DIY guideGas

Turn off the gas to a range, dryer or fireplace (no gas smell)

Before a gas range, dryer or fireplace is moved or serviced, a quarter turn of its own valve shuts it off. Any gas smell means leave and call.

7 steps

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Before you start, breathe in near the appliance. A rotten-egg smell means you don't go on.
Smell gas or hear a hiss? Touch nothing, no switches. Leave the house and call the gas utility from outside.
Turn the burners, the dryer or the fireplace off at its own controls, and let it cool down.
Behind the range or the dryer, or behind the fireplace's bottom panel: a small lever on the pipe, just before the flexible connector.
Turn the lever a quarter turn by hand, so it sits across the pipe. Along the pipe is on; across is off.
By hand only. If it's stiff or won't turn, leave it and call a pro.
Put a note on the lever, so nobody turns it back on while the work goes on.
When the work's done, turn the lever back along the pipe. A fireplace's pilot may need relighting: follow the label on it, or ask a pro.
Any gas smell or hiss: leave the house and call the gas utility from outside. A gas valve that's stiff, stuck or leaking: ask Handyman for a licensed gas pro.

Handyman says: Smell gas? Leave, call from outside.

Free for every home. Handyman asks a few questions, then books a pro it trusts.