Gas Pipe

[DurhamSparky]

Hit my first one today!!

luckily it never split and held its integrity!!

although its damaged enough to warrant been chopped out and replaced..!

 

[ian]

Been doing this for almost 30 years and onlyever hit 1, cost me around £250 to have it repaired. Nightmare.

 

[Electricalserv]

Nightmare mate

 

[The Cavalry]

hit one last week. some muppet put 1/2 inch concrete over pipe,in the wrong location, no markings or warning, lucky me know a great gas safe plumber who was just around the corner

 

[DurhamSparky]

mine was about 1 inch from the corner of a chimney breast just near the bloody beading for the plaster..!!

 

[Sparky Ninja]

Guilty of doing this myself once also whilst installing a SWA channelled in the kitchen floor to the centre island.

 

[wacko]

I've done it too. Ah memories. Nothing escapes that feeling of hearing the gas coming out and you're hoping it's just water heh heh.

Regards

 

[brucelee]

done it once in a upstairs flat when i was drilling a hole through exterior wall for a WASHER WASTE PIPE
I thought just above concrete skirting nothng there yeah right took a nice arch out the 15mm copper pipe heard the hissing never moved as fast lol to turn mains off the Niceman from british gas came said if he can fix it in half hour no charge and he did so gave him £20 oops

 

[johnboy6083]

I was on a job once, and we were ripping out an old pyro submain. The spark tested dead and told me to go to the basement and pull the pyro out. I grabbed hold of the bare pyro, and tugged it, and was just about to cut, when the spark yelled. Id grabbed the small gas pipe for the fireplace! The spark was standing in the living room, smoking away, and noticed the pipe disappear under the floorboards! Close call that one.

I did break a sodium hypochlorite line the other week in a water treatment site! Was under some pressure too. I was covered in it, and had to jump in the safety shower!

 

[jaresquire]

Hit one once drilling from understairs cupboard to landing, felt breeze on my face and it dawned on me. Can still sprint when I have too!

 

[Guest123]

Stuck a circular saw through a lead one once.......the underneath of the floorboard had been routed so instead of being say 25mm thick as normal, the bit that I was cutting through was only about 7 or 8mm!!!

Why the usual practice of notching the joists wasn't used is beyond me!

 

[Des 56]

I knew a gas pipe was in the wall (ancient lead + live)

I shoved a terminal screwdriver through from under the boards where the pipe went down the wall
I looked at the outlet coming out of the wall and made sure I drilled at least a foot away

The extra long gas pipe must have been snaked into the wall to get rid of the slack
Sssssssssssssss

 

[The Cavalry]

I knew a gas pipe was in the wall (ancient lead + live)

I shoved a terminal screwdriver through from under the boards where the pipe went down the wall
I looked at the outlet coming out of the wall and made sure I drilled at least a foot away

The extra long gas pipe must have been snaked into the wall to get rid of the slack
Sssssssssssssss

That was just plane snakey sorry sneeky!!!

 

[bodders22]

I was fitting a new bath in a little old ladies victorian terrace, happily soldering away under the bath a new copperpipe to the bath taps which was clipped to the wall when all of a sudden a 3 foot flame comes shooting out around my new pipe! wtf thinks I, as it dawned on me there was an old lead gas light pipe 2mm from surface of the wall. I'll never forget the old ladies face as i was running past her shouting where's the gas tap. Luckily it was in the direction of the front door which i running towards! No harm done except singed eyebrows and nearly stained underwear! No I'm not a plumber but lets face it its not rocket science is it.

 

[Des 56]

A little off topic but another incident I recall

Whilst wiring a council house,the very prim and proper middle aged woman was talking to me, I had my arm draped across the doorframe ( I'm tall )

My sparky mate who was a very shy and sensitive lad, ducked underneath my arm and knocked the light off my smoke( which neither the lady nor I noticed )

It went down her open necked blouse

The only thing me or the woman saw happening was my mate suddenly shoving his hand down her chest and rummaging around

I used to kid him from then on that there was better ways to try and lose his virginity

 

[BillyTheSparks]

I had one once, I was using the chasing machine in a lounge for a TV mount. The wall was external and unbeknown to me the Gas meter box was on the other side.

So there I am with the chaser, going across the wall. When I could suddenly smell gas!!

I panicked, turned the chaser off as I thought it would make the gas explode; then set about running around the room! I don't know why, I just didn't know what to do.
Then it dawned on me that it wasn't going to explode, and I should open windows etc.
And of course turn the valve off at the meter.

The Blinking plumber had come straight out of the back of the meter box, down the INSIDE of the wall then it had been plastered!

This wasn't some acient building before the days of regulations, it was a new extension (about 5 years ago).

I don't think I will ever forget this. Although I can laugh about it now

 

[Geordie Spark]

I was fitting a new bath in a little old ladies victorian terrace, happily soldering away under the bath a new copperpipe to the bath taps which was clipped to the wall when all of a sudden a 3 foot flame comes shooting out around my new pipe! wtf thinks I, as it dawned on me there was an old lead gas light pipe 2mm from surface of the wall. I'll never forget the old ladies face as i was running past her shouting where's the gas tap. Luckily it was in the direction of the front door which i running towards! No harm done except singed eyebrows and nearly stained underwear! No I'm not a plumber but lets face it its not rocket science is it.

Hmmm............. maybe not rocket science, but would a plumber have melted the gas pipe like you did?

 

[Geordie Spark]

I had one once, I was using the chasing machine in a lounge for a TV mount. The wall was external and unbeknown to me the Gas meter box was on the other side.

So there I am with the chaser, going across the wall. When I could suddenly smell gas!!

I panicked, turned the chaser off as I thought it would make the gas explode; then set about running around the room! I don't know why, I just didn't know what to do.
Then it dawned on me that it wasn't going to explode, and I should open windows etc.
And of course turn the valve off at the meter.

The Blinking plumber had come straight out of the back of the meter box, down the INSIDE of the wall then it had been plastered!

This wasn't some acient building before the days of regulations, it was a new extension (about 5 years ago).

I don't think I will ever forget this. Although I can laugh about it now

And if the plumber had done this with a cable buried underneath the plaster, what would you have been calling him?

 

[bodders22]

Hmmm............. maybe not rocket science, but would a plumber have melted the gas pipe like you did?

Not If he would have had his x-ray specs on to see through the plaster!
Only kidding about the plumbing btw best mates one!

 

[BillyTheSparks]

And if the plumber had done this with a cable buried underneath the plaster, what would you have been calling him?

Cables are allowed to be buried beneath the plaster, wereas I'm led to believe gas pipes are not.

Is this correct?

But yes I would have something to say, Probably along the lines of "Duh!"

 

[1shortcircuit]

It's great to see posts like these. It just shows that mistakes happen to the best of us

I've been doing a little work for a company and they have a chap that works for them who should be nicknamed "Lucky"

Within 3 months or so. First up, shoved a screwdriver through a water pipe that you could blatantly tell where it was going in the wall. Water everywhere. Secondly... Cut or drilled through a lead gas pipe and so say repaired himself, Wasn't on that job thankfully! Thirdly... Putting up a hand rail in a bathroom drilled straight into one of the tails for the flat above. I guess he didn't realise that all the electrics were in the cupboard on the other side???

So, is he LUCKY he's not dead or LUCKY they still employ him? I know I'll never be setting foot into a premises I know he's working in

Some very amusing posts and a great thread

 

[Geordie Spark]

Cables are allowed to be buried beneath the plaster, wereas I'm led to believe gas pipes are not.

Is this correct?

But yes I would have something to say, Probably along the lines of "Duh!"

While I've never done it myself (of course) I have known a gas pipe to be fitted behind the plasterboard dot-& dabbed to the wall and with it were the Flow & Return pipes for the central heating.

I didn't know that they were there at the start of the job, but I soon found out that they were when I chopped through ALL THREE of them !!

I've always thought of myself as a good multi-skilled tradesman while at the same time recognising that I'm neither perfect nor infalliable - just like everyone else I'm human and I make mistakes.

It does boil my wee wee a bit when I read posts made on here by some Prima-Donna ripping someone to shreds because they aren't (in the opinion of said Prima-Donna) a "proper" spark. A case in point was a thread that I had the misfortune to read a few nights ago where one poor chap announced that he was a Kitchen Fitter & then all Hell broke loose. I was absolutely disgusted at the behaviour of some of the posters who commented on that thread to the point of seriously considering never posting here again, and was pleased when it was eventually closed.

Let's not forget folks, that at the end of the day, we are all human beings with different strengths, weaknesses - and skills - who are all trying our very best to put food on our tables and beer in our bellies, so let's all have - and show - a bit more mutual respect.

Please.

 

[hasel5]

Drilled a hot and service the other day with a 117 mm core drill for a fan in a kitchen

Funny thing was had a drawing from the clients surveyor with the dims of where to cut the hole

Water came out like a small boy peeing straight onto new gas hob and electric oven


Water main stop cock was inaccessible as door at floor level would not open as chippy had plyed floor to level up and not trimmed door to suit made a right mess lol

Eventually got water off but all new units delaminated and work tops swelled


There was a lot of xxxx flying around but hey I had a drawing lol