Smell gas? Get out first, then call us
If you smell gas, leave the building and call from outside. Once everyone is safe, we locate the leak and fix the actual failure point.
Gas gets an odorant added to it for exactly one reason: so a human nose finds a leak that no gauge is watching. If you smell that rotten egg odor, the right order is people out, no switches or lights touched, then call from outside. That sequence is not caution for its own sake, it is the sequence that keeps a small leak from becoming an event.
Gas piping leaks in a small number of predictable places. Threaded joints where sealant has aged and dried out. Flexible appliance connectors that have been flexed one time too many. Buried line that has corroded from the outside in. Regulators and valves that have simply worn out. Each of those has a different find and a different fix.
Locating it is the skilled part. We work the system with a combustible gas detector and a pressure test, isolating sections until the drop tells us which run is losing. Repairing gas pipe is not difficult once you know precisely where the failure is. Knowing precisely where is the job.
Warning signs you should not sit on
- A rotten egg or sulfur smell indoors or near the meter
- A hissing sound near a pipe, valve, meter or appliance connection
- Dead or yellowing grass in a line over a buried gas run
- Bubbling in standing water or a puddle above a buried line
- A gas bill that climbed with no change in how you use anything
- Pilot lights that keep going out or burn with a lazy yellow flame
- Feeling lightheaded or nauseated indoors and better once you step outside
The repair is straightforward. Finding the exact failure point is what you are actually paying for.
Why gas lines fail along the coast
Corrosion leads the list, and this is a genuinely local issue. Salt air off the Gulf attacks exposed metal, and buried line in sandy, damp, salty soil corrodes from the outside in where nobody can see it happening. A run that would age slowly a few hundred miles inland does not get that luxury in Destin or along 30A. Protective coatings and correct material selection are what stand between a line and that environment.
Joints and connectors are second. Pipe dope and tape at threaded joints dry and shrink over years of thermal cycling. Flexible connectors behind ranges and dryers get bent every time the appliance is pulled out to clean behind it, and metal that gets worked eventually fatigues. These are common findings and they are usually a quick, permanent fix once located.
Then there is disturbance. Landscaping, new fence posts, a driveway pour, a trencher for irrigation, or storm work with heavy equipment. Any of those can nick a buried line and leave a slow leak that only shows up weeks later as a smell or a dead patch of grass. If you have had digging done recently and something smells off, mention that when you call. It narrows the search enormously.
Pressure testing an isolated section of gas line after a corroded fitting was replaced near Destin.
Get it looked at
Smell gas right now? Get everyone outside, do not touch any switches, and call us from outside the building.
- Answered 24 hours, 7 days
- Licensed CFC1429646 and CMC1250426
- Repair first, always
Maintenance plans from $16 a month keep this kind of thing from becoming an emergency.
What happens when you call about a leak
- Safety instructions on the phone
If you smell gas we tell you what to do before anything else. Out of the building, nothing switched on or off, call from outside. That guidance costs nothing.
- Isolate and confirm
We shut off at the meter or tank as appropriate and confirm the system is holding or losing with a pressure gauge.
- Locate the leak
Combustible gas detection along accessible runs, plus sectional pressure testing to narrow buried or concealed line down to a specific segment.
- Tell you what we found
Which section, what failed, whether it is a joint, a connector, a valve or a length of corroded pipe, and what the repair takes and costs.
- Repair and retest
Replace or repair the failed section, then bring the system back to test pressure and hold it. It is not fixed until the gauge says so.
- Relight and verify
Appliances relit and checked for proper flame, and the repaired section rechecked with the detector before we leave.
Leak location across Walton, Okaloosa and Bay
We chase gas leaks throughout Freeport, Santa Rosa Beach, Miramar Beach, Point Washington and the 30A towns, plus Destin, Niceville, Valparaiso and Panama City Beach. Coastal properties give us more corrosion work, exposed runs and meter connections that have been sitting in salt air for years, and buried line in sandy ground that holds moisture against the pipe.
Inland around DeFuniak Springs, Paxton, Ponce de Leon, Westville, Vernon, Ebro and Caryville, more homes run on propane from a tank on the property, and the common finds there are regulator issues, tank connection leaks and long buried runs from a tank set well back from the house. Either way the phone is answered 24 hours by a real person, because a gas smell at eleven at night is not a message to be taken and returned in the morning.
Towns we get to most: Freeport, Santa Rosa Beach, Point Washington, Miramar Beach, Niceville, Destin, Eglin Air Force Base, Valparaiso, Ebro, Vernon, Caryville. See the full service area.
Questions we get about this
I smell gas. What do I do first?
Get everyone out of the building. Do not flip any switches, do not use a lighter, do not start a car in an attached garage, and do not plug or unplug anything. From outside, call us, and call the gas supplier if you are on natural gas.
Once people are clear, everything else is fixable. That order matters more than any other advice on this page.
How do you actually find a leak?
A combination of a combustible gas detector along accessible pipe and sectional pressure testing. We isolate portions of the system and watch the gauge to see which section is losing, which narrows a buried or concealed run to a specific segment rather than digging up the yard hoping.
Can a small leak just be left alone?
No. Gas leaks do not heal and they generally get worse as whatever caused them keeps working. A leak small enough to only smell occasionally is still a leak, and it is a genuinely inexpensive thing to fix compared to what it can become.
Is it repairable or does the whole line need replacing?
Usually repairable. Most leaks come down to a joint, a connector or a specific corroded section. Full replacement is for lines that are corroding in multiple places at once, and if we think that is your situation we will show you why rather than just saying so.
Do you work on propane as well as natural gas?
Yes. Plenty of rural parcels around Paxton, Ponce de Leon and the Washington County towns run on propane. Pressures and fittings differ, so tell us which you have when you call.
Do you come out at night for this?
Yes. The phone is answered 24 hours a day, every day, by a person. A gas smell is one of the few things we treat as urgent regardless of the hour.
Related plumbing work
- Repiping
- Bathroom Plumbing
- Kitchen Plumbing
- New Construction Plumbing
- Plumbing Inspection
- Hydro Jetting
- Emergency Plumbing
- Leak Detection
- Leak Repair
Not seeing it? The full list is on the plumbing page, or just call 850-318-5777 and describe it. You can also see the work or send a note.