Putting a gas line in cement slab

wskiarea

I am putting an island in my kitchen which requires a gas line through a cement slab for about 4 ft. My gas normally comes from the attic down the wall to my old
range next to the wall (no Problem). With the island I now need to bring it down the wall and go through the
cement slab to the Island.

An Architec told me that was easy, just use a cement circular saw with a cement cutting blade and saw a path through the cement about 2 inches down in the 6 inch thick slab and lay the gas pipe. Just don,t saw through the slab. Then just lay the hard wood floor across it. This should be plenty safe. If there was a leak you could smell it and you could find it easily by just lifting up the short area of the hardwood floor and fix it.

Does anyone see a problem of doing this. This seems just as safe as bringing the gas line down a post from
the attic to the island.

Help Rick

houseinthewoods

I've done a little research on putting a gas line in a poured concrete slab, and codes require that gas pipe must be enclosed in a larger pipe that vents outside. Since your slab is already in place and the groove will be bridged over with the wood flooring, your architect's recommendation seems reasonable, but I'd still run it by your code enforcement department. I'd just want to make sure the flooring was running perpendicular to the groove. I'm assuming you've already addressed the challenges of putting hardwood over a slab.

However, gouging a two inch deep slot in a poured concrete floor is NOT a trivial task. I used a concrete blade in my circular saw to cut a few 1/2" grooves for drainage in my garage floor, and it was a challenge. It was slow going and created massive amounts of concrete dust that went everywhere. You'll need to cut multiple grooves close together (1/8"?) then wail away at it with a chisel. Even then, the narrow strips won't always break off at the bottom of the groove and you'll be stuck chipping by hand. Also consider that you'll be creating an expansion joint in your slab, and if a crack forms in the slot you've cut, that crack is likely to extend beyond the end of your slot.

I'd probably go see my local tool rental place and see if they had something with a bit more horsepower...

Alan

Is this the only gas appliance in the house? What size line does the appliance require?

You might be able to get away with using copper tubing instead of galvanized steel, which would require a smaller trough through the concrete.

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Journeyman Plumber