We just had our kitchen remodeled.  New appliances, the whole shebang. 

Stove gets installed.  

A few hours later..I smell gas.

Call plumber....

State my concerns about smelling gas.  

"I didn't smell any while I was there, I tested everything".

He really did not seem concerned.  Ok, maybe my nose is hypersensitive.

So I put it out of my head.  But every once in awhile I smell gas....It's driving me crazy.

So I turn the gas off at the shut off valve behind the stove....No more gas.  But no more dinner either.  

I remember when we were removing the old appliances, the plumber told me, I'll take that existing flex gas line off of your old stove, and we can re-use it because those things are expensive.  They're like $40.  (I'm 10k into a kitchen remodel, but whatever). 

Ok.

Since I don't smell gas with the shut off valve closed, that must mean it's either the flex line, or my brand new stove.  hmmm.

Go to hardware store, sure enough they're $40.  Open it up, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS.....Line 1:  DO NOT RE-USE from old appliance to new appliance.  The Flex Line is designed to be used on a single application.  (Not verbatim, but you get the jist)...It was very clear.

Connected it...No more gas.  

I know you guys hate reading instructions....Read the damn instructions!

I used to work at an appliance store and we would not hook up a new stove without a new gas line.

$40 is very high though, we would sell them at $15 and still make 50points

Yeah....I wonder how many installs that plumber has done that are leaking gas. That could be a pretty serious situation for him. :)

IIRC, they have a "crush washer"...one time use only.

yeah you have to wonder if he is really that good of a plumber making that kind of mistake

The thing about it is/was he was meticulous.  Some of the best plumbing I've ever seen...I was really happy that it was happening in my house!  

BUT...now that I know that he didn't know about re-using a flex line, I'll never call him or recommend him to anyone.

I'm not co-signing on that

My perspective.

Life safety matters. It's comparatively simple to do it right. If you say you smell gas, I don't want the plumber arguing.

+1
If I was the plumber I would have been at your door before you hung up the phone

He needs to know that this is a big deal.

At the very least, since he is not following instructions, when he leaves out a $40 part (that's 0.4% of the overall price), his work literally STINKS.

At the most, he could rightly be called incompetent.

I would present him with the instructions, look up and present him also a description of the "crush washer," and tell him you want your $40 back.

If he balks, or if you even get the feeling that he won't give it to you, or if this just totally incenses you, no pun intended, sue him for $40 in small claims court because you want a legal record of his improper installation. And if you're totally over-the-moon pissed off about this, send a copy of that judgment to the state contractors' board.

And definitely check to see if he's on Angie's List!

yeah he really should be made aware of the problem, he acts like its not a big deal, then yeah consider lega action

Yeah, I already called him and made him aware that the issue has been resolved.  He didn't have much of a response when I told him.  ( I wasn't tyring to be a jerk, just letting him know).

I would almost forgive the mistake if he was 20 yrs old and just starting out.  This is a guy who is 45 years old.

Not re-using a flex line is just something you'd never forget. Which means to me, it's the first time he's experienced it.  Just strange.

To top it off, I wasn't nickeling and diming anyone.  The majority of the contractors I used, I knew their work (except him).  Numerous times throughout the installation (we moved all plumbing and gas lines, walls, etc) I never squabbled over price, my response was...just do it the right way, and get it done, give me the bill.

So why he was trying to save me the price of a flex line, I'll never know.  Probably just trying to be a nice guy, and didn't know any better. 

"I have never seen one leak when it was re-used" may be why, but that still doesn't excuse it.

Hmm I wonder if this applies to the flex gas lines used on gas clothes driers as well?

When I moved last month I sold my setup to a new neighbor and they took and re-used the yellow flexible gas line that I had installed when it was new. I didn't help him reinstall the setup but he said something about having some gas line tape (similar to the white teflon tape for water pipes). Of course I have no idea about that stuff and neither does he...difference is we don't do plumbing for a living; you're guy should know this for sure.

But back to the original point.

What are these instruction things you referred to? ;)

yes this applies to gas dryers as well, use it once and get a new one.

Ha!