A gas smell inside is always an emergency. The utility fixes its side of the meter for free, around the clock. Once they make the home safe and point to the house side, we repair the rest.
Your gas utility, BGE, Washington Gas, or Columbia Gas, owns the street main, the service line to the home, and the meter itself. A smell at or strongest near the meter means a utility-side problem: move a safe distance away and call that utility's emergency dispatch. Do not operate the meter or any valves yourself mid-emergency. The crew comes out free of charge, around the clock, to make it safe.
Everything downstream of the meter or the propane tank belongs to the homeowner to repair: the regulator, the piping that runs to your appliances, CSST, and the connectors at each appliance. If the utility comes out, clears the scene, and confirms the leak is not in their equipment, that is when we come out - we find the leak, repair it, and leak-test the whole run before relighting anything.
On a propane home, your propane supplier owns everything up to and including the tank's first-stage regulator, not the gas utility. The supplier's number is printed on the tank or on your billing statement, and that is the emergency call. Once the supplier makes the tank side safe, the house-side piping, regulators, and connectors are ours to repair and leak-test.
The usual flow: the utility crew comes out first, makes their side safe - sometimes shutting the gas off entirely - and checks their meter and line. If a leak is still present after the utility's visit and it turns out the leak is not in their equipment, it is house-side, and that is when we come out. We repair it, leak-test, and get the gas back on. One call to us gets that scheduled around their visit so you are not without hot water longer than needed.
Utility companies add a sulfur or rotten-egg odor on purpose so leaks are easy to notice. If you smell that odor anywhere in or near the home, treat it as a leak and follow the emergency steps at the top of this page.
Carbon monoxide has no smell at all. Headache, dizziness, nausea, or drowsiness that eases when you leave the house - especially around a running furnace, generator, or vehicle near the home - points to CO, not a gas leak. Get everyone into fresh air and call 911, then let the utility test the home.
You called the utility and the crew is on the way. From wherever you and your family are standing, here is the short checklist.
A common house-side leak we fix is a failed gas regulator - see our full propane and natural gas regulator replacement page for a recent Westminster job.
We trace every connection with our combustible gas leak detector and pressure-test the house side to find exactly where the leak is. If the leak is upstream of the meter or tank instead, we tell you straight and point you back to the utility.
You get a firm, upfront quote before any work starts, based on what the leak is and what the line is made of. No surprises, and the estimate visit is free.
We replace the leaking regulator, fitting, pipe section, or appliance connector, then re-pressurize the line and apply leak-detection solution to every joint until the system holds.
Gas stays off until the repair holds. We relight your appliances, check every flame color and pressure, and walk the home with you so you know what was done.
On house-side leak calls around Westminster, the leak is usually one of a few things: a corroded regulator on the wall line, a failed appliance connector, bad fittings at the water heater or the range, or CSST damaged by a nail, a shift in the building, or corrosion. We do not guess at the job before we pressure-test: the test tells us what to replace, and the quote tells you exactly what it costs upfront.
Get outside first. From a safe distance, call 911 and your gas utility emergency line - any gas smell indoors is a 911 call, and you should not wait to see whether symptoms grow stronger. Tap-to-dial numbers: BGE 1-877-778-7798 (serves Westminster and most of Carroll County), Washington Gas 1-844-927-4427, or Columbia Gas 1-888-460-4332 (Western Maryland). The utility emergency crew is free and responds around the clock.
No. Never tighten fittings, seal anything, or test a suspected leak yourself. Gas leaks are found with combustible-gas instruments and a leak-detection solution, and the repair has to be leak-tested before the gas is turned back on. Leave the home first, let the utility make it safe, then call a licensed plumber for the house-side repair.
The gas company owns the main and the meter, so the utility emergency dispatch responds first and makes everything on its side safe. That visit is free. If the leak turns out to be downstream of the meter or tank, on the house side, the repair belongs to a licensed plumber like Afternoon Plumbing, and we quote it upfront before any work starts.
A plumber isolates the house piping and pressure-tests it, then traces every joint and fitting with a combustible gas leak detector and leak-detection solution. Once the leaking section is found, we repair or replace it and re-pressurize and re-test before relighting any appliance.
No. An occasional whiff right at an exterior meter vent after heavy rain or a pressure change deserves a call to the utility, but any smell inside the home is an emergency and you should leave and call from outside. When in doubt, treat it as real and let the utility decide with their instruments.
Nothing. The gas utility emergency response is free to you; the utility handles its own lines and equipment. The house-side repair after the meter or tank is the homeowner's, and we quote it upfront before we start.
Afternoon Plumbing is based in Westminster, MD and answers gas leak repair calls throughout Carroll County and nearby towns, coordinating with the utility on house-side repairs.
If you smell gas right now, follow the four steps at the top of this page and call your gas utility or 911 from a safe distance. Once the utility says the home is safe and points to the house side, we are ready to find and fix the leak with a free, upfront quote.
