Old Gas Pipe in hallway- how much to get removed?!

[Gaspipequery101]

We have an old gas pipe in our hallway, picture attached.

The one coming up from the floor is now redundant, basically the meter used to be in the hallway, and is now outside the front door.

We are told to get it removed we need to get Wales and West Utilities in as its from an old supply.

I'm apprehensive to get them in- We want it gone to put the flooring down the in hallway, but I'm unsure what they're going to quote me!

Has anyone got any experience with this or has paid the supplier before ?

We have a gas pipe in a kitchen cupboard and hsve been quoted by Wales snd West £1650 fot removal .

When I had wooden flooring put down, the chap who did it asked me if I wanted him to cap a gas pipe off beneath the floor and he did it himself. I don’t think he even charged me for it. I guess the issue is that if it’s old and still has gas to it, it might be fragile and knocking it around could cause a leak, which would be a problem underneath the floor.
I actually have a bit of a gas leak underneath my house but it’s within tolerance limits.

Same, when the flooring was done we winced and got a quote. £50. Wish we had done it years before.

Wow OK so quite a difference- £50 or £1650!

I suppose I'll get them in and hope it's the lesser!

The gas now comes in the porch and runs up through under the bedrooms across to the boiler which is in our kitchen/utility.

The bottom pipe in my photo is what would be going the old gas meter, the top pipe coming through the cupboard is from our porch, it used to go into a lead pipe which went up through our walls and to the gas fires (which we've now had removed, and the pipe in the photo was capped by our boiler/gas man) .

I assume the pipe supply came up Through the floor, into the gas meter then went up into the old lead pipes.

If its too much to remove then we will just box it in/have a cupboard there permanently :)

It has been capped off as if it is a live pipe, looking like it might be connected to the supply at high pressure. If that is still true, then it needs to be disconnected from the supply, and not concealed where one day somebody might put a drill or nail through it.

It would be greatly preferable to have it disconnected upstream, after which it will just be a dead, empty pipe, and anybody can remove it.

On the other hand, if it is just an internal supply downstream of the meter, and can be turned off at the gas cock on the meter, I can't see why any RGI couldn't disconnect and remove it. They will want to follow the pipe back to its source to make absolutely sure.

When you say "We are told to get it removed we need to get Wales and West Utilities in as its from an old supply" who is the person that told you?

Sorry but you might regret not having it removed. I would bite the bullet and get it done.

@PigletJohn I was told by our Gas/Boiler Engineer that the original gas suppliers would have to sort this because it is live ? (or looks like it's still live?)

PigletJohn's advice is spot on — the key is whether that stub is still connected upstream of the meter (gas transporter / Wales & West territory) or only on the house side after the meter.

Before you commit to flooring over or boxing it in, get that confirmed in writing from whoever quotes. If it is still live/high-pressure supply side, you really do want them to disconnect upstream so you are left with a dead empty pipe you can cut out safely. Flooring over a live or capped-but-still-pressurised stub is the risk people regret later (nail/drill through years down the line).

On the quote range: £50 vs £1,650 usually means different jobs. The cheap end is often a simple house-side disconnection after the meter by a Gas Safe engineer once they have traced the pipe. The expensive end is when the gas transporter has to dig/alter the service. Ask Wales and West (or your engineer) explicitly: "Is this a service disconnection on your network, or an internal pipe after the meter?" and get a written scope before you book.

If the quote is painful, boxing in as a temporary cupboard is fine as a holding pattern — just do not conceal a pipe that might still be live without that upstream confirmation.

@BuilderHelpfulPro thank you, thats very useful.

Ive been putting off getting Wales + West in as I feel if they come in theyll quote alot of money and say we HAVE to pay to get it sorted.

Weirdly, the pipe sticking up through the ground kind of moves back and forth in a kind of lever motion .

Have contacted relevant gas board who are coming back to me with an appointment to come out.

I'm totally clueless, what does the green and yellow wire mean/do running from pipe to pipe ? Is it an earth wire ? What would it be there for ?

Green and yellow is an earth (bonding) cable.

It is supposed to ensure that the electrical potential of all metallic services entering your house are the same, and connected to the earthwire in your sockets and other circuits, so you won't get a shock if you simultaneously touch, say, a tap, a gas pipe, and your kettle.

Some old houses don't have an earth on the lighting circuits, so they are not permitted to have metal light switches or bulbholders, as they lack that protection.

The green/ yellow cable is an earth wire. You can earth at the consumer board now so worth having a qualified sparky look at that.

It also has to be connected to all the metallic services entering the house. For example old gas pipes. Even if they no longer carry gas, they are still metal entering the house. It is unlikely, but sometimes happens, that a buried cable in the ground can be faulty, and close to a buried pipe.

this does not apply to more modern plastic pipes.

Update, curiosity got the better of my partner, he opened the cap and valve and it seems the pipe is dead. There was a tiny smell of gas (stale) and he tested with a gas tester - proper one.

It also not only goes back and forth but moves ALL over the place back forth left right, it definitely does not seem connected to anything.

So now I'm wondering whether it's even worth getting the gas board people out, or whether we just go back to our usually boiler man and ask that he cuts it, seems its not live and not actually connected to anything ?

@Gaspipequery101 good that it tested clear, but I'd still keep the gas board appointment rather than cancel it. A pipe that moves about freely underground does sound like it's been cut off at some point, but the faint gas smell means you can't be totally sure where it went or whether anything nearby is still connected. They can confirm properly that the old service is disconnected their end, and it's normally free or cheap if it turns out to be a redundant service.

Once you've got that confirmation, your boiler man (as long as he's Gas Safe) can cut it back and cap or remove it, and he'll test it again before he does.

On the green and yellow wire, PigletJohn's right. Don't just snip it off when the pipe comes out. If it's bonding other pipes too, ask a sparky to check the earthing is still right afterwards. It's usually a small job.

I'd also stop opening the valve for now if you can. Leave it capped until someone has signed it off.

@BuilderHelpfulPro thanks for the response! yes we will stop opening it now