Gas supply reline/replacement

ptarmigan · 29 Jun 2014

We have had a letter from National Grid saying that they will be replacing or lining the gas pipe from the street to meter which is sited under the stairs on the floor with the electricity meter above,they say they may have to resite the meter for safety reasons and would guess that the front of house is favourite but being in a corner terrace only have the front door and a 4/5Ft wooden panel as frontage.
Having seen photos of some installs with surface mounted pipes all over the place along with just having redecorated hall and new floor we dont really want fancy that,if mounted on the front at some time in the future what happens when the front door and frame needs replacing? can see they are going to use the safety angle to move the meter if they cannot get the plastic pipe through it but are the regs retrospective?
Looks like the incoming pipe is iron,so to sum up:
1,is the meter siting under the stairs ok,house built late 60s early 70s.
2 can they fix it ouside on the wooden panel.
BTW the contractor they are using is TRIIO
Thanks.

Hugh Jaleak · 29 Jun 2014

IIRC they are not allowed any pipework within the building that cannot be isolated, so new meter would have to go on an external wall. External surface mounted meter box would be needed at a suitable position, then new pipework would have to be run into the property.

Appreciate it's not ideal, but you cannot risk a gas leak whereby the supply cannot be isolated without excavating outside to access the service.

doitall · 29 Jun 2014

The meter could go in a box in the ground at the front, you'll still need to run a pipe into the house to connect the appliances

http://www.travisperkins.co.uk/p/mitras-semi-buried-gas-meter-box-transco/826321/21138358

ptarmigan · 29 Jun 2014

Hugh,
So you are saying that current regs ARE retrospective,so when we come to renew the front doorframe and side panel they will do it for free or charge a bundle to disconnect remove then re-connect?
Had a look at the supply pipe and it is 1 1/4 od so what are the chances they would have had a hydraulic bender on site or just threaded it and stuck an elbow on for the part that comes vertically to the meter,they cannot mount a box even in the corner of the neighbours as there is a drain pipe on the wall.
We are trying to avoid wall mounted pipes but if they have a bend in the pipe rather than an elbow they can feed it to the meter,realise you said that it possibly be isolated externally but all it says in the paperwork is to line the pipe to the meter if this is not possible they will have to resite meter.

footprints · 29 Jun 2014

Just ring them and insist that somebody comes down to discuss the meter position, then make sure you are at home when the work is done. If you need the meter moved at a later date for whatever reason the bill will run into hundreds, so make sure you get a suitable position first time.

OwainDIYer · 29 Jun 2014

They might not resite the meter or even repipe it if the supply pipe from the main to your house is adequate.

Hugh Jaleak · 29 Jun 2014

I think you would need to check with National Grid, but their guy told me they were not allowed to have pipework inside the building that cannot be isolated. (My meter is under the stairs, and although the installation dates from Town gas days, they wont touch it unless it develops a fault or starts leaking......).

They wont touch an existing metal service other than to cut through it, new services are often inserted through the old pipes to avoid a lot of digging. I am unsure what the problem is regarding the door and frame? If new pipework needs to be run from a new meter position into the house then it should be arranged so door/frame could be removed without disturbing the pipe.

If this isn't suitable (or you don't wish) for a meter to be fixed here then look at the semi buried meter boxes in doitalls link. However, I am pretty sure these are not suitable for housing the prepayment type meters should that be required.

doitall · 29 Jun 2014

OwainDIYer said:
They might not resite the meter or even repipe it if the supply pipe from the main to your house is adequate.

They are re-lining the steel pipe with a plastic tube.

They push a draw wire through the pipe.

Scrub the inside of the pipe with a wire brush.

Pull the liner through the pipe.

Re-Connect both ends.

Its a program thats been going on for years, normally takes a couple of hours

Dan Robinson · 29 Jun 2014

Then they'll discover they have kinked the pipe along the run but bugger off anyway leaving you with a poorly functioning boiler.

Hugh Jaleak · 29 Jun 2014

They also have a habit of 'forgetting' which ones they've done.... Several times I've been on a job where a steel service pipe has been uncovered, and the gas man reckoned it was dead. Pulled it out the way with the JCB only to find it had an insertion running through it.

Those gas men can run when they need to......

ptarmigan · 29 Jun 2014

Footprints,
Gave them a call and a dippy teleop has arranged for someone to call me back in the week although i specified an engineer but can't see that happening,Hugh the problem with the door/panel and frame is that it wood and will need replacing in the next couple of years,the bloke i spoke to this afternoon confirmed that i would have to pay for them to remove and replace box,there is no other place on the front it could be mounted as the frontage is 6Ft wide(corner terrace) not leprechauns!

OwainDIYer · 29 Jun 2014

If it's the same as when they did mine, closer to the date they will postcard the houses with the supervising engineer's name and mobile phone number for any queries with the works.

Once they have dug a hole where your supply tees off the main they should know if you need a new supply pipe and will contact you, or you can contact them at this stage.

ptarmigan · 3 Jul 2014

Had a word with the blokes doing the work and they took a look and said sometimes with a corner terrace they have one feed with the others coming off it,he looked at the meter location and said there is a fairly good chance they can do it but until it's been located nothing is 100% although depending on appliances/usage they can run a smaller diameter pipe,looks like this will be non stop bacon sarnies and tea and biccys,just to make sure they are not hungry you understand! will keep advised of outcome.

OwainDIYer · 4 Jul 2014

ptarmigan said:
looks like this will be non stop bacon sarnies

Not if you've got a gas cooker it won't be ...

Agile · 4 Jul 2014

Try not to let them use an undersized pipe!

It may be adequate at the moment but when you upgrade your boiler then it will not be and they will want yo to pay to upsize it.

Warn them you are expecting a 36 kW combi boiler replacement soon.

Tony

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Gas supply reline/replacement

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