La Palma is a small Orange County city that borders Cerritos on the east. It started life as Dairyland in 1955, when the area was mostly dairy farms, and took the name La Palma in 1965 as homes replaced the pastures. Most of the houses date from the late 1960s and 1970s.
Homes from that era in our area are commonly built on concrete slabs, so gas piping usually runs through the attic, the garage or exterior walls rather than under the floor. That shapes how we search for leaks. We test the system, then check the attic runs and exterior drops where lines come down to the water heater, furnace and range.
La Palma backyards are another big part of our work. Pool heaters, built-in barbecues and fire pits all need gas, and the buried lines that feed them are worth checking if you notice a smell outdoors.
La Palma at a glance
- ZIP code
- 90623
- County
- Orange County, on the border with Los Angeles County
- Gas utility
- Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas)
- Water
- The City of La Palma runs its own water utility
- Landmarks
- La Palma Central Park, Kennedy High School
Where gas leaks show up in La Palma
Attic and exterior wall runs
With slab foundations, gas lines often run overhead. Heat in the attic and weather on exterior drops wear on fittings.
Pool and spa heaters
Pool heaters draw a lot of gas, and the buried lines and connections that feed them are common leak points.
Garage water heaters
Water heaters and furnaces in the garage get bumped by cars and storage, which loosens connectors and valves.
Outdoor kitchens added later
Barbecues tied into existing lines without resizing can leave the whole system short on gas.
How we help in La Palma
La Palma is right across the county line from our Cerritos base. We bring the same leak detection process here as anywhere else: detector, pressure test, repair and a second test before gas is turned back on.
Strong smell of gas? Leave the house and call 911 or your gas utility from outside. Then call us for the repair.
Attic gas lines in La Palma homes
In a slab-built house, the attic is often the highway for gas piping. The line climbs from the meter, runs across the ceiling joists and drops down through walls to each appliance. Summer heat in an attic is hard on everything up there, and fittings that have been in place since the 1970s may not seal the way they once did.
Attic leaks are easy to miss because the gas can drift and thin out before anyone smells it in the living space. A pressure test tells us whether the system is losing gas, and a detector along the attic runs shows where. We repair from the attic side when we can, which keeps ceiling and wall openings to a minimum.