Screw through gas pipe

ort67 · 20 Jun 2018

Not DIY but I thought I'd share it anyway.

Got home to find a Gas Emergency worker frantically checking the stairwell in my block of flats for a leak of gas as someone had reported a strong smell of gas.

That afternoon workers had been installing fibre optic cabling and secured a wooden panel back on the wall that screw that was too long resulting in the screw going right through the gas main as shown in the photo below.

Luckily the Gas Emergency worker found it before the it reached an ignition source. Could have been a disaster.

View media item 101533

blup · 20 Jun 2018

Why not let your landlord know and inform fire and rescue, I'm willing to bet they will interested in the fire safety implications.

Blup

Ian H · 21 Jun 2018

After they fix it stick one of these on it

conny · 23 Jun 2018

Many years ago I was helping my ex father in law to relay some floor boards after we had been doing some work in his house.
Some of the short boards had 3 screw holes each end so we went round putting screws in the outer edges. Comes to the last board and we had 2 screws left. Yep, he decides to put one in each end through the centre hole. He got one in but was struggling to get the other one in so asked me to tap it with a hammer and give it a go. Light tap with a hammer and it screws in with ease. Sitting back having a cuppa and a fag and we both realise we can smell gas. Suddenly we are both down on our hands and knees sniffing to find the leak, not realising we are still smoking! Found the leak by hearing the hissing and yes it was the screw I had put in for him. THEN we remembered we were smoking! LOL. Rushed out the room to put the fags out and also turn the gas off at the mains. He repaired it by pushing a small clout nail into the hole, (the screw had only penetrated through the top of the pipe), then sweated a big lump of solder over the pipe and nail. It was still there more than 30 years later when he sold up and had had the pressure tested a number of times over the years.

cdbe · 6 Jul 2018

Many years ago I plumbed my new washing machine with one of those self cutting taps that clamp round the copper pipe under the worktop and screws in:

I was feeling quite pleased with myself until I couldn't get the washing machine going. It was only when I started to smell gas that I realized the error of my ways!!!

john4703 · 6 Jul 2018

conny said:
Many years ago . . . then sweated a big lump of solder over the pipe and nail. It was still there more than 30 years later when he sold up and had had the pressure tested a number of times over the years.

A memory of mine from many years ago is fitting a gas fire for a friend, tight budget so we had bought exactly what we needed. He put a nail through the new copper pipe.
We turned off the gas, undid that section and he sat on the floor with his finger over the end of the pipe while I used the gas cooker to heat up the damaged section and soldered the hole closed, he and his family lived in that flat for many years with no leaks.

Keithmac · 6 Jul 2018

cdbe said:
Many years ago I plumbed my new washing machine with one of those self cutting taps that clamp round the copper pipe under the worktop and screws in:

View attachment 144346

I was feeling quite pleased with myself until I couldn't get the washing machine going. It was only when I started to smell gas that I realized the error of my ways!!!

Quality!.

JBR · 6 Jul 2018

cdbe said:
Many years ago I plumbed my new washing machine with one of those self cutting taps that clamp round the copper pipe under the worktop and screws in:

View attachment 144346

I was feeling quite pleased with myself until I couldn't get the washing machine going. It was only when I started to smell gas that I realized the error of my ways!!!

Excellent! That's one of the funniest things I've seen on here for some time!

Robbox · 24 Jan 2019

Even more years ago, my brother was studying at the local art school and mentioned he could smell gas, so he got out his lighter to have look.....

FiremanT · 12 Feb 2019

First timeI have looked in here.

"Bodger ****s R Us" springs to mind. And so proud.

dave163 · 13 Sep 2019

Many moons back I was living in a semidetached 1920s house. Came back one evening to an overwhelmingly strong smell of gas upstairs in the landing (fortunately detected before turning on the lights!) Opened all the windows, called the gas board. Engineer comes out, gets all the floorboards up, can't find any leak but advises us to sleep with windows open and not turn on any lights until he returns in the morning.

Next day, same thing. Overwhelming smell of gas, engineer comes out, floorboards up (again), no trace of a leak.

After a while he has a brainwave. "Are your neighbours in?"

Pops next door. Slightly embarrassed neighbour fesses up that he was doing some DIY the previous day and drove a nail through one of his gas pipes. He turned the gas off at his main tap overnight but turned it back on again in the morning to cook his breakfast and was planning to nip out later in the day to pick up a new bit of pipe but hadn't yet got around to doing so.

bernardgreen · 13 Sep 2019

Pub landlord blows up telephone exchange November 14th 1962

https://tlhs.org.uk/Ray_Altham_telephone_exchange.htm

and

https://tlhs.org.uk/takeley_telephone_exchange_explo.htm

Mottie · 13 Sep 2019

Many years ago a not particularly bright friend of mine smelt gas near his meter so he called in the Gas board. According to him, the engineer found a rubber washer on the floor near the meter that had fallen out when he was spinning his gas meter round to make it run backwards.

rds60h · 16 Sep 2019

Ian H said:
After they fix it stick one of these on it
View attachment 143603

This reminds me of the time my brother who was a tool-maker decided to play a trick on his foreman; he got a tobacco tin, cut a hole in the bottom large enough to put his finger through then lined the tin (and around his finger) with cotton wool and squirted tomato sauce around the area where his finger was then loosely put the lid back on. He then went up to his foreman and said "I'm afraid I've had a little accident" and then took the lid off the tin to show the foreman................the foreman promptly passed out, which was not exactly the reaction he wanted but it gave a few other workers that were round about a good laugh.

ericmark · 24 Sep 2019

Not gas but water, I screwed floor boards down (dad's house) and a screw when through the central heating pipe, it was 3 months before it started to leak, and of course one screw out water everywhere. Since only central heating finger stopped leak, but then needed to get some one to turn off water to drain system before I could solder up the hole. Could not believe it lasted so long, second central heating leak my house fitted all central heating been running for at least 2 years, and then a bit of flux came off and water leak, just when last child was born and was flying to Algeria next day, lucky it was not a day latter of house would have been flooded.

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Screw through gas pipe

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