Our 1st home, found a buried natural gas line

Turbogus

Greetings everyone from Oregon, a nice place to visit, 200 billion slugs can't be wrong.
My wife and I just bought our first home built back in '68. Like many in this neighborhood, it has/had a large back concrete porch. Ours at some point was converted into a spare room. Now the previous owner had died, leading to the family selling this home. So not only did no one had any knowledge of this improvement, no permits were found in the disclosure process.
Looking to plant a couple of trees or building a fence for more privacy, we called 811 to arrange for the 'call before you dig' procedure. It was found that the gas feed line to the meter was underneath the slab. It took some doing to convince the Gas Co. that we did not build this patio conversion to spare room. Speaking with them on the phone the tell me they've planned to move the meter. Trouble is they may be thinking of moving it further away to the opposite corner of the home from our only gas driven device~the gfa heater. In our prior residence in the next town we never used the heat as the home was heated by means of ceiling heat which in effect not only failed to heat the rooms but ran up our electric bills initially before we gave up on it. So we're accustomed to cold temps in our homes despite having then to contend with the infamous Oregon mold. Excavation that I did last weekend showed the gas line disappearing under the concrete slab, but it seems to be in a dirt channel rather than encased in concrete, is this my saving grace? What options have I? These may be simplistic questions but being a 1st time homeowner I'm a little lost.
Thanks and a lift of the lynch lid for any responses.

hvac benny

The utility won't allow their gas line to be under a slab- too much liability if it starts to leak.

ddawg16

Welcome to GJ....

With that said....where you live? You don't want to be without heat....and gas will be your cheapest source.

Iron pipe is cheap...in fact, I bet it would be cheaper to run the gas pipe where ever you need it than to pay our electric bill for a years worth of heating....

Just let the gas company move the meter....and do what you need to do to get gas into your house...

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Turbogus

Thanks for your responses folks! We live in the central Willamette valley in Oregon, rather mild winters here although my wife says she gets frostbite, I think she was born on the sun. I'm a rank novice at this kind of renovation. Do you folks know if it's safe/legal to send the suffix pipe through the crawlspace under the house?

TheEplumber

When the house is on a crawl the gas lines usually go there too. The meter is placed at a outside location that is convenient for the gas company.

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Turbogus

Well that's good news for the lines I'll have to run to my furnace from the meter. Looks like I did a favor for the Gas Co. as I excavated the green gas pipe to where it dissapears under the slab. As it happens there is an existing hole through the foundation where I dug that accomodates fresh and waste water so I may plumb through there unless I can negotiate with the Gas Co. ~ maybe he's another former Marine that'll do me a solid.

TheEplumber

Before you get all exited about running gas, you need to check with all the powers that be and make sure the you, as a homeowner can run it. May need a licensed gas fitter.

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Turbogus

Sure thing, I figured that the rules and such vary from place to place, so when the agent comes from the Gas Co. on the 3rd I'm going to consult with him.