A gas smell in Boiling Springs gets the same first response as anywhere else: get everyone outside, leave the doors as they are, and call Piedmont Natural Gas at 800-752-7504 or 911 once you are well away from the house. If your home runs on propane, call 911 and your propane supplier.
The leaks we find in this area look different from the ones in century-old houses. The piping is younger, so rusted steel is rare. What fails instead are the connections: appliance connectors, fittings at a fireplace key valve, CSST fittings that were not seated right, and buried yard lines that someone hit while landscaping.
Once the utility has shut off the gas and tagged the problem, we track down every leak on your side of the meter, repair it, pressure-test the system and relight your appliances. The phone is answered around the clock.
Common leak points in newer homes
In houses built since the 1990s, gas piping is often CSST run from a manifold near the meter, with black steel at the appliances. The tubing itself rarely leaks. The joints, valves and connectors at each end are where we spend our time.
- Flexible connectors behind ranges and dryers that have been pushed, kinked or crushed
- Fittings at the fireplace key valve or the log set burner
- The union and shutoff at the water heater, disturbed during a tank swap
- CSST fittings in the attic, especially ones added after the house was built
- Quick-disconnects and risers for patio grills
Lightning and CSST
The Upstate gets its share of summer thunderstorms, and a nearby strike can arc through CSST that is not properly bonded, leaving a pinhole in the tubing. The fix for the hole is replacing the damaged section. The fix for the cause is making sure the system is bonded to the electrical grounding as the manufacturer requires.
If you have had a strike near the house and later notice a gas smell, mention it when you call. It changes where we look first.
When we find damaged CSST, we also check whether the bonding wire is present, connected and continuous to the electrical service. If it is missing, we tell you plainly, because the next storm could cause the same damage.
Buried lines to the patio and the shop
Many homes here have a plastic gas line buried in the yard to a grill, fire pit, pool heater or detached building. Fence posts, irrigation installs, tree planting and new patios have all been known to find those lines the hard way.
Because these lines are private, SC811 does not mark them. If the line was installed with a tracer wire, we can follow it with a locator. Signs of a buried leak include a gas smell outside, dead grass along a line, or bubbling in wet soil.
Leaks after a remodel or a new appliance
A surprising number of leaks in younger houses date to a later project rather than the original build. A kitchen remodel moves the range, a new dryer arrives with a reused connector, or a handyman adds a fitting in the attic for a garage heater. Each of those is a new joint that may never have been tested.
If the smell started after recent work, tell us what was done and where. We test those connections first, then the rest of the system.
Proving it is fixed
Every repair ends with a pressure test held on a gauge for the code minimum time with no drop, and a look at the meter's test dial with the appliances off. Larger repairs, such as replacing a run of pipe or a buried line, are filed with Spartanburg County Building Codes and inspected by the county.
Then we purge the lines, relight each appliance and check every connection we touched with the gas flowing.
In Boiling Springs specifically
Piedmont along Highway 9
Piedmont's distribution lines run through the area, including along Highway 9. A leak on the main, the service line or the meter is theirs to repair.
Propane households
Homes without a main burn propane, which is heavier than air and pools low. A propane smell in a crawlspace or garage calls for the same urgency as one in the kitchen.
Unincorporated means county
There is no town office to call. Permitted repairs go through Spartanburg County Building Codes.
Add a gas alarm
A listed natural gas or propane alarm near appliances is a sensible extra in a tight newer house. It does not replace your CO alarms, which detect something else entirely.
How a gas leak call runs
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You get safe and call the utility
Leave the house, call 911 or the utility from outside, and wait for them to make the area safe and shut off gas as needed.
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You call us, any hour
Tell us what the utility found and whether there is a red tag. A person answers day and night.
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Locate every leak
Electronic detection, leak solution and pressure decay testing, section by section, until we know where every leak is, including any the utility did not flag.
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Explain the repair
We show you the leak, explain what failed and why, and walk through the repair before we start.
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Replace the failed parts
Leaking fittings, valves, connectors or pipe are replaced with the correct material for the location.
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Pressure test
The repaired system is tested to the fuel gas code minimum and must hold with no drop.
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Restore service and relight
We purge the lines, coordinate with the utility if the meter was locked, relight every appliance and check each one for leaks.
The full guide to gas leak detection and repair, and everything else about plumbing and gas in Boiling Springs.