British Gas can't find a leak, but one of our rooms smells of gas

[RandyTrouserman]

Hi all,

we've got a smell of gas in a garage that's currently being converted to a bedroom. The gas pipes enter the house via a cupboard in the corner of the room.

British Gas have been out twice and we've had a Gas Safe registered engineer out, but no-one can trace a leak, either inside the house or outside on the meter.

The only advise that has been offered is to dig up the floor of the garage and our 50ft drive to see if there is a leak.

So I'm thinking I should really have a gas detector in there. Prices vary hugely, can anyone recommend one? Or even another course of action. We're getting desperate.

Thanks.

RT

 

[GQuigley67]

it could be a leak on the incoming supply before the meter phone 0800 111 999 and report it.

 

[RandyTrouserman]

Hi, the meter is 25 yards at the other end of the drive. It's actually outside of out property boundary. The chaps have all tested that but no luck.

Could that still affect the smell in the house?

Cheers

 

[GQuigley67]

I don't know mate best reporting it on that number I gave you if you smell gas and they can't find it with their tightness tests etc im guessing it must be incoming supply pipe, as you can only test back to the meter not the supply pipe which supplys the meter if you know what I mean. Their tests only prove there is not a leak in your pipework so it must be the suppliers pipework underground.

 

[RandyTrouserman]

Hiya,

their pipework finishes 25-30 yards from my house at the meter. I'm told that up to the meter is british gas's reponsibility but after that it's my issue - and this is where it's been suggested the drive is taken up on the off chance that their could be a leak.

Am I right to presume that if the leaks is before the meter (ie down the other end of the drive), it wouldn't smell in the house?

Sorry to sound thick.

RT

 

[Plumbstar Tom]

doubt full to be able to smell it from that far away and if you could it ones hell of a leak and smell would get stronger the closer you get to it

Try turning all gas appliances off and viewing the meter reading then checking the meter reading an hour or two later

Ensure no pilot lights are lite on boiler also when you do this

 

[RandyTrouserman]

Will do Tom, thanks.

There no smell at all from outside, so I'm presuming the pipes leading to the meter are sound.

If I turned everything off for a day and there was a leak, would I notice a difference in the readings or does it have to be a longer period of time?

Ta

 

[PlumbingSucks]

When you say " no one can trace a leak" do you mean that bg and engineers tests show there is no leak on the pipework or their tests show there is a leak but they cannot locate it?

 

[Bernie2]

I once evacuated a sheltered housing complex because of a smell of gas. The same thing, drop test on house okay. But still smell of gas.

BG came out and we checked the adjoining properties, no leak, but still smell of gas. It was eventually found 1/4 mile away under a road.

You just don't know do you? In your instance, if you test your pipework from the meter back into your house and it shows no leak, then its got to be somewhere else.

 

[RandyTrouserman]

Thanks Bernie, I think!

We have a couple of foot of pipe work coming up out of the ground into the house, then our internal pipework - it splits to the boiler and the oven.

If it's not in that little lot, does that mean the drive has to come up? Or is there a test above the ground that shows where a beneath the ground leak may be?

Cheers

 

[Bartdude]

This happened in my home town,on the gas main. If you can smell gas and your pipework has been proven sound then get them round again. It needs to be found.

THE cause of a devastating gas blast which nearly cost a mother and son their lives has been revealed in a report into the explosion.

 

[RandyTrouserman]

Bartdude,

They've been out twice before and tested and found no fault, I open the windows as they say and so there's no smell when they come round.

What can I do to force their hand?

RT

 

[smillsey]

They being british gas?

 

[RandyTrouserman]

I was told, it was over to me and I had to get a Gas Safe engineer out. Did this, at my cost and he said he couldn't find owt.

I'm concerned that BG will say it's my issue again and I have no other option but to take the drive up. I know it's going to be small change compared to the house going up, but it'll cost a small fortune and there's no guarantee that's where it is.

Can I ask BG to do something different than the normal tests? They draw blanks.

Cheers

 

[franky]

The gas safe guy must of done a test at the meter I'm guessing there was a drop on his manometer, otherwise why would he say to dig up your drive?
Can you get him back to cap the pipe going into your house and just check the pipe running under your drive before doing anything drastic otherwise your going to have to start shouting at BG threaten to report their engineers to the Health and Safety Executive for leaving you in a dangerous situation

 

[oldplumber]

if your pipework has been proven to be sound and safe then call transco who pipe the mains gas and report the smell of gas to them, they have to respond. BG is no longer the carrier of gas just a supplier if that makes sense so they dont care once they have checked their meter is ok.

 

[RandyTrouserman]

Thanks chaps, think this will come down to me having to shout to get heard.

Sorry it was Tranco that cams out, not British Gas, getting my utilities mixed up there.

Have just spoken to a friend of a friend who's a plumber and he says the utilities have overground sniffer devices that they use. Saves me drive being dug up.

Thanks again, I'll report my findings.

RT

 

[oldplumber]

if the engineers have proved none of your pipework/appliances are leaking, and transco have checked their supplies get in a friendly plumber with a sniffer to make you feel better, then if thats clear buy an a freshener and stop worrying.

 

[kirkgas]

it could be a broken drain somewhere, methane is methane

 

[RandyTrouserman]

There's a thought, we're not on mains drains, we've a septic tank.

Could it be from that?

 

[GQuigley67]

methane doesn't have a smell they add a chemical to it to give it that distinctive smell so you can detect a leak.

 

[GQuigley67]

isnt that sulphur ?

 

[kirkgas]

it wouldnt be the first time a gas guy has been called to a "smell of gas i think" for it to be traced to a broken drain with the sub floor completed flooded with raw sewage, given the work all ready carried out, and the fact there is a smell, it MUST be coming from somewhere,

 

[kirkgas]

methane doesn't have a smell they add a chemical to it to give it that distinctive smell so you can detect a leak.

i appreciate that, but the transporter adds "something" to piped gas so we can smell it, and we add "something" to our gas and as a by product when you are near a choked manhole you can smell it as well, either way up it is possible a broken drain or dampness is causing the smell

 

[buster gonads]

I once had the corgi inspector to a house after the owner could smell gas but there was no drop on the test, turned out to be some dog food that had gone off, apparently rotton veg can also give off a gas like smell, have you stored any food in the garage in the past, just a thought.

 

[GQuigley67]

Methane itself does not have an especially pungent odor, making it nearly impossible to detect leaks via sense of smell alone. Thus, a foul-smelling compound is added to methane before it's used commercially, for safety reasons.

I know that mate I mentioned it earlier in the post

as for kirkgas yeh I know what you mean I think its when it is mixed with hydrogen sulphite that gives it the eggy smell, which is a form of sulphur I think I'm not 100% sure.

 

[GQuigley67]

methane doesn't have a smell naturally it gives that eggy smell when mixed with hydrogen sulphite(sulphur i believe) which is produced naturally in our bowels.. So a combination of the 2 produces the eggy smell, methane on its own doesn't have a smell or if it does we can't detect it. That's my 2 cents anyhow may not be correct but I'm not a scientist I'm a Plumber

 

[kirkgas]

whatever you sound like you will get a slap for your language, thats a certainty

 

[REDSAW]

i believe its ethyl butyl however its spelt.

 

[Bernie2]

ethyl butyl I think I knew a woman called that once!

Anyway ask Transco to run there sniffer over it. It does seem a bit of an unusual way of doing things to me. If you report a leak, Transco usually test your gas carcass and if a drop is found they shut and cap it off or tell you to get a Gas Safe guy in to find where the leak is.

But if your carcass is okay, they get their sniffers out and start to explore their mains supply.

 

[cobra]

just a guess- could it be radon gas that naturally occurs from underground in some parts of country. contact council to find out i think they should know on their plans etc

 

[ecowarm]

This is an old thread but RADON is odorless, tasteless and colourless gas and is produced by rotting uranium, it is also radioactive so I would suggest it is not the problem.

 

[Spanner2k7]

Anyway ask Transco to run there sniffer over it. It does seem a bit of an unusual way of doing things to me. If you report a leak, Transco usually test your gas carcass and if a drop is found they shut and cap it off or tell you to get a Gas Safe guy in to find where the leak is.

I had a problem with one where I moved a gas pipe in the kitchen, tested before I went home, everything was fine. The next the sparky was in re-wiring the kitchen, took the floor up and could smell gas, so the foreman rang me, could I go and have a look whilst I was in the same street, went around put a drop test on and it was fine, but there was defernitly a smell of gas, and my sniffer was picking it up.

The foreman came around and asked if I found anything, I told the u gauge had been on half an hour and probably dropped 1mb.

We had a look around and could not find anything until I realised, that was timber framed house and on the back of the kitchen was next doors kitchen, so I suggested the leak was coming from there, and the foreman agreed and we called transco. The next door void property which we could not get access.

Transco came out with there £1500 sniffer and said they could not detect any trace off gas.

Two weeks later, the goes into the void property, and theres a strong smell of gas coming from the cooker hose. God knows how long that was leaking, and could you imagine the consequences if that went up

 

[midge]

Also look in all the nooks and crannies for a dead rat or mouse

 

[andyplumber]

i had a job years ago where i was getting a 10mb drop on the installation so i capped the meter off with a disk and replaced the gas supply to the boiler and cooker as most of it was lead, did a tightness test again still a drop so i called transco and capped it again. they came out used their sniffer and couldn't find a leak so he did a tightness test and he said it must be on the installation, he packed up and as he was leaving i forgot i left the disk in the meter union so the tightness test we did was meter only, tuned out it was the seam on the meter after he replaced it it was spot on.. So it go to show that transco don't check everything they just detect a leak on a drop test and assume it the pipework.