Gas Line Services in Edgewater, CO

Edgewater's older homes

Edgewater, nicknamed The Edge, is a small, fully urban city of about 2,300 households bordered by Denver, Lakewood and Wheat Ridge just west of Sloan's Lake. Its homes are old: census survey figures put the median build year at 1958, with about 79% built before 1980. Gas piping in houses that age has usually been reworked several times, leaving original iron pipe, later additions, capped branches and connectors of uncertain age. Xcel Energy (Public Service Company of Colorado) is the gas utility.

The City of Edgewater Building Department at 1800 Harlan Street handles building and plumbing permits. Homeowners can pull their own plumbing permit only if they certify they will do the work themselves and the property is not for sale or rent, and work must meet the International Plumbing Code.

What to do now

1. If you smell gas, leave the house immediately.
2. From outside, call 911 and Xcel Energy at 1-800-895-2999.
3. Stay out until Xcel or the fire department clears the home.
4. Have a plumber repair the leak and pressure test the system.
5. Selling or renting? Plan on a contractor pulling the permit, since owner permits are limited.

Signs and likely causes

Cost factors

• How much original pipe can stay
• Access through plaster walls or tight basements
• Whether the line can carry a new appliance
• Capping abandoned branches
• Permit and inspection

Remodels are the best time to update gas piping in an Edgewater home, while walls are open. If you are buying a house here, a pressure test during the inspection period is a sensible step before closing.

Ask the plumber to cut back and cap any dead branches to removed appliances while on site, and to replace old range and dryer connectors at the same time. Those small items remove common leak points in older houses, and doing them during another visit keeps the cost down. Keep the test record and permit number for your files.