Smell gas right now? Leave the building first
If you smell gas or hear a hiss at a gas line
These four steps come before any plumbing call. Do them in this order.
Get everyone out
Walk out with people and pets. Do not stop to open windows, and do not go back for phones, shoes or keys.
Call from a safe distance
Dial Enbridge Gas at 1-877-776-2427, which the company lists as free and open 24 hours a day, or dial 911. Use a mobile phone outside or a neighbor's phone.
Touch nothing electrical or hot
Do not flip a light switch, use a garage door opener, start a car in an attached garage or strike a match. One small spark can ignite a room full of gas.
Stay out until cleared
Wait for the gas company or the fire crew to tell you it is safe. Call (919) 944-7281 afterward for the repair, or sooner if you want help planning it from the driveway.
Natural gas in Morrisville comes from Enbridge Gas, according to the Town of Morrisville's new resident page. Save 1-877-776-2427 in your phone today, because an emergency is a bad time to search for it.
A plumber comes second on purpose. Crews from the gas company and the fire department can make a building safe in ways we cannot. Once the danger is handled, we find the failed piping, repair it and test the system before anyone relights an appliance.
Signs that point to a gas problem
Treat any of these as a gas call
- A rotten egg or sulfur smell indoors, in the garage or near the meter. The odor is added to natural gas so people notice a leak.
- A hissing or whistling sound near a pipe, a connector or an appliance.
- A meter dial that keeps moving while every gas appliance in the house is off.
- Dead patches in the yard, or bubbles in a wet spot, along the path of a buried line.
- Dizziness, headaches or a carbon monoxide alarm sounding. Leave and call 911, because that is a venting or combustion problem and not only a leak.
- Burner flames that are yellow or orange instead of blue, or a pilot that keeps going out. These need an appliance check even with no smell.
Who does what: Enbridge, 911 and your plumber
| Situation | Call first | What we do afterward |
|---|---|---|
| Smell of gas indoors or a hissing pipe | Enbridge Gas at 1-877-776-2427 or 911, from outside | Find the failed joint or fitting once the building is cleared, repair it and pressure test the piping. |
| A trench or post hole struck a buried line | 911 and Enbridge Gas, then stay back from the hole | Repair any damaged piping on the house side after the utility has made the area safe. |
| Carbon monoxide alarm sounding | 911 | Check the appliance, its venting and its gas supply after the fire crew clears the home. |
| An appliance will not light and there is no smell | Our dispatch line, (919) 944-7281 | Check the appliance valve, the flexible connector and the supply piping behind it. |
| You want a new line for a range, dryer, grill or fire pit | Our dispatch line, (919) 944-7281 | Size the line, run it, install the shutoff and test it. Same-day appointments when available. |
How a gas line inspection and pressure test works
An inspection starts with your eyes, your nose and a brush. We look over every visible joint, the flexible connector behind each appliance and the shutoff valve at each stop. A soap solution brushed on a fitting grows bubbles if gas is escaping, and a handheld combustible gas detector finds weak spots we cannot see.
A pressure test is the proof. The piping is capped off, filled with air or inert gas to a set pressure and watched on a gauge. A needle that holds steady tells us the system is tight, and a needle that sags sends us looking again, section by section.
A typical inspection visit runs in this order.
- 01
Walk the system
We trace the piping from the meter side to each appliance and note materials, supports and anything crushed, corroded or patched.
- 02
Bubble and detector checks
Every joint and connector gets the soap test, and the detector covers tight spaces like behind a range.
- 03
Gauge test
We isolate the house piping, bring it to test pressure and watch the gauge before anything is reconnected.
- 04
Plain findings
You hear what passed, what failed and what we would fix first, with a clear price before work starts.
Installing or extending a gas line
New gas lines go in for ranges, dryers, outdoor grills, fire pits, fireplace logs and standby generators. A line is sized by the total load of everything on it and by the length of the run. Adding a grill to a line that already feeds a furnace and a water heater is a calculation and not a guess.
Swapping a tank water heater for a tankless unit is a common trigger. Tankless units often draw more gas than a tank model, so the old line may need a larger diameter. If that is your plan, read about the tankless water heater work we do and how a water heater installation is scoped before you pick a unit.
We choose the material for the run, such as threaded black iron or corrugated stainless tubing. We do not splice into pipe we cannot identify, and we do not reconnect an appliance until the piping has been tested.
Call 811 before anyone digs in Morrisville
North Carolina's 811 service asks you to dial 811 or 1-800-632-4949 three working days before you plan to dig. Locating publicly managed underground lines is free, and the town's resident guide repeats the same number.
That matters for a gas run to a backyard grill, a new fence post, a mailbox or a pad for a generator. Request the locate first, wait for the marks, and show us where the trench will go so the new line stays clear of what the locators found.
Source: NC 811 homeowner guide
Permits and checking a contractor
The Town of Morrisville Inspections Department, at 919-463-6190, issues permits for plumbing work. Its plumbing permit page says a permit is required to install, extend, relocate or replace a plumbing system. Whether your particular gas piping job counts is a question for that office, so call before work starts and do not rely on us or on a neighbor's memory.
You can also confirm that any contractor is licensed through the State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors. Its public license search is open to homeowners.
If nobody smells gas, call (919) 944-7281 and dispatch will schedule the visit, with same-day appointments when available.
What changes the price of gas line work
A gas job costs more or less depending on a handful of things you can see before anyone quotes a number.
Length and route of the run
A short drop in an open basement or garage is very different from a long run through finished walls or a trench across a yard.
Pipe material and size
A bigger load needs a larger diameter, and the material changes both parts and labor.
Number of appliances
Every added appliance raises the total load and may force a resize of the existing line.
Access and restoration
Cutting drywall, crossing a slab or digging through landscaping adds labor and repair work.
Test results and permits
Old piping that fails a pressure test needs repair before anything new connects, and permit questions can add steps.
Homeowners insurance often treats sudden damage differently from wear or slow leaks, so ask your insurer before assuming coverage. Repairs to the gas company's own equipment are handled by the gas company.
Where this page stops
We repair and install piping on the house side and we test it. We do not work on the utility's meter or its equipment, and we do not tell you a building is safe to re-enter after a leak. Sending you back to Enbridge or 911 is the correct answer in those cases, and we would rather say that plainly.
For other work around the home, see our full list of plumbing services. Calls from the Durham side go through the Durham page, and the same safety rules apply there.
Questions we hear
Our dispatch line at (919) 944-7281 answers around the clock. For a suspected leak the first call is still Enbridge Gas at 1-877-776-2427 or 911, from outside the building. After the building is cleared we take the repair call at any hour, but we do not promise an arrival time for gas calls.
Call the gas company or 911 first, from a safe distance. They can shut off supply and clear the building. Call us after for the repair, the pressure test and anything that needs new piping.
If you smell gas, do not spend time looking for a valve. Leave and call. For a calm repair job, the small valve at each appliance is a quarter-turn type, open when the handle lines up with the pipe and closed when it sits across the pipe. Leave the valve at the meter to the gas company.
Treat it as real. A smell near the meter or along a yard line can mean a damaged buried pipe or a loose fitting. Enbridge's line is free and open all day and night, so call it and let the crew decide.
Ask the Town of Morrisville Inspections Department at 919-463-6190 before work starts. Its plumbing permit page covers installing, extending, relocating and replacing a plumbing system, and the office can tell you how that applies to gas piping at your address.
Yes, as a planned job. We size the line for the added load, ask you to request an 811 locate before any trench, check the permit question with the town and pressure test the finished run.