gas pipes

My gas meter is inside the house on a high shelf. Just after mains pipe leaves meter there is a newer spur which heads down the wall. At floor level that newer pipe divides again, one pipe leading along skirting to gas boiler and the other going under floorboards. As far as I can tell the pipe under the floorboards heads along in the direction of the gas cooker in next room. It might then continue under another room and on to the gas fire in my lounge (the boiler, cooker and gas fire are all in a line against an external wall).

Would there be any easy way of me finding if they are all connected in series to the one pipe without lifting floorboards (problems of eg new vinyl on top of new 3-ply on top of old vinyl tiles on top of floorboards)? Would any of these handheld pipe/cable detecting/tracing devices work through this lot?

Scenario is that gas mains in street are being replaced and they=92re putting in a new external meter and pipe to house. Where our internal pipe divides after the old meter the old pipe is embedded down the wall and goes I know not where but there will be several terminated connections under the floorboards where there was evidence of gas connections when I got the house thirty years ago. Since we only now need the boiler, cooker, and fire it would be good if this old pipework could now be completely excluded.

Will the gas engineer have any easy means of tracing the two pipe systems, or is it just a question waiting for them to do the new connection and finding out then?

Any info appreciated Thanks Toom

Reply to
Toom Tabard
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They will install the new meter outside and run a pipe from that to the existing outlet at your current meter, that is to say, they won't remove floorboards, skirtings or anything else, whatever is connected to your meter now will be connected to your new one. If you want the old carcasses removing, it's your resposibility to remove them, although, if they aren't leaking, I can't see any advantage of having them taken out at the expense of replacing floor tiles / laminate / etc

HTH

Reply to
Phil L

Thanks for that. The point, however, is that if everything I use is connected to the newer spur, which is very near the meter outlet, then it would both easier and neater for them to connect direct to that. That would mean all the old pipework would be disconnected. I wouldn't bother removing the old unused (if that's what they are) pipes. What I'm looking for is how to trace the route of the newer pipe and/or check that all the existing stuff is connected to it, without lifting the flooring.

Toom

Reply to
Toom Tabard

The obvious solution would be to break the connection between old and new, and see what happens when you add pressure to just the new. If it holds, and feeds each appliance, then you have your answer.

Reply to
John Rumm

To find out which pipe is which, I believe BES sell a hand-pump bulb & Y-adapter for manometer.

The general rule is they will reconnect within 2m of existing pipework, more than that requires a local gas crew - perhaps it is different for a meter move. I assume you have checked where they are putting the new meter - it could be at the front of the house and thus you have both a long run and pressure drop to consider. 28mm Yellow Ochre Tracpipe is ?35mm? outer diameter and going to look quite chunky outside on a wall :-)

I think there is a "Tracpipe for burial" but it is USA, HK, Japan, Canada only - I do not think it has UK approval?

Reply to
js.b1

Thanks. I expected it would need something like that. Just wanted to be sure there wasn't any easy way an amateur could investigate it. Meantime I've collared the foreman on the roadworks for the gas pipe replacement and he's asked their fitter to come tomorrow and have an early look. That might give me a few days if I need/want to get a private contractor to investigate.

Regards Toom

Reply to
Toom Tabard

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