gas pipe rust and paint - which paint to use? should I use inhibitor?

When my house was built (about three years ago), the builders neglected to paint the gas pipe on my side of my meter and that pipe has now developed a nice coat of surface rust (it's normal black gas pipe). The pipe on the gas company's side of the meter was painted and looks the same as when I moved in.

(1) Is the rust/rusty color a problem and something I should correct? The rest of the houses on my street (built during the past 1-5 years) are in a similar situation.

(2) I assume that I should paint over the rusty-looking pipe so it doesn't corode or develop into a problem. What is the appropiate paint to use here?

Thanks.

Reply to
Jeff Six
Loading thread data ...

Use a rust inhibitor like Extend. You spray it on and it turns the rust black. Then spray it with some Rust O Lium.

Reply to
snapperhead

Paint it if it gives you a warm fuzzy feeling. The chances that it will rust through in your life time is pretty slim. I have seen alot of gas pipe that is 30-40 years old, that other than the nice coating of rust, is in good condition. Code in our area now requires it to be painted, but I have installed a ton of pipe that was not painted, before the codes changed. Greg

Reply to
Greg O

The only real problem is cosmetic, however, a couple of coats of Rustoleum can't hurt. Just make sure you wire brush and/or sand the pipe thoroughly before priming and painting.

Matt

Reply to
Matt Whiting

My 15 year old gas pipe rusted out, so it is certainly possible.

Reply to
toller

When I put an addition on my house 15 years ago local code required wrapping iron pipe in plastic to protect it. It might be worth a call to your building department to see what they required 3 years ago. There might be a big lawsuit brewing, if the contractor is still in business.

Reply to
toller

Go chase your ambulances somewhere else.

Matt

Reply to
Matt Whiting

How many years do you think it would take to rust through?

Reply to
3rd eye

The pipe on the gas company's side isn't painted, its poly coated.

JTMcC.

Reply to
JTMcC

What was the circumstances? Low to the ground? Underground? Sea side? It is not impossible for it to rust out, just unusual. Greg

Reply to
Greg O

Where it enters the meter it is plain old painted pipe. Below the shut off where it comes out of the ground it is more than likely poly pipe with a steel jacket! Greg Greg

Reply to
Greg O

brush the rust off with a steel brush, prime with an exterior metal primer and then paint with a paint compatible with the primer of a color you like. No magic, just painting metal.

Reply to
pet

The connection to the meter is probably painted, but the line from the hot tap to the riser is most likely poly coated steel pipe. All underground gas piping is either coated or taped these days. Even if you have a plastic service from the main, the riser will probably be coated steel Where in the world are gas companies putting a steel jacket on plastic pipe??

JTMcC.

Reply to
JTMcC

Hanging from a deck on the northside of my house. Probably took a while to dry out after it got wet; but it did rust out.

Reply to
toller

All over the US! Running steel pipe underground is getting to be a thing of the past. The poly, not plastic, polyethylene actually, pipe is direct buried in the ground. The poly pipe is connected to a "riser" that is nothing more than a poly pipe with a steel protective jacket. The poly runs right through to the fitting. The steel jacket does nothing more than ward off weed trimmers, hungry dogs and the like. I have actually installed a fair bit of under ground myself, and have been around when the gas company does their side of the meter. On my job we use the same pipe the gas company uses. Greg

Reply to
Greg O

I think wrapping or coating is only required if the pipe is going to be buried, though I could be wrong and checking certainly isn't a bad idea. The gas company may be a better and quicker source of info.

A condo complex where I used to live had black pipe that was not properly coated and was buried from the meter till the point where it went inside the unit. The builder pulled all kinds of short cuts. In the case of the gas pipe, it was clear that after the pipe was installed, they just poured the tar sealing compound over the top of the pipe as it was laying in the trench. The top of the pipe was coated, but not the bottom.

I would never believe this if I had not seen it myself. Within 5 years, the gas pipes were all failing from corrosion. I held pieces of it in my hands and the bottom of it had so many holes, it looked like swiss cheese. One would think that if it were not properly coated it might fail at some point, but I would never think it would occur that quickly. I can only guess that it may have been some real cheap foreign import, which may have made it fail even faster. We wound up replacing the pipes in 120 units.

Reply to
Chet Hayes

Gas company just replaced all their pipe in our neighborhood this year. The installers painted the pipes at the outdoor meter with utility gray Krylon spray. They left a carton of six cans behind in my yard. Need some?

Reply to
SJF

Poly = plastic.

Matt

Reply to
Matt Whiting

Absolutely not true, plastic gas line is used in applications under 99 psi, almost always. We weld miles and miles of steel gas line every year, from low pressure up to around 1200 psi. From 3/4" to 36" 1.250 wall.

What you call poly is plastic. Everyone else calls it PE.

The poly pipe is connected to a "riser" that is nothing more than a

I've never seen a plastic riser in a steel sleeve, I've seen hundreds of pe/steel transition risers. But that doesn't mean some utilities don't do it that way I suppose.

I've installed hundreds of miles, 99% of it on the high pressure side of the meter. Underground gas line is poly coated, or taped. The meter installer will generaly paint everything thats not gas company grey after piping his meter.

Reply to
JTMcC

Here in Belgium the regulations say it must be painted bright yellow! The installers have to paint it that color before the mas from the gas co will sign it off.

Reply to
CWatters

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.