Asbury Place, Clemmons, North Carolina
Plumber in Asbury Place, Clemmons NC: Gas Water Heaters and Sewer Backups
The water heater is gas, the pilot will not stay lit, or a drain has backed up. For a gas-heated house, the order of operations matters, and some steps are not for homeowners.
Safety
A gas water heater that will not stay lit: what is safe to do yourself
Asbury Place is a subdivision off Asbury Place Drive in ZIP 27012. Listings from the area show houses with gas water heaters, which is common in Clemmons houses of the mid-1990s. Check your own house, because a listing describes one house, not the neighborhood. If you are unsure whether yours is gas or electric, look for a gas line and a vent pipe above the tank, which an electric unit does not have.
If the pilot will not stay lit, the cause may be a failing thermocouple, a gas control fault or a draft problem. Relighting a pilot is something a manual explains, but if you have any smell of gas, do not try.
- If you smell gas, leave the building at once. Do not use switches, phones or flames inside.
- Call the gas utility or 911 from outside.
- Do not relight a unit that smells of gas.
- Once the utility has made the building safe, call a plumber.
For a unit that is working but failing, see water heater leak and fault repair.
Replacing
Replacing a gas water heater: when a permit is and is not needed
North Carolina's G.S. 160D-1110(a)(2) says no permit is needed to connect a replacement water heater in a one- or two-family home when a licensed plumber does the work and personally examines it, with a leak test on any gas piping. The new unit must also have no greater thermal input and no change in fuel, energy source, location, capacity or venting and piping routing.
That fits a straight swap of one gas tank for another. It does not fit switching a gas tank for an electric heat pump unit, because the energy source changes, or moving the heater to another room.
Ask the plumber which case yours is and who will pull a permit if needed. The details of choosing a unit are on the page about tank, hybrid and tankless replacement.
Smell gas? Leave the building first, then call the gas utility or 911.
CALL NOW(336) 388-6216
Venting
Venting and combustion air: the part of a gas swap that gets skipped
A gas water heater needs a vent that carries exhaust out of the house, and enough air to burn properly. A new unit may differ from the old one in how it is vented.
Ask the plumber whether the existing vent suits the new unit, and whether it is tested before they leave. The statute's leak test for gas piping and its limit on changes to venting are there for a reason.
Carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide near a gas water heater
A gas water heater that vents poorly can release carbon monoxide, which has no smell. A working carbon monoxide alarm near the bedrooms and close to the water heater is basic protection.
If an alarm sounds, leave the building and call 911 or the gas utility from outside. Do not go back in to find the cause. A plumber can inspect the vent and the burner after the utility or fire department says it is safe.
Safety valves
The relief valve, the shutoff and the flexible connector
Three small parts on a gas water heater deserve a look once a year. The temperature and pressure relief valve has a discharge pipe that should run to a safe place and should never be capped. The gas shutoff should turn easily. The flexible gas connector should be without kinks or corrosion.
A relief valve that drips regularly is telling you something, usually about pressure or temperature, and a plumber should check it. Do not plug the discharge pipe to stop the drip.
Backups
A backup in an Asbury Place home: the CityLink step
One Asbury Place listing shows public water and sewer. That is one house, so confirm your own. If you are on the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Utilities sewer, its process covers a first-time blockage in the sewer main, not one in your service line.
Call CityLink at 336-727-8000 before cleanup starts, because delay can affect a claim. The plumber should clear the blockage to the main, camera the service line and send the evidence to the utility. Ask to receive a copy of the footage.
The checking steps are on the camera checks of the service line page, and a single slow drain is covered on the unclogging a single drain page.
Coverage
Reaching a plumber from Asbury Place
Asbury Place is in ZIP 27012, which is on this dispatch network's current list. Call with your address, and the dispatcher will confirm whether a plumber can be sent.
The dispatch line routes your call to an independent plumber serving your area. Ask for the price first and what the diagnosis includes.
Ranges are on the ranges for gas heater work, and the neighborhoods nearby are on the nearby neighborhood pages page.
Questions
Gas water heater questions from Asbury Place homeowners
What do I do if I smell gas near my water heater?
Leave the building at once and call the gas utility or 911 from outside. Do not relight the pilot. A plumber can inspect after the utility makes it safe.
Do I need a permit to replace a gas water heater?
Not for a like-for-like swap done by a licensed plumber who personally examines the work and leak tests the gas piping. A change of fuel, location, capacity or venting may need one.
What ZIP code is Asbury Place?
27012, which is on this dispatch network's current list.
Browse other plumbing questions answered on one page.
Asbury Place plumbing problem? Describe it.
Give the dispatcher your address and what is happening, and the call will be routed to a plumber serving Clemmons.
TALK TO A PLUMBER(336) 388-6216