Outdoor Kitchen and Fire Pit Gas Lines in Fort Worth, TX

What an outdoor gas line can feed

• Kitchen islands: grill, side burner, griddle or pizza oven on one supply.
• Fire pits and fire tables, fed from a riser under the base.
• Patio heaters made for natural gas, mounted on a wall or post.
• Rolling grills, through a quick-connect outlet and hose.
• Pool and spa heaters, often on the same run.

Each rating plate lists the appliance's input in Btu per hour. We add the new burners to what the house already draws and allow for the distance from the meter. A pool heater can swing the math, because it is often the largest gas appliance on the property, so include it from the start. If the total climbs a lot, the meter, which belongs to Atmos Energy, may need a look, and that call is theirs.

Buried or wall-mounted: routing the line

The branch tees into house piping that has spare capacity. Beside the house or under a covered patio, painted steel pipe can run along the wall and drop to the grill or heater. In the yard, polyethylene gas pipe goes in a trench with a yellow tracer wire and surfaces through a steel riser at the island or fire pit.

Fort Worth enforces the International Fuel Gas Code with local amendments (the 2021 edition was adopted in 2022). Fort Worth's amendments require buried gas piping to sit at least 18 inches below grade, and they drop the model code's shallower option for single outdoor appliances, so even a short run to a fire pit goes 18 inches deep. Nearby towns set their own depth with their permits. Plastic pipe never runs under the house, and an existing patio can be bored under instead of broken up. Much of the Fort Worth area sits on clay that swells after rain and shrinks in drought, so the pipe is laid on a firm, even trench bottom and backfilled without rocks that could press on it.

A shutoff valve at each appliance

Every grill, side burner, fire feature and heater gets its own valve within 6 feet of it, ahead of the connector or quick-disconnect, within reach. On an island that is usually behind the access door below the grill; a fire pit typically gets a key valve in the surrounding stone. A second valve where the yard branch leaves the house shuts off everything outside while the furnace and water heater stay on.

Propane appliances need conversion first

A propane grill or fire pit can't simply be connected to natural gas. Natural gas arrives at lower pressure and holds less than half the heat per cubic foot, so burners need larger orifices and sometimes a different regulator. Unconverted, they make small, unsteady flames that can blow out.

• Read the rating plate; it shows the gas the unit is set for, often marked NG or LP.
• Convert only with the manufacturer's kit for that exact model. Some models can't be converted.
• Never drill out an orifice. Still shopping? Buy the natural gas version.

After a conversion, flames are checked and joints leak-tested during the gas appliance hookup.

Permit, pressure test and inspection

Fort Worth's plumbing code covers fuel gas piping, so a new outdoor line needs a plumbing permit through Development Services. The plumber doing the work pulls the permit.

1. Plan: have model numbers, a patio sketch and a photo of the meter ready when you call.
2. Size and permit before any digging.
3. Rough-in: pipe, tracer wire, risers and valves go in; buried pipe normally stays visible until inspected.
4. Test: with outlets capped, the piping holds test pressure on a diaphragm gauge for at least 15 minutes, as Fort Worth's amendments require. See gas pressure testing.
5. Connect and light: trench closed, appliances connected, air purged, joints leak-checked, burners lit.

Planning with a pool or patio builder

Gas is easiest to run before concrete, pavers or decking go down.

• Share the plan early with every gas appliance marked, pool heater included, so the pipe is sized once.
• Ask the builder to lay a conduit sleeve under new hardscape.
• Match the riser to the island cutout or fire table base on its spec sheet.
• Follow the grill maker's venting rules for an enclosed island so leaking gas can't collect inside.

Call 811 before anyone digs

Texas law requires notice to the 811 center at least 48 hours before digging with powered equipment 16 inches or deeper, not counting weekends and legal holidays, and that includes homeowners. The locate is free, so call before any digging. Locators mark utility lines such as the Atmos service to your meter, but not private piping; Atmos notes that piping past its meter, including lines to a pool heater or grill, belongs to the owner. Keep a sketch of your yard line and have it located before setting fence posts or trees.

Outdoor gas line questions

Plan your outdoor gas line

Call (817) 755-5621 with your patio plan or appliance models. Price depends on the length of the run, wall or underground routing, any bore under concrete, the number of appliances and the permit. New customers save $50 and seniors, military and first responders save 10% (see coupons). Outdoor installs are booked at a time that suits you. Texas plumbing license # M-27587.

From 955 N Sylvania Ave in Riverside we serve Fort Worth, Haltom City, North Richland Hills, Hurst, Euless and Bedford, Saginaw, Benbrook and Arlington.

Office hours 8 AM–11 PM daily · 24/7 emergency service