Grill Assembly in Vancouver

Gas connection and leak testing

Connecting a grill to a natural gas line is gas fitting work and requires a ticketed gas fitter in British Columbia. We do not do it, and nobody without that ticket should. Where your grill is going onto a natural gas outlet, we assemble it and coordinate a ticketed fitter for the connection.

A propane cylinder is different — connecting a regulator hose to a tank is an ordinary consumer action. We leak-test that connection with soapy solution at every joint before we leave, watching for bubbles with the cylinder open and the burners off. Never test with a flame, and if you smell gas at any point, close the cylinder valve first and ask questions afterwards.

Balcony and strata restrictions

This is the part that catches people after they have bought the grill. Open-flame cooking on balconies of multi-family buildings is restricted by fire regulations across much of Metro Vancouver, and many strata bylaws prohibit it outright or permit electric only.

Check your bylaws and your municipality's fire bylaw before buying, not after. The rules differ between propane, natural gas and electric, and between buildings — a grill that is fine on your friend's balcony in one municipality may be prohibited on yours. We would much rather tell you this at enquiry than assemble something you are not permitted to use.

Propane vs. natural gas conversion

The two fuels run at different pressures and need different orifice sizes, so they are not interchangeable by swapping the hose. Converting requires the manufacturer's conversion kit, and only where the manufacturer states that model can be converted.

Do not improvise this. A grill running on the wrong orifice either starves or over-fuels, and over-fuelling produces flames well outside where they should be. Where a conversion is legitimate and available, the work is gas fitting and belongs with a ticketed fitter — the same as any other connection.

Seasoning and first use

Run a new grill empty on high for fifteen to twenty minutes before cooking on it. That burns off manufacturing residues from the grates and burner surfaces, which you would otherwise taste in the first thing you cook.

Then oil the grates lightly with a high smoke point oil while warm. Cast iron grates in particular want seasoning and re-oiling through the season, and in this climate they will surface-rust if left damp — which is an argument for a cover, and for pulling the cover off after rain rather than trapping moisture underneath it.

What this costs

$145/hr · $290 minimum · most items $120–$400

Charged by time because that is what a flat-pack actually consumes. Wall anchoring of tall units is included, never an extra.

Materials are always separate from labour and passed on at cost. Quotes are free and written, and the full rate card is published rather than given out on request.