Hi Joyce,

Not a pro but...it is our understanding that only licensed gas plumbers may perform work on a property, whether it's a condo, townhouse or apartment. You can check your state's gov't website to confirm whether a gas plumber is licensed for the jurisdiction that they are allowed to perform work on a property. Also, not sure how stringent NYC licensing laws are for gas plumbing but for California, there are several certifications and exams that one must pass before being able to perform certain types of gas piping work on a property--so just because one is licensed, it doesn't mean that they are certified to perform said type of gas piping work.

Depending on the set up of your condo's gas piping, that gas line may come from a single, central gas riser or you may have your own gas riser that's isolated from the other condo units. Your condo property manager should be able to tell you whether it is separated or if it's all coming from the same source like what live_wire_oak mentioned above. By separated, we mean that each condo has their own gas riser rather than a single, central unit that all the condo units use.

If whoever told you the above information said it is illegal to move the gas line and it is the property manager, more than likely, it is probable that your condo is one of those that only have a single, central gas riser for the entire building. It's a costly renovation on the part of the property owner because it would involve bringing in the city and local gov't involved in the inspection process. So whoever told you information above probably didn't want you to make them have to do that--just so you can move the gas piping to install a stove flushed against the wall.

Lastly, from your post above, unless there is a leak somewhere in the gas line system, the property owner probably wouldn't get the city inspectors involved just to recess the piping into the wall or move it elsewhere. These are just our conjectures, by the way. We don't actually know what the real situation is for your condo.

We hope this information will help you make a more informed decision on your home needs.

Very Best,

Tai Truong

Elements of Design

3400 Medford Street

Los Angeles, CA 90063

tai@lusivedecor.com

www.elementsofdesign.com

Thanks a lot @User and @Elements of Design, Here's what I've learned: the gas pipe is directly connected to a single riser -- not clear if it's for the whole building or our particular apartment line. A certified plumber is the one who said that he cannot touch it. I'm not clear now on the reason (building rule, city rule, safety concern). Another person told me that the plumbers use to do this kind of thing all the time but following some explosions in the city, they've stopped. Again, don't know if it's personal reluctance or laws. I've also been told that the gas has never been turned off in the whole building (built 25 years ago) so if that's what it would require, it's a no-go, that is, I'm sure the building wouldn't allow it.

Assuming we can't move it, is anyone aware of a 30" range that is at least partially open in the back so that the stove could be pushed back to the wall even with the pipe? It's really hard to tell from the spec sheets exactly what's going on in the back of the stoves.

Is this part of a full kitchen remodel? If so and you’re getting new countertops, there might be a work around that would allow you to have the Wolf range. Other alternatives include a Wolf range top and separate wall oven. Btw, have you called Wolf to ask for guidance?

@Sammy Yes it is part of a full remodel so we are considering widening the countertops. However it's a galley kitchen with a doorway that starts 27.75" from the wall so anything beyond that will stick out into the doorway space. Since the gas pipe sticks out 3.5" from the wall at it's widest spot, we only have 24.25" to work with before hitting the doorway.

Good idea to call Wolf -- I've been relying on the appliance store but perhaps I can get more information from them directly.

@Joyce: If your phone call with Wolf doesn’t give you the answers you’d hoped for and you need to plan b it, knowing these measurements would help going forward:

:)

Have you looked at Thermador? Based on the picture of your stove cutout, I think this would work:

Thermador 30-inch Pro Harmony Range

Most ranges have a recessed area on one side of the back, for either a gas line or those bulky surface mounted 240 electrical outlets. My range sticks out an annoying couple of inches because the idiot builders made the gas line stick up a full foot above floor level. The recess on my range is on the same side, but is only about 10 inches tall.

Thanks @Sammy, I will check out the Thermador, really appreciate the lead. On your diagram, "A" is 12" high so I'm afraid I'll be in the same position as @cathyyg. (I think we must have had the same builders.

I had the same issue when I replaced my stove. We ended up using new adapters to connect it lower. We were also able to pull some of line back.

I can't believe that it is impossible for a plumber to fix this. Even with restrictive building departments, there has to be some way to service gas lines.

What I can believe is that this can turn out to be rather tedious, depending on how many other units are in your building. You might have to buy every other condo owner a nice bottle of wine. If there are only four other parties, that's no big deal. If there are forty other parties, you might want to reconsider.

If there only is a single shutoff valve at the main gas meter, you cannot simply turn gas back on unless the plumber has inspected each and every gas-powered appliance in the entire building. Most modern appliances will happily handle a temporary failure in gas pressure. But older appliances sometimes have standing pilot lights, and those won't turn back on by themselves.

Even worse, the appliance might have been turned on, when the gas was shut off. And when gas pressure is restored, gas will start leaking into the building without any pilot to ignite it. With an electronic spark reigniter, that's pretty harmless. With a standing pilot it can result in an explosion.

Thank you @M for explaining how this works! There are 143 units in the building. That's a lot of wine. From what I understand, the plumbers used to do this kind of thing in large apartment buildings without turning off the gas but (thankfully) are more safety conscious now.

That's the redneck solution. Residential gas pipes are only pressurized to somewhere between ¼ and ½ psi. So, it's easy to unscrew a pipe and just as easy to screw a new one back in. This is quite different from water which might be pressurized to 60 psi. Once you unscrew that pipe it's not going back in until you turn the water supply off.

Of course, even at a only ¼ psi, a lot of highly explosive gas will escape. Natural gas has a combustible range from 5% to 15% in air. So, if this is in a well-ventilated space and there are no ignition sources close by, you can be fine. But that's quite a risk. No wonder nobody does that anymore.

@Sammy Am I reading the Thermador specs correctly that there is a 10" high space for gas pipes? Unfortunately, ours is 12" high... what were these buildings thinking???