Remove old gas pipes

[jacko555]

Gas meter feeds a Tee joint. One half of the Tee feeds the oven, hob and boiler. The other half feeds a spiders web of pipes throughout the house (capped ends visible and poking out in awkwards ends in pantry, kitchen, 4 fireplaces that used to has gas fires, run visible on the stairwell etc)

Can I get a gas safe registered person to cap the tee at the meter, and leave the rest "open" / vented of gas, so I can gradually start ripping it out? Nervous about touching gas pipes (even if confirmed not live).

Or do you need to cut and cap each location? Or can I just cut and hide it under floors etc. Looks like steel pipe, not copper. I've not worked with steel before.

 

[CBW]

Yes a gas safe engineer can cap at the tee at the meter, but any open ends must be sealed, as they contained gas the odourant added can lead to a false “smell of gas” situation.

 

[jacko555]

Can I "safely" uncap, cut and recap the dead pipe, to the ends terminate under the floor?
How do you cut and cap old steel gas pipes, that may contain residual gas?

 

[CBW]

If you’re sure it’s steel, they’ll be a screwed thread that will allow a cap to be screwed onto it. As long as it’s definitely dead, there’s no harm in you doing the work, as it’s considered non gas work, but like I said, just make sure they’re capped.

 

[dal5band]

Steel pipes are threaded at the ends and joined by screwing joints onto them. You'd have to unscrew it at a joint then screw on a threaded f cap or threaded m plug.

 

[jacko555]

For example

So I'd need to remove the cap, unscrew the pipe through the wall where it joins in the pantry, and recap it there?

That pipe terminates at this tee, fed from the subfloor and goes upstairs...

And where they come up under the floor, access subfloor, locate joint and relocate cap there?

None of this looks easy

 

[CBW]

None of this looks easy

Welcome to our world.

Are you not able to remove it fully?

 

[jacko555]

Are you not able to remove it fully?

I reckon large sections is possible, but, it'll involve lifting an unknown number of floorboards. Some run behind kitchen units, tiled floors.

I had hoped I could cut and cap (like with copper and compression fittings), but, locating joints to cap for inaccessible runs (and it looks like I have 2x different pipe sizes) makes this a more difficult job than originally thought.

As the pics show, there's a v.large list of house tasks to do, so this may need to wait as it looks like a higher effort job than I initially thought

 

[endecotp]

any open ends must be sealed, as they contained gas the odourant added can lead to a false “smell of gas” situation.

Would he be allowed to seal it with something that is good enough to keep the smell in but not otherwise gas safe?

 

[jacko555]

My biggest issue is, unless I can cut the iron pipes at handy places, its going to be very tricky to locate and access threaded joins.

Im guessing there will still be residual gas in the pipes, once capped. I reckon theres 20 to 30 meters of cast iron pipe, a legacy of 100yrs of "progress", running through the guts of the house. Some joins are encrusted in many layers (of probably lead paint), some buried in plaster etc.

I dont want to cut the pipes if there's risk of residual gas. I guess I could flush them (I have co2 cylinders) and vent an open end, through a hose pipe outside, but its all starting to feel a bit sketchy...

 

[Madrab]

I would advise you get a recommended RGI in to have a good look at it all and see what's feasible.

 

[jacko555]

Yes, I don't want to touch anything now.
I'll let a professional sort it

 

[CBW]

Would he be allowed to seal it with something that is good enough to keep the smell in but not otherwise gas safe?

There are products that meter changers use, I don’t know what it is or where to obtain it.