Corrugated Stainless Steel tubing in Attics and fire safety
 

Sumter county Building Official and Villages Fire Marshall have been asked to inspect and certify in writing safety of homes in Villages with Natural Gas. I was concerned about Corrugated Stainless Steel Tubing which is used for Gas lines in the attics of all Village homes. I called Chuck Humphry Safety person for TECO Gas his number is 352-427-0743. I asked him about Corrugated Stainless Steel Tubing in attics. He immediately referred me to a 16 page booklet called [ At your Service Handbook] that TECO GAS sends out to people with TECO GAS service which explains in particular gas safety issues. He referred me to page 8 of this hand book which states ( If you find Corrugated Stainless Steel Tubing in your home or business, customers should have a licensed electrician install a bonding device to reduce the chance of natural gas leak or FIRE.) He was also quite clear that the routing of Corrugated Stainless Steel Tubing in CLOSE PROXMITY to the Metal Gas Furnace Exhaust pipe which generally sticks between 5 or 6 ft above the roof and act as a natural lighting rod is very dangerous. Or for that mater near to any Metallic pipe or wire is also a very dangerous practice and could cause fire and explosion. The combination of not bonding and grounding the gas supply on the house side of the meter as close as possible to the gas meter with a number 6 copper wire which is grounded to the electrical panel ground and the main house ground in conjunction with routing the Corrugated Stainless Steel tubing to close to the Gas Furnace Exhaust pipe can cause arcing from the electrical system to the Corrugated Stainless Steel Tubing. In the case of lighting strikes if these 2 things which are required by law according to Chuck Humphrey there is extreme danger of fire and explosion. I would like to know what other people in the Villages experience has been with this problem I have talked to people in the Villages and looked at many many homes in the Villages and have not seen one home that has the Corrugated Stainless Steel Tubing safely installed. I would like to hear from people if they have seen a safe installation anywhere in the Villages. I was told by someone to Google Stainless Steel Tubing and I was shocked what was said about Corrugated Stainless Steel Tubing. Do not take my word about this Contact TECO GAS the will tell you if the Corrugated Stainless Steel Tubing is not bonded and grounded according to law that is a extreme fire and explosion Hazard. Any home that does not have this installed properly should immediately have it done. Chuck Humphery from TECO GAS said it should have been done by law in the when the home was built and is very dangerous.

Any number of home inspectors can tell you if your pipe is to code. Here is a copy of the code.

http://www.ecodes.biz/ecodes_support...l%20Piping.pdf

And here is a link to the booklet that Teco told you about.
http://www.peoplesgas.com/files/cont...ochure_eng.pdf

Welcome to TOTV, anne321 - interesting first post. Just wondering why you are concerned about gas installations in attics...do you live here, are you looking to buy or move to a house here that has a gas utility, do you know someone who installs the protective bonding device, or do you need a referaal to someone who does the bonding protection. TOTVers ave lots of experience at lots of things - if there is an answer to you inquiry, someone will offer it here.

Thanks for the link to the handbook. I will read it sometime this week.

Z

All homes do not have gas. Many are all electric.

If iI were in a home with the attic gas lines there is no doubt what I would do. I would have the gas shut off at the meter and convert all my appliances to electric. If you wonder why I say this, you must have not read the news reports of these lines being hit by lighting and ruptering causing a unreal increase in the fire.

If I were in a home with the attic gas lines there is no doubt what I would do. I would have the gas shut off at the meter and convert all my appliances to electric. If you wonder why I say this, you must have not read the news reports of these lines being hit by lighting and ruptering causing a unreal increase in the fire.

Thank you Very much for posting this information. This has been on my endless list of things to look into for months now.

Now, does anyone have an electrician who can handle this?

Because I live in a house that could burn to the ground
 

I recently learned that very important fire safety measures in a home that I live in were not done when they were built. These measures are required by law and well known to the people who built the villages. It is my understanding that the Villages has even offered vouchers to people in the have these major code violations fixed. Building and allowing people to live in homes that burn down to the slab when they shouldnt is not a very freindly thing to do.

Very interesting, ann321. Who did your home inspection? Have you tried to obtain one of those vouchers? Did you get one? Who does a concerned resident contact?

I still don't get what the problem is. When we bought our first house here in 2006 they had stopped using natural gas in homes. They had gone to all electric. Some people opted to have propane.

I think you have rewritten your post, just as I am rewriting this post.

Here are a couple of threads on building issues;

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...52/index4.html

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...estions-46586/

I would ask the county building inspection dept, why a CO was issued for your house, with this code violation.

There are those that have propane, too, Warren. Heck I worry about lightning striking our little propane tank attached to the grill.

My home is almost 11 years old in Calumet Grove. We have CSST in our attic. I had Mike Scott Plumbing (licensed for gas installation and repair) come to my home this week to discuss this issue. Their gas man (25 years of gas experience) stated that a direct hit from lightning will breach almost anything, including CSST or hard pipe. He checked the CSST in my attic and it was bonded and grounded as required. We have a gas water heater, Furnace A/c, and Dryer. Options are: (1) Leave as is. (2) Replace the Attic CSST with hard pipe coming in my garage either along the floor or ceiling wall at a rough cost of $650. (3) replace all gas appliances with electric - New Furnace / Water Heater / Dryer + cost of electrical $$$$?. (4) Add lightning rod protection. Last week A-1 Lightning protection stated they could install a complete system(around $1800ish), with grounding the CSST and the manifold where the lines split in the attic to the appliances. If your specific lot has more sand soil than clay they will double the amount of grounding rods supposedly to compensate. Electric or gas won't matter much if you get a direct hit. I have not decided what to do or not do. Any one else in this position that has?