Smell rotten eggs, hear hissing near an appliance, or see a stripe of dead grass over a buried line? Leave now and do not stop to hunt for the source. Gas is the one plumbing problem where the first move is to walk out, not to fix anything.
These are UGI's safety steps. Get everyone out of the building immediately, and get about a football field away. Do not use light switches, phones, cars, garage door openers or matches while you are leaving. From that safe distance, call UGI at 800-276-2722 or call 911, and stay out until UGI says it is safe.
Call UGI first, not this line. The utility secures the line and makes the situation safe, and only after that does a plumber repair the piping on the house side. Harrisburg Pipe Repair Line is a referral line for that second step: we connect you with an independent local plumber who handles house-side gas piping once the danger is dealt with.
The causes are ordinary. A fitting at an older appliance connection works loose or corrodes, a flexible connector behind a range, dryer or water heater wears out, steel pipe in the basement ages, or a buried line gets damaged by digging. Gas escaping underground can kill the grass above it, which is the dead strip some homeowners notice before they smell anything.
After UGI has cleared the house, the plumber's work is to find where the piping is leaking, repair or replace the connector, valve or length of pipe, and test the repair before the appliance goes back into use. It is a different job from a water leak, and the order matters: the utility first, the house-side repair second.
Cost depends on the work, not on the smell. How much pipe has to be replaced, whether it runs exposed in a basement or inside a wall, whether part of it is buried, how many appliances have to be disconnected and reconnected, and whether a permit applies where you live all change the job. The plumber can tell you which apply once the piping has been looked at.
Treat any gas smell as an emergency, including a faint one that comes and goes. Hissing at a connection is the same. Do not wait to see whether it passes, and do not go back in to check that the stove is off. If you also have a gas-fired heater giving trouble, water heater repair is a separate question for after UGI clears the house.
UGI is the gas utility in Harrisburg and in nearby boroughs such as Lemoyne and Camp Hill. A lot of the housing here is old: the median Harrisburg home was built in 1947, and 66% of city homes pre-date 1960, so aged piping and long-serving appliance connections are common. For anything else that cannot wait, see emergency plumbing repair, and once UGI has cleared the house, call (717) 853-4052 to be connected with a plumber.
Technician insight
Do not try to find a gas leak with a flame, and do not go back in to turn something off. Do not trust your nose to tell you it has cleared, because your sense of smell tires quickly. Write UGI's number somewhere you can reach from the yard, tell everyone in the house where the meeting spot is, and let the utility say when it is safe.
Gas Line Repair Services We Offer
✓Appliance Gas Connector Replacement
A worn or leaking flexible connector behind a range, dryer or water heater is replaced.
✓House-side Gas Pipe Repair
A leaking fitting or section of gas piping inside the house is repaired or replaced once the utility has made it safe.
✓Gas Shutoff Valve Replacement
A valve that leaks or will not turn is swapped out at the appliance or on the run.
✓Buried Gas Line Repair
Piping on the house side of a buried run is repaired after the utility has secured the line.