Gas Line Services in Laurel, MD

Gas service and permits in Laurel

The City of Laurel's contacts page lists Baltimore Gas and Electric under utilities, with a line for reporting the smell of natural gas. That sets Laurel apart from neighbors such as Greenbelt and College Park, which are on Washington Gas. The Laurel mailing area also reaches outside city limits into unincorporated West Laurel and South Laurel and across the line into Howard and Anne Arundel counties, so if your address isn't inside the city, go by the utility named on your gas bill and check permit rules with your county.

Inside the city, the permit split is clear. The City's Department of the Fire Marshal and Permit Services issues building permits, but its checklist states that the city does not review or inspect plumbing work; plumbing permits are applied for directly with WSSC Water. Prince George's County requires a permit for water heater replacement, and WSSC requires gas water heater and appliance work to be done by a plumber or gasfitter holding a WSSC license.

Laurel's median home was built in 1984, but the old mill town around Main Street is far older. Gas piping there may have been converted, rerouted or extended several times.

Repair, extend or replace?

Signs to act on

• A rotten-egg smell indoors, which means leave and call from outside
• A hiss at the meter, a shutoff or a flexible connector
• Yellow, wavering burner flames or soot on cookware
• A pilot light that goes out repeatedly

Timing and seasonal notes

Laurel winters bring freezing nights, which is when furnaces and water heaters run hardest and an undersized gas line shows itself through weak flames or short-cycling. Fall is a sensible time to have connections checked. Spring and summer are better for outdoor gas lines to a grill or generator, and Miss Utility needs to mark buried lines before any trench is dug. If a remodel moves the range, leave time for the WSSC permit and inspection.