What's wrong with this picture?

[Steevo]

I think that I need to challenge the plumber on his gas line installation, but could use some feedback from anyone that is familiar with MDPE plastic gas lines and risers, and what should or shouldn't be above ground.
This is the line he trenched out to my shop.

See if you see anything blatantly wrong with this picture (besides the creative and artistic angle):

 

[v7guy]

That's "different" lol

 

[Uncle Buck]

Lord, I hope that is not his idea of a permanent installation!

 

[sledzz]

Looks like you have no shut off to your shop but to the house, also did they bury a "finder wire" with it.. When I did mine I used an industrial type riser so I was able to make the gas line a bit more presentable than that...

 

[Tscott]

Yeah, it's a bit "fugly". I think I personally would like to see the yellow pipe (feed to the house I assume?) buried over to the right side of the meter and terminated 6" or so above grade. Not sure if it is a code issue, but it would look better for sure.

Tom

 

[Tscott]

Looks like you have no shut off to your shop but to the house, also did they bury a "finder wire" with it.. When I did mine I used an industrial type riser so I was able to make the gas line a bit more presentable than that...

There is a shut off on the gas meter itself, but that would kill gas to both the house and the garage if there was a problem with the garage. I would at the very least ask for a valve between the meter and the garage to allow me to isolate the garage or the house if needed.

Tom

 

[54FordPanel]

I guess he's a "form follows function" guy.....

 

[porschedude996TT]

Mixed plumbing materials without a Dielectric (Brass, Galvanized Steel), exposed direct bury plastic tubing, no tracer wire on service plastic tubing, and valve is shut off.
I some areas they don't like galvanized pipe because it may react with a high sulfur natural gas.

 

[Steevo]

porschedude996TT obviously has plumbing background.

For clarification:
The original meter installation consists of the grey riser that comes up on the left (service side), the meter, and a whoop-de-do turn to get back to the hole in the house where the gas line enters. The grey riser with regulator is the "service" side of the meter, and the top right is the "house" side.
What the plumber just added is the elbow at top right, ball-valve shutoff, the 180 degree turn to connect to the yellow MDPE gas line, which goes out across the back yard to my shop.

What I see wrong are two things, both mentioned by porschedude996TT above:
1. There is no tracer wire on the new MDPE line, making it impossible to find with a detector.
2. To the best of my knowledge, MDPE yellow pipe is not supposed to be installed above ground, or left in direct sunlight. They make a black version that is UV stabilized for exposed locations. Even the storage in sunlight is listed as three years maximum in the specifications I can find.

Anyone that can confirm this about the MDPE, please chime in here.

Thanks.

 

[brownbagg]

call the county inspector, "hey inspector, it looks like ****, come look at it"

 

[malibu101]

In addition to what is talked about above, I'm not fond of all that "stuff" hanging there self-supporting.
Also, if it is allowable to run the plastic above ground personally I'd want it protected from physical abuse. Like running it up through a pipe sleeve or something.

 

[Zeke]

I'm a retired general contractor. I don't much like what I see, but given the way that started, I can't fault the plumber for doing things the way he did. As for a metal riser, that's what they do around here, but I think you can put a sheath on it for protection. Looks like he might have some sort of approved connection to the plastic pipe, I can't see it close enough. There will be a label on it if it is.

I'd put a well ventilated dog house over the whole thing and move on. And the tracer wire, need to do that.

 

[79firebird]

Dam man thats a bad install. he should have built a manfold for it goes strait behind and comes out the side where the yellow gas line is and down.

 

[rburke65]

It certainly is not done in a "workmanship like manner". I have seen better jobs from an apprentice right out of the box without any instructions from the journeyman! No, would not accept that mess on my home.

 

[knudsen]

I would certainly contact the plumber first and give him a chance to fix it, but I wouldn't be paying that bill until it's done right. 3 stooges plumbing at any angle is certainly not industry standard and not what you can reasonably expect of a contractor. He can make it look like other homes in the area if he wants paid bad enough. I think that photo would speak for the work he has done if you or he took it to small claims court.

Edit: And you shouldn't have to put up with any **** cleavage 2nd time around!

 

[tdkkart]

There's so many dumbasses there it's hard to list them all, but just looking like **** is reason enough to fail it.

 

[Torque1st]

Codes usually say "in a workmanlike manner". That mess is a violation.

 

[Steevo]

We all agree it is a mess from an aesthetic standpoint, and fails on neatness, but like milt said, he did start from a bad place since the original meter install had a weird angled pipe fitting to tap off of.
I agree that piping it over, then straight down would have been more professional.

My primary concern is whether or not that MDPE is allowable above ground. If it isn't, than I will have him add a riser and clean up his act. If it is permissable to have MDPE exposed to UV above ground, then I may just let it go and give all the neighbors the name of the slob that cobbled it together, so they can pass it along and sooner or later he'll have no more work.

 

[tdkkart]

My primary concern is whether or not that MDPE is allowable above ground. If it isn't, than I will have him add a riser and clean up his act. If it is permissable to have MDPE exposed to UV above ground, then I may just let it go and give all the neighbors the name of the slob that cobbled it together, so they can pass it along and sooner or later he'll have no more work.

"Allowed" or not, it wouldn't happen at my place, the plastic above ground is just plain stupid, one pass with a stout weekwacker, or one mis-cue with the lawn mower and you got a healthy gas leak.
It looks to me like the plumber didn;t have the right size stuff in his truck so he made do with what he had.
From the meter output, an elbow to the left, a T to feed the building, a short run of pipe to a downward pointing elbow would have got him there, and then at a minimum sleeve the plastic at least 6" below the surface.

I ain't no plumber, didn't even stay in a motel this month, but I can see how it should have been done.

BTW, I don't think that ball valve is kosher for gas service either.

You need to get a good grip on the plumber's sack with a pair of pliers and explain the situation to him......

 

[jmh21586]

Wouldn't you hire a heating and cooling guy to run gas lines??

 

[jmh21586]

I'd put a well ventilated dog house over the whole thing and move on. And the tracer wire, need to do that.

Sorry to be an a$$ but is that why you're a retired contractor???

That, IMO, is a major problem in the homebuilding industry. Too many contactors and sub-contractors that would just "throw a well ventilated dog house over the whole thing and then move on".


Gas lines and electrical need to be done correctly. No exceptions.

 

[e-tek]

Sorry to be an a$$ but is that why you're a retired contractor???

That, IMO, is a major problem in the homebuilding industry. Too many contactors and sub-contractors that would just "throw a well ventilated dog house over the whole thing and then move on".


Gas lines and electrical need to be done correctly. No exceptions.

burn.

 

[global72]

When I first saw the picture I thought it was a joke. That is one F%$#ed up mess. I would ask for it to be corrected. Then if they do not just correct it I would have it inspected, it should fail. Then refuse to pay the bill until it is done properly.

 

[metal1313]

that is aweful, i did better work my first day on the job as a plumbers helper when i was 18. i mean that just shows no common sense at all. i'd def have him redo the work asap, do not pay until it mets code and your satisfaction

 

[Northstar9126]

When I had a propane tank installed a couple of months ago the propane guy said that the yellow gas line had to be completly buried because the sun would break it down.

 

[Kevin54]

I'd think the guy that did it would have enough PERSONAL PRIDE to at least cobbled up something so everything was sitting straight and not have people ask "Who the HELL did THAT".
That mess looks like a typical Rube Goldberg job if I ever seen one.

 

[Git]

I hope you didn't pay him yet

Those are Con-Stab type fittings - you can see the coupler (looks like a little buoy) behind the meter. That gas line is not approved for above ground use like that!

He should have used a fitting with an epoxy coated riser like this to bring it above ground. Once it came straight up, he could have easily used a black iron 90 to bring it over to where it should be.

Can you say "hack"

 

[bmwpower]

My entire line runs from inside the basement of my house (black pipe), through a PVC sleeve (flex), then thru the garage foundation and up the inside wall (black pipe). Never sees the light of day.

More work? Yea, but it's done right.

That is a picture of your house, right? And flex line goes to garage, right?

 

[Steevo]

I hope you didn't pay him yet

Those are Con-Stab type fittings - you can see the coupler (looks like a little buoy) behind the meter. That gas line is not approved for above ground use like that!

He should have used a fitting with an epoxy coated riser like this to bring it above ground. Once it came straight up, he could have easily used a black iron 90 to bring it over to where it should be.

Can you say "hack"

You mean like this one, that he used on the other end at the shop?
Go figure . . .

 

[Steevo]

That is a picture of your house, right? And flex line goes to garage, right?

Right, and right.

The meter, and the iron pipe from meter to house siding were already there in that angled arrangement before the plumber came along to do the shop.
He added the elbow on the upper right and the rest of the stuff all the way to the shop.

 

[Zeke]

Sorry to be an a$$ but is that why you're a retired contractor???

That, IMO, is a major problem in the homebuilding industry. Too many contactors and sub-contractors that would just "throw a well ventilated dog house over the whole thing and then move on".


Gas lines and electrical need to be done correctly. No exceptions.

If you're going to quote me, quote all of it. I hardly meant to just cover over and ignore the problem. Gas meters are ugly to start with. What do you want to do, make the thing a shrine?

Read my PM from 2 days ago. You can find that, right?

 

[bmwpower]

You mean like this one, that he used on the other end at the shop?
Go figure . . .

Ugh...he didn't go thru the foundation?? *****...


Mine...

 

[Steevo]

I spoke with the contractor, and he spoke with his plumber, and the correct riser will be in place Monday.

Thanks to everyone for their constructive feedback, and to the rest for the entertainment

 

[rsanter]

I dont see anything wrong with the picture.
the install of the gas line is really weird though

bob

 

[pipehack]

Mixed plumbing materials without a Dielectric (Brass, Galvanized Steel), exposed direct bury plastic tubing, no tracer wire on service plastic tubing, and valve is shut off.
I some areas they don't like galvanized pipe because it may react with a high sulfur natural gas.

HILLBILLY work for sure.

 

[jmh21586]

If you're going to quote me, quote all of it. I hardly meant to just cover over and ignore the problem. Gas meters are ugly to start with. What do you want to do, make the thing a shrine?

Read my PM from 2 days ago. You can find that, right?

OK.

I'm a retired general contractor. I don't much like what I see, but given the way that started, I can't fault the plumber for doing things the way he did. As for a metal riser, that's what they do around here, but I think you can put a sheath on it for protection. Looks like he might have some sort of approved connection to the plastic pipe, I can't see it close enough. There will be a label on it if it is.

I'd put a well ventilated dog house over the whole thing and move on. And the tracer wire, need to do that.

Sorry to be an a$$ but is that why you're a retired contractor???

That, IMO, is a major problem in the homebuilding industry. Too many contactors and sub-contractors that would just "throw a well ventilated dog house over the whole thing and then move on".


Gas lines and electrical need to be done correctly. No exceptions.

 

[jmh21586]

Milt, as for the ugly gas meter, I hardly think he started this thread because gas meters, in general, are ugly. This one seems to be especially ugly due to one contractor, and then another, cobbling the works together improperly and in a blatantly unsafe way. I come from a long line of housing contractors and sub contractors. This kind of stuff doesn't fly with them and it shouldn't fly with homeowners either. If there is a shred of a silver lining to the housing recession it's that the shoddy contractors and sub contractors will be the first ones out of business. Hopefully anyway. If they're so willing to do lousy work in plain sight, what did they do in your crawlspace where you'll never see it??



Get the guy back there and have him fix it properly before you pay him. (If you trust him enough to let him fix it)
Then forget his phone number.