How we track down gas and water leaks in Fullerton homes
Finding a gas leak starts with a gauge, not a nose. We close the valves that divide the house piping into sections, pressurize one section at a time and watch which gauge falls. Once that section is known, an electronic gas detector and a brushed-on soap solution pin down the fitting. Water leaks start at the City of Fullerton meter: with every fixture and sprinkler valve off, a turning leak dial proves water is escaping. From there, listening equipment, a moisture meter and, for buried lines, tracer gas narrow the search to one spot before any wall or floor is opened.
Fullerton's houses tell us where to look. About 71 percent were built in 1979 or earlier and the median one dates from 1969, so much of the original piping we test has been in service for more than 50 years. In the 1920s and 1930s bungalows of the preservation zones, the gas pipe may still be original black iron and the water lines galvanized steel; in the Sunny Hills and Fullerton Groves ranch houses, built from the 1950s into the 1970s, copper of that age can pinhole inside a wall or under a floor. The usual gas suspects are the meter connection, a range or dryer connector that has been pushed around for years, the fittings at the furnace, fireplace and water heater, and any buried line to a pool heater, fire pit or barbecue. In a condo, a wet ceiling may belong to the unit upstairs, so the source is confirmed before a shared wall is cut.
Under California's C-36 classification, gas piping is plumbing work, and we treat a gas repair as unfinished until the gauge holds steady at test pressure. You keep that reading. When the job needs a permit, it comes from Fullerton's Building and Safety Division. If the utility has shut off or locked the meter, the house side is repaired and tested first, and the utility then returns on its own schedule to turn the gas back on. Water repairs face a test of their own: the line holds full pressure before any floor, wall or ceiling is closed. No work starts before you approve a written estimate.
What every leak job includes
- Gas and water piping repaired under C-36 Plumbing license #1131308
- 24-hour emergency response for a gas repair or water that will not stop
- A written estimate, signed by you, before a floor or wall is opened
- Each leak we fix carries our written workmanship warranty
Signs of a leak you cannot see
- A rotten-egg odor by the gas meter or next to a gas appliance
- A hissing sound near the meter, a shutoff or an appliance connector
- A utility bill creeping up month after month with no change in use
- The water meter's leak dial turning while nothing in the house is on
- Floor tile that feels warm in one spot, or carpet that stays wet along a wall
- A meter or appliance red-tagged by the gas company
Leave first, call second
With any gas smell, everyone goes outside before anyone dials; the gas company or 911 comes first, then us. If it is water, shut the main to stop the damage spreading until the plumber gets there. Our phone is answered at every hour.
Narrowing it down
The gauge says which section leaks; detectors, tracer gas, listening gear or a moisture meter say where in that section.
Repaired, then proven
Failed gas pipe comes out and black iron or CSST goes in; for water, the leaking run is replaced in copper or PEX. Nothing is covered until the new work passes its test.
Inspected and back in service
Water comes back on right after the test. Gas waits for the utility, which restores the meter once our work is done, and the permit closes when the inspector signs.
One license for both gas and water leaks
In California a C-36 license covers both gas and water piping, so one company carries the job from the first test to the inspector's visit. From Fullerton, we hold four rules on every leak job.
Gas piping is C-36 work
The state's C-36 plumbing classification covers gas piping as well as water. We size every gas repair for the appliances downstream, and the gauge has to stay put at test pressure before the job counts as finished.
The tools we bring
Pressure gauges, an electronic combustible gas detector, a moisture meter, acoustic listening gear for slabs and walls, tracer gas for buried lines, and a camera for drains.
Red tags from the gas company cleared
A red tag means the gas company found a hazard and shut that meter or appliance off. We correct what it flagged, document the pressure test, and leave the line ready for the utility's return visit.
The permit is on us
In Fullerton, gas line work is permitted by the Building and Safety Division at City Hall; La Habra, Placentia and the other cities issue their own, and land outside city limits goes through the County of Orange. We schedule the inspection and stay with it until it passes.
What makes a leak repair larger or smaller
Access comes first. A range or dryer connector is replaced where it sits, but gas pipe inside a finished wall is reached through drywall, or through plaster in an older bungalow, and the opening is patched afterward. A floor covered in tile or hardwood is slower to open and harder to patch invisibly than one under carpet.
Then the length of pipe and its path. Gas run underground to a pool heater or an outdoor kitchen may mean trenching. Under a slab, the choice is between cutting the concrete at the leak and retiring the buried pipe in favor of a new line overhead. When copper beneath the same floor has already leaked before, the overhead route usually wins. An inspection under permit, or a gas company visit to turn the meter back on, can be part of the scope too.
The written estimate comes after the leak is pinpointed, and the repair waits for your yes.
Leak calls around Orange County
From Fullerton, each leak call in the county goes to the nearest of our 10 company locations.
Fullerton
Original gas piping and galvanized water lines in the 1920s and 1930s preservation-zone bungalows, pinholed copper in the Sunny Hills and Fullerton Groves ranch houses, range and dryer connectors in condos, and the 2001 to 2004 homes of Amerige Heights.
Buena Park, La Palma and Stanton
Our Fullerton location covers these three cities to the west and southwest. A gas repair in any of them is permitted by that city, and the gas company handles the meter.
La Habra and Placentia
La Habra, across the northern border, is handled from our Fullerton location. Placentia, on the eastern border, is closest to our Brea location, and Fullerton is the next nearest.
Anaheim and the rest of the county
Anaheim is nearest our Orange location, with Fullerton next. Leak calls from Garden Grove, Santa Ana, Huntington Beach, Irvine, San Clemente and the county's other cities and communities go to whichever location is closest.
Gas and water leaks: what Fullerton callers ask
Get out before anything else. Leave switches, plugs and flames alone on your way, let the utility do the searching, and phone Southern California Gas Company or 911 from outside. Call us once they clear the house.
The odor is added on purpose. Natural gas is odorless in the pipe, so the utility mixes in a sharp-smelling compound; when you notice it indoors, assume a leak until a gauge proves otherwise.
Your meter can tell you about a hidden water leak. Turn off all taps, the dishwasher, the washer and the sprinklers, then find the City of Fullerton meter, usually in a box by the curb, and watch its small leak indicator. Any movement means water is escaping somewhere, and with the city giving owners three days to repair a leak once found, it pays to check early.
Most gas piping repairs in Fullerton need a Building and Safety permit, and the paperwork, the inspection and the close-out are ours to carry.
Until the flagged condition is fixed, a red-tagged meter or appliance stays off. We handle the fix and the pressure test; the utility decides when to come back and turn the gas on.
24/7 Emergency Plumbing
Burst hoses and water through a ceiling, answered by a person around the clock.
Drain Cleaning & Hydro Jetting
Kitchen and main lines jetted, then filmed to show they are clean.
Water Heater Repair & Install
Gas tanks connected, vented, strapped twice and permitted.
Sewer Repair & Repipe
Laterals repaired to the city main, and leaking copper replaced in PEX or copper.
Gas odor at night: out first, call second
Step outside, call the gas company or 911, then call us. Once the utility has made the house safe, a plumber from our nearest location repairs the gas piping, and a water leak that will not stop gets the same 24-hour emergency response, wherever in Orange County it happens.