I Smell Gas in My House: What to Do, Step by Step

If you can smell gas right now, stop reading and leave the building. Everything else in this guide can wait until you are outside, away from the house, and have called for help. The smell of gas is the one plumbing problem where speed and order matter more than anything else, and the right order is not the one most people follow on instinct.

What to do, in order

1. Get everyone out

Move everyone, including pets, out of the building. Do not spend time searching for the source, opening every window, or finishing what you were doing. If you can open a door on the way out, leave it open so that some of the gas can disperse, but do not stop to open windows around the house. The point is to get people clear, not to fix the problem.

2. Do not create a spark

Natural gas burns and, in the right concentration in an enclosed space, can explode. A spark is all it takes. That includes the obvious ones and some that are easy to forget:

• Light switches, in either direction, including turning a light off
• Lighters, matches and candles
• Garage door openers and doorbells
• Phones, landlines and cordless handsets inside the building
• Starting a car in an attached garage
• Unplugging or plugging in anything

The advice to avoid your phone inside the house is the one people question most. A modern phone is very unlikely to ignite gas, but nobody can tell you the gas concentration inside your home, and the call can be made thirty seconds later from the street. There is no benefit to taking the chance.

3. Call 911 or your gas utility from a safe distance

Walk away from the house, far enough that you are not standing near any open door or window, and call. Either of these will send people trained to deal with it:

• 911. If you are unsure, or if anyone feels sick, dizzy or has a headache, use 911.
• Your gas utility's emergency line. In most of Houston the natural gas utility is CenterPoint Energy; if you are in a smaller city or in an area served by a different company, the number is on your gas bill and usually on the meter. It is worth saving that number in your phone now, before you need it.

Tell them your address, that you smell gas, and whether anyone is feeling unwell. Stay outside until they arrive. If neighbors are close by, such as in an apartment building or a townhouse row, warn them to leave as well, by knocking on doors rather than ringing doorbells.

4. Do not go back in

Do not go back inside to turn off the gas, to grab your wallet or to check whether the smell has gone. The utility technician will shut off the supply and check the building with instruments. They will also tell you when it is safe to return. This can take a while, and in some cases they will keep the gas off until the cause has been repaired.

What to do once the utility says it is safe

The utility's job is to make the building safe and, in most cases, to shut the supply off at the meter. They are responsible for the equipment up to and including the meter. The piping and appliances on your side of the meter belong to you, and this is where a licensed plumber comes in.

• If the utility found a leak on its own side, it repairs it and you are done.
• If the leak is on your side, the gas stays off until a licensed plumber repairs it. Do not turn the supply back on yourself.
• If the gas was shut off at the meter, do not relight pilot lights or restart appliances yourself. The utility will usually relight appliances or tell you that the system has to be inspected first.

A plumber looking for a gas leak starts with a pressure test of the gas piping, then checks the joints, valves and appliance connections. Common sources are a flexible connector that has aged or been kinked when a range or dryer was pushed back, a corroded fitting, a valve that no longer seals, or piping that was damaged by digging, a storm or the slab moving. Our gas line repair page covers how the repair goes. When it is finished the line is pressure tested again before it goes back into service.

What the smell can be, and what it cannot

Natural gas has no smell of its own. A sulfur-based chemical is added so you can detect it, and most people describe it as rotten eggs or sulfur. Other things can smell similar, and it helps to know the difference, but never use that as a reason to wait.

• Sewer gas. A dry drain trap, a cracked vent pipe or a failing wax seal on a toilet can let sewer gas into the room. It smells like rotten eggs too. If the smell is strongest in one bathroom or near one drain, it may be sewer gas, but you cannot know that from the doorway. Treat it as gas until a professional says otherwise.
• Spoiled food, a rotting animal in a wall, or a refrigerator that has failed. These smell different, more like decay than sulfur, but the safe response to doubt is to leave and call.
• A pilot light that has gone out. An unlit pilot on an older furnace, water heater or oven can release a small amount of gas. That is still a gas leak, and the same rules apply.
• A burner left on without a flame. A gas range with a burner turned on but not lit fills the kitchen with unburned gas. Turn nothing on or off; leave.

If you notice a smell outside, near the meter or along a buried line, the same applies: move away and call the utility. Dead patches of grass over the line, bubbling in wet ground, or a hissing sound at the meter are all signs worth reporting.

Carbon monoxide is a different problem

Carbon monoxide has no smell, so the rotten egg odor tells you nothing about it. It is produced when gas appliances burn badly or vent poorly, and it is the reason every home with gas appliances should have working carbon monoxide detectors on each floor and near the sleeping areas. If a detector sounds, or if you have headaches, dizziness, nausea or confusion that eases when you go outside, leave and call 911. A carbon monoxide alarm is not a gas leak alarm, and a gas leak does not necessarily set it off.

After the repair: what a good job looks like

When a plumber has repaired a gas line, you should expect:

1. A clear explanation of where the leak was and what caused it.
2. New parts where the old ones had failed, not a tightened old connector that is likely to fail again.
3. A pressure test of the repaired line, and a leak check at each joint.
4. A shutoff valve within reach of each appliance, and a note of where it is.
5. A written work order and invoice describing what was done.
6. An explanation of whether a permit or inspection applies to the work in your city.

Royal Flush Affordable Plumbing works under Texas Responsible Master Plumber License RMPL #42403, and the number is on every invoice. For the full picture of what we do with gas piping, see our gas line services page.

Five habits that make a gas leak less likely

• Replace flexible connectors when you move or replace an appliance. Never reuse the old one. It has been bent and it has aged, and it is cheap compared with what it protects.
• Know where your shutoffs are. There should be a valve at each gas appliance and a main shutoff at the meter. Make sure everyone in the house knows where the main one is.
• Keep the area around gas appliances clear. Do not store paint, solvents or cleaning products next to a water heater or furnace.
• Test your carbon monoxide detectors when you change your smoke alarm batteries, and replace them when they reach the end of their life.
• Call a licensed plumber before digging near a buried line, and call 811 before any serious digging in the yard so that buried utilities are marked.

Royal Flush Affordable Plumbing

Licensed Houston plumbers since 2007. Residential, commercial and industrial plumbing, 24 hours a day, with upfront pricing and no hidden charges.