me a lot of work. Much appreciated.

Daryl

make sure to check your connections and union with a soap solution for leaks after install !!

shovelshort

One more quick question. Does it matter if I put the union on the inside or the outside of the house? Just wandering if temperature changes will make the union expand and leak.

glennjanie

Temperature changes won't hurt the union but it will hurt my feelings to have to go outside and work on it someday later. I prefer to have a main gas valve and several unions inside the house.
Glenn

shovelshort

Ok, I put it inside. Just seems to me that if something is going to leak, it will be the union and I wanted that to happen outside. It doesn't matter, I didn't have enough room between meter and outside wall to do it anyway.