What is this pipe and who do I call!

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FNG

FNG

FNG

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Hi,

Whilst investigating a space behind a kitchen cupboard I came across this

http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/msmsmsm/media/WP_20150101_0101_zps4b0ca788.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

The pipe it is connected to goes into a concrete the floor and is around 2in wide.

The house is an old Victorian house.

I am guessing this is an old capped gas supply pipe; I have another supply coming from a newish meter outside my house which I use.

If this is a gas supply pipe who do I call about checking whether it is live or not and if it is would they cap this elsewhere; i.e. outside my house!

The pipe with the label gas on was an old internal gas pipe which is no longer connected to the supply.

The crap on the cupboard is because, up until a month or so ago, the chimney had been removed but was still open at the top...

Thanks,

Matt
 
Sounds like it was to feed other gas appliances (like the main incomer), maybe the concrete was too much trouble for a previous person and capping it was the easiest option. Can you trace where it goes towards (like a fireplace or old hob) and is it near the utility wall? Is it far from where your 'new' meter is?
 
Thanks for the help.

It simply comes up through the floor and then is capped about 1.8 meters up. I think the gas oven used to be over there in the kitchen.

The pipe going into the floor looks old and is not far from the mains water supply, which also comes straight out the floor. However, the new gas supply is the other side of the room; this pipe comes up at the joining side with the neighbours and the new meter is on my outer wall.

Am I right in thinking that as this is prior to a meter (as it is not connected to one) then it is the Gas Supply Network in my area that are responsible?

I already tried GhostBusters but the line was dead...
 
It's probably been disconnected in the road or at the edge of the path an a new main run in. Is there a reason you are worried? Why do you want it removed? Can you smell gas?
 
Looks like an old Gas main, I still have one in my house, basically it was the incoming main before they installed per house meters.
 
It is a bit in the way for what I want to do in that corner, although I could work round it.

I don't like the idea of having a live pipe not connected to anything, but I am not overly worried and can't smell gas. I think I will get the gas network suplier to do a live check if it does not cost too much. If it does I will just work around it I guess.
 
I would be very surprised if you have 2 incoming gas supplies that are both live.
However you must get it checked out before interfering with it.
If you "think" you can smell gas from it, report it, they will check it out for no cost and if it is part of your internal pipework they will tell you so.
2 birds with 1 stone as they used to say.
 
Unscrew the cap... turn handle... Not exactly difficult to tell whether it's live or not!

Just don't do it with a candle in your hand :D
 
We had one exactly the same in the middle of our cupboard under the stairs, we had our meter moved outside a few months back so I asked the chap from national grid who said it was an old supply pipe and also told me to just chop it off with an angle grinder then fill the hole with floor latex, done it no probs but did get a little hiss when I opened the tap but all was fine
 
Thanks for all the replies.
I contacted the suppliers this morning and they are coming out next week to give it a live check. Hopefully it is dead and I can angle grind it!
 
Check if live gas > if so connect a pipe to it and let gas leak outside > does new meter move with the gas consumption? > if no, call gas company and say you no longer require gas > get a gas safe engineer to re plumb your gas to this main

....

winrar?
 
Always the mystery of old houses, finding old pipes and wires and wonder where they go and what they were once used for. :)
 
My bet would be an old gas main before the meters changed.
Probably a good idea to get a gas/plumber guy inspect it.
 
LeeUK said:
Always the mystery of old houses, finding old pipes and wires and wonder where they go and what they were once used for. :)
Click to expand...

When I was at boarding school back in the 70's the old house that we actually boarded in had clearly been rewired many times over the years.

Interestingly, nobody had ever removed the "Old" wiring so all the old cables had simply been left in place right back to the original (I presume 19th century) where bare conductors were run in slotted timber channels with a capping over them.

Given the location of the property (Middle of Somerset flats) I would be certain that the original electricity would have been provided by an on site generator (And possibly a battery room#) though sadly no evidence of this remained.

(#If I was building an off grid system back in the 19th century I would make it a battery supplied DC system and only run the generator to provide heavy loads and to recharge the batteries. Indeed, I would probably do the same today having an ac inverter driven circuit only for those devices that actually need it)
 
Just a quick update. The gas man came and tested it and it is dead. He said what most people do is cut them down close to ground level, hammer them into the ground and then fill the hole with something suitable.

Is an angle grinder the right tool for the job to cut it or is there a better one that I won't maim/set myself on fire with?
 
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