Smell Gas in Your House in Dallas? What to Do

What the rotten-egg smell is

Methane, the main part of natural gas, has no odor. Utilities blend in a sulfur compound called mercaptan, and federal pipeline rules require enough of it that a person with a normal sense of smell notices gas at one-fifth of the level where it could ignite. Even a faint smell counts.

According to Atmos Energy, other odors in the area can mask it, breathing it for a while wears out your sense of smell, and colds, sinus trouble, allergies, tobacco or some medicines can weaken it. If anyone smells gas, act on it.

Switches, phones and garage doors: hands off

Gas mixed with air needs only a tiny spark, and wall switches, pulled plugs, doorbells, phones and garage door opener motors can all make a small, unseen spark.

• Lights: leave every switch as it is.
• Phones: take your cell along, but dial only once you're outdoors.
• Garage: exit through a regular door, not the opener, and don't start the car.
• Flames and searching: no lighters, matches or candles, and don't hunt for the source or shut appliance valves; responders bring detectors.

Who to call from outside, and what Atmos does

Phone from a safe distance, away from the house. Atmos asks you to call 911 and its 24-hour emergency line without assuming a neighbor already did. Stay out until responders say it's safe.

A trained Atmos technician investigates a reported leak free of charge. Once the source is traced to house piping or an appliance, the technician closes the gas at the meter or at that appliance and locks or tags it, which people call a red tag. Atmos doesn't look after gas pipe on your side of its meter, and in Dallas service doesn't return until a permit is pulled and the city issues a release. Our guide to getting gas back on after an Atmos red tag walks through it.

Repair, pressure test and reconnection

A leak past the meter is the owner's to repair, normally by a licensed plumber. In Dallas the steps are:

1. Permit. The plumber doing the work pulls the permit, a gas test permit filed online with the city, before touching the pipe.
2. Find it. The piping is pressurized on a gauge; if it drops, leak solution and a detector find the bad joint.
3. Repair. The worn connector, seeping valve or rusted length of pipe is replaced; see gas line repair.
4. City test. All piping from the meter on, yard line included, is brought to 3 psi on an approved diaphragm gauge and must hold for at least 15 minutes in front of a City of Dallas plumbing inspector, who also checks each gas appliance. See gas pressure testing.
5. Reconnect. The inspector sends Atmos the release, you call Atmos customer service to schedule the turn-on, and appliances are relit. An unused release expires after 60 days.

An inspection outside the city's regular hours costs more: under a January 2026 memo, each one carries a $300 city charge in addition to the permit fee.

Faint gas smells around appliances

• Stove or cooktop. A brief whiff as a burner clicks and catches is normal. Odor that lingers after the flame settles, or with all knobs off, suggests a leak at a valve, burner or connector.
• Water heater, furnace or dryer. Their flexible connectors and shut-off valves wear and get bumped. Treat a faint smell near one as a leak, and don't relight a pilot.
• Under the floor. Many older houses in Oak Cliff, Lakewood and South Dallas sit on piers with threaded steel gas pipe in the crawlspace, so a slow leak may show only near a floor vent.
• Only from the hot tap. A sulfur smell from hot water, not the air, is usually hydrogen sulfide formed in the water heater, often tied to the magnesium anode rod. That's a water heater repair, not a gas leak.

When in doubt, assume it's gas and get out.

Carbon monoxide or natural gas?

Natural gas carries an added odor, and its main danger is fire or explosion. Carbon monoxide, a by-product of burning fuel, has no smell or color; it collects when a furnace, water heater or range vents or burns poorly, or when a car idles in an attached garage or a generator runs near the house. The CDC lists headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain and confusion as common symptoms, and warns that someone asleep can be poisoned before any symptoms appear.

• The CDC advises battery-powered or battery-backup CO alarms close to where people sleep, replaced when the maker says or at five years.
• If one sounds, get everyone outdoors into fresh air and dial 911.
• CO alarms don't detect natural gas; Atmos says home methane detectors don't replace your senses.

Gas smell questions from Dallas homeowners

Gas shut off? Line up the repair

Once the house is cleared, call (844) 313-1397. From our shop just south of downtown, we repair gas leaks across Dallas, from Deep Ellum to Oak Cliff. New customers get $50 off the bill and the dispatch fee is waived ($0) when we make the repair (see coupons). Repairs that can wait are booked at a time that suits you.

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