Do Plumbers Work on Gas Lines? What to Do When the Gas Company Locks Your Meter

Before anything else: gas companies add an odor to natural gas so a leak can be noticed, and most people describe it as rotten eggs. If you smell it inside your home, get everyone out of the house. Don't flip light switches on or off, don't use your phone inside, don't light anything, and don't go looking for the leak yourself.

Once you're outside and away from the house, call your gas company or 911. Simply Plumbing is not an emergency service, and a plumber should never be your first call when you smell gas. The gas company or fire department makes the house safe. The plumber's job starts after that.

A lot of people are surprised to learn this, but gas piping is a normal part of a plumber's work. At Simply Plumbing, we run new lines and repair existing ones in homes across Murfreesboro and the surrounding area. Our gas line services cover the whole system on your side of the meter.

That includes new lines for a gas range, dryer or water heater, lines out to a grill, fire pit or outdoor kitchen, and replacing old or damaged sections of pipe. It also includes upgrades. Gas tankless water heaters can use more gas than the tank they replace, so a tankless water heater installation sometimes means upsizing the line that feeds it. And it includes a call we get more often than you might expect: the gas company found a leak, locked the meter, and now the house has no gas.

When you report a gas smell, the gas company sends a technician to check for a leak. If the leak is on their side, they fix it. If it's on your side of the meter, somewhere in the house piping, a fitting, a valve or an appliance connection, they'll typically shut the gas off at the meter and put a lock on it.

The lock is there for your safety. It keeps anyone from turning the gas back on while there's still a leak in the house. Gas companies generally don't repair the piping inside your home, so the lock stays on until a plumber finds and fixes the problem. Whatever you do, don't try to remove the lock or turn the gas back on yourself.

Losing gas usually means no hot water, no stove and, in colder months, possibly no heat. That's why it helps to know the next steps before you need them.

The first job is finding the leak. If the gas company tech pointed to a specific spot, that's a head start. If not, the plumber works through the system, testing the piping and checking the fittings, valves and appliance connectors where leaks most often show up. Some leaks are easy to find. Others take patience, which is where good troubleshooting matters.

Once the leak is found, it gets repaired. That might mean replacing a single fitting, a worn appliance connector, a valve, or a damaged section of pipe. After the repair, the system is tested to confirm it holds pressure with no leaks.

Then the gas company comes back to unlock the meter and restore service, and your appliances get relit. Depending on your gas company and the size of the repair, they may want a passing pressure test or a permit inspection before they turn the gas back on, so ask what they need when you call to schedule.

It depends on the leak. A loose fitting or a bad connector behind the range can be found and fixed fairly quickly. A leak hidden in a wall or a line that runs underground takes longer to track down and repair. After that, you're also waiting on the gas company's schedule to come back out and restore service.

You can speed things up by having a few details ready when you call a plumber: what the gas company told you, where they found the leak if they said, and any tag or paperwork the technician left behind. Those details help the plumber show up ready for the job.

If the gas company has locked your meter, Simply Plumbing can help. There's no service fee for us to come out. We find the leak, explain what's wrong, and give you a price before any repair work starts. Nothing happens without your OK.

We're open Monday through Friday from 7am to 6pm and Saturday from 8am to 3pm. Call or text (931) 993-2525, or request service online and someone from our team will get back to you to set up a time.