There is an abandonded 3/4 galvanized pipe that is capped and comes thru my basement foundation toward the back of the property.

The water main enters the home in the front 50' from this abandonded pipe from the street. The gas enters the house with a 1" pipe (I think) on the opposite side of this pipe from the street.

I think it may have been a gas line out to a grill but being that it is encased in a cement foundation I am unclear, seems like a lotta work for a barbaque.

So my questions.....

Should I be concerned that this pipe is under pressure even though both utilities are not in this vicinity?

Would the utility, whether its water or gas, ever get changed and then they would mearly cap a live gas line or water line that used to serve the property? If that was the case, is it safe to assume they would terminate that line completely and it would no longer be under pressure?

House was built in the late 50's... I assume both water and gas would have been metered at that time correct?

The utilities would not leave a pressurized line, that you could connect to, as a "dead" line. But there is also no way, without removing, or loosening, the cap to tell if it is pressurized and if so what is in it.

If this was in your basement, would you mess with it or just assume and leave it be?

Good question and the answer is, "I don't know". I suppose it would depend on whether it was in the way of something.

I dug down 10" from ground level on the outside. It appears to be 3/4" where it comes thru the foundation but it connects to a 1/2" pipe of some kind.

I cant tell what material it is, its seems to be coated in rubber

I was hoping it was just cut on the otherside but it appears to lead somewhere.

Old gas main wouldn't be buried only 10" correct?

Who would I call about this? Its not connected to the gas meter or water meter that is currently serving the property.



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quote; Old gas main wouldn't be buried only 10" correct?

"mains" wouldn't be, but gas lines to lights or barbeques could be.

can you get us a picture of the 1/2" black coated pipe. someone may be able to identify it.

Its probably from a barbeque or light as stated.

However, if it was the old main or riser, say there was an indoor meter.... would the main supply into the house be 1/2" to 3/4" like that?

Im guessing no since my gas main is 1".....

I called the locator out, I know they only will locate public utilities so that might not be any good here.... if they don't show anything connected to the gas meter... should I just forget about it and assume it went outside to an appliance from the inside of the house?

If it was an issue, that means it would be a pressurized line not regulated by a meter/utility... going INTO my house... is that unlikely?

even if it is a pressurized line coming into the house, 99.999% of them have a shut off outside by the curb on in the street. this would have been shut and never turned on until it had a meter installed.
also the fact that it is 1/2 inch pipe is a dead giveaway that it went to a fixture outside.
the last piece of evidence i will present is that it is only 10 inches deep. anyone bringing it in from the street would never put it that shallow but someone running it to an outdoor fixture might be more inclined to do so..
i rest my case..

I was thinking the same things but wanted to hear it from you.

So I shouldn't be paranoid and think the cap is going to come flying off and spew raw gas into the house under un-regulated pressure? Not to mention this gas would not be treated with mercapatan, so I would have no warning of pending doom.



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It depends on WHO the locator is. There are locators who only check for utilities up to a meter. They are the ones the 800-***** refer to in the public service announcements and are free. There are other, however do find the lines "inside" your property lines which are not utilities. These you pay for.

In my area (Virginia) the way it works:

Quote from Google: "Virginia 811 is the free " one call " Virginia communications center for excavators, contractors, PROPERTY OWNERS and those planning ANY kind of excavation (digging) or demolition. WE NOTIFY participating utilities of the upcoming excavation work so they can locate and mark THEIR underground facilities." -- "In addition, calling 811 BEFORE you dig is the LAW." (In VA)

You (OP) say you have already called the "locator" out, IMO that SHOULD go a long way to ease your concerns, and I believe you do understand how they work. (Cover your previous dig ------- (Don't you have to dig to plant a tree or something!)

EXAMPLE: Recently my existing underground telephone line needed to be replaced - due to age and water intrusion. As I am the original one and only builder I "knew" ONLY two things were in the way. A buried electrical wire to a shed AND a LONG copper oil line (tank to house) which were installed AFTER the original phone line installation -- but the NEW replacement line would now cross.. Because both of the items were "mine" it was up to ME to ID them. Even the telephone Co took no responsibility to ID "MY" lines. I could have just let them "sew" their wire and cut my lines and say "Opps" -- but that would have caused ME to much trouble. The telephone Co "Marked" their intended run and I personally located, dug & exposed both the wire and the copper line where they would cross. I knew about where they were and a contractor "locator" would have cost several hundred $. Now I have several pieces of 3/4 PVC pipe vertically installed to the top of soil line where the lines cross to ID the location.

SO if all "Official" utilities sign OK for your "strategically" located "tree" dig you should feel a little more at ease -- there "Should" be no gas, water line etc in THAT area. (At least that is the way it would work here.)

Sorry for the long post - But Kentucky just lost the good fight to UCon - and I wanted to be a little positive about something. (Although from VA I had to go with my neighboring State.) (I know there is at least one happy plumber on this site from Connecticut.)

Thanks.

The 811 will locate public utilities.

The bottom line on this pipe. It is not connected to my gas meter. If it was under pressure it would be connected BEFORE my meter/regulator and be on the utilities side. I would imagine that would be a huge liability issue and is unlikely... after all.... they aren't giving me gas for free!