A permanent gas line to a barbecue or a fire table removes the two annoyances of propane — running out partway through cooking, and the ritual of swapping tanks. It is one of the more satisfying small upgrades to a house.
It is also one where the planning matters more than the installation.
Decide the location properly, because it is permanent
A propane barbecue can be moved. A barbecue on a fixed gas line, largely, cannot.
So the location decision deserves more thought than people give it. Where does the smoke actually go — toward your seating area, toward a door, toward a neighbour's window. Is there shelter enough to use it in our weather, which is the difference between a barbecue used year-round and one used in July. Is it convenient to the kitchen. And where will you want it in five years, after the deck extension or the landscaping you are half-planning.
The same applies to a fire table, plus one more: fire tables are furniture, and the arrangement of a seating area tends to evolve. Placing the outlet where the table will be forever is a bigger commitment than placing furniture.
Quick-disconnect fittings
The standard arrangement uses a quick-disconnect at the appliance end. The appliance connects and disconnects without tools, and disconnects cleanly for winter storage or for moving the barbecue to clean behind it.
It is worth having rather than a permanently plumbed connection, and it is the detail that makes a fixed line feel convenient rather than restrictive.
More than one outlet
If you are running a line to a deck, adding a second outlet at the same time — for a future fire table, a patio heater, an outdoor kitchen — costs far less during the same job than it does as a separate visit later.
This is the single most common regret we hear about outdoor gas: one outlet installed, a second wanted a year later, and the trench or the run has to happen again.
Capacity, again
Outdoor appliances add to the same total load as everything else in the house. A barbecue is a modest load; a barbecue plus a fire table plus a patio heater is not.
If your gas system is already carrying a furnace, water heater, range and dryer, the outdoor additions may be what pushes it past its headroom. That is worth establishing before planning an outdoor kitchen.
Deck, patio or buried
A run under a deck is usually the easiest case — accessible, protected, and simple to route.
A run across or under a patio depends on what is there. Existing pavers can often be lifted and relaid; poured concrete is a different matter.
A buried run to a detached structure — an outdoor kitchen, a pool heater, a garage — requires appropriate materials, depth and protection. It is a bigger job than the same length indoors.
If a patio or deck is being built or replaced, run the gas first. Doing it after is always harder and sometimes impossible without taking the surface up.
Outdoor gas work is permitted and inspected like any other gas work, and gas fitting is licensed in British Columbia. The line is pressure-tested as part of that.
Winter
A quick-disconnect outlet is capped when the appliance is disconnected. That is the whole winterisation requirement — there is no water in the line to freeze.
The appliance itself is a different matter, and covering or storing a barbecue over the wet months extends its life considerably in this climate.
Fire tables specifically
Fire tables have clearance requirements from combustible materials and from structures, and those matter on a covered deck or under an overhang. Manufacturers specify them, and they are worth reading before deciding where it goes rather than after.
They also draw more gas than people expect for something that produces no heat you can cook with.
The best time to plan it
Spring, if you want it for the summer, because the demand for outdoor work concentrates once the weather turns. And any time a deck, patio or landscaping project is happening, because that is when the routes are open.
Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, New Westminster. 604-865-7979.
Related: Outdoor BBQ and fire table gas lines · Gas line installation · Adding a gas appliance
