Jeremy Stacy, “List-en!” associate producer
Margaret Howieson interview
May 18, 2009

Jeremy Stacy: Please give me your name and where you live for the record.

Margaret Howieson: My name is Margaret Howieson, and I live in a suburb of Kansas City, Kan.

JS: What kind of grill do you own?

MH: I own a Ducane, which as far as I can tell is fairly old. It was in the home that I purchased about three or four years ago. It has a gas line going into it.

JS: So it doesn't use propane tanks?

MH: Nope.

JS: Do you know how old the grill is?

MH: I would guess looking at it that it's 20 years old.

JS: When was your house built?

MH: [It was] built in the 1950s.

JS: How did you discover that you had a problem with your grill?

MH: Well, I had used it the year before and didn't use it very much. When I powered it up for the summer, I noticed the flame was really low. So I thought there was something wrong with the part of it where the gas actually comes out. This is actually a grill that you have to light with a match.

So when I lit it, the flames were really low and it would take a really long time to cook anything. I had never had it serviced at all, so I decided I wanted to find somebody to look at it that knew what he or she were doing.

JS: How did you find someone to service your gas grill?

MH: I had recently joined Angie's List. I basically just got on there and I think I used "gas grill" as the search words and found that there's actually very few people that worked on gas grills in my area. But there were a few, and I got in and read the reviews of several of them and chose the one that had the best [reviews] and called them up.

JS: What did the problem end up being with your grill?

MH: I'm kind of embarrassed to say this, but it ended up being the grill and the outlets needed to be cleaned. 

I made arrangements with him - the person I had talked with - to come out and look at it. I didn't know what he was going to find, so our arrangement was that he was going to look at and if it was relatively inexpensive he was going to go ahead and do the work and let me know what it was afterwards and I would pay him.

He came, he sort of checked it out and he cleaned it. I suspect he used just a wire brush of some sort and just scraped around the outlets where the gas comes out.

It cooked things much better after that.

JS: How much did that cost?

MH:  $55

JS: Did your service provider have any suggestions to maintain your grill?

MH: He didn't, but I have one. Clean it regularly because I wouldn't have known to do that. It kind of makes sense and you can probably do that yourself. Of course, you need to do it when you start the grill up at the beginning of the season.

I haven't done it yet this year, but I plan to.

JS: Had you done anything to maintain your grill before you had it serviced?

MH: No I hadn't. I was kind of a flaky owner.

JS: What was your price limit to have repairs done?

MH: I think it was probably around $100 in terms of having someone come out without me approving it or whatever.

With an old grill, I probably wouldn't have done it if it were $150 or $200 because then I might have thought maybe I should buy a new grill.

Jeremy Stacy, “List-en!” associate producer
Julie Rogers interview
May 19, 2009


Jeremy Stacy: Please give me your name, your company name and your location for the record.

Julie Rogers: My name is Julie Rogers and I'm with Indy Gas Works Corporation located on the Southside of Indianapolis. We've been in business since November 2004.

JS: What are some common problems you find with gas grills?

JR: Usually when we get called out to service a gas grill, it's either because they're not getting an even cooking or they'll have a flashback where fire will actually flash back at them through the knobs of their grill. Or, they will notice that there's a lot of yellow flame down where the burners are and that should really be a blue flame.

Your flashbacks and yellow flames are typically caused by spider webs. Teeny tiny spiders will crawl up into the venturi tubes of the grill or the gas supply tubes and will weave their webs and restrict the gas flow to the actual burner. Eventually, they will restrict it so much that [flames] will flash back at them.

JS: What causes the uneven cooking?

JR: Uneven cooking is also caused by a restriction in the gas flow. We'll have to go out and clean the valves and clean the gas tubes. Actually, it's kind of in stages when you start to notice the uneven cooking. You will start to look down and you'll get a lot of yellow flame or no flame at all. That's an indication it's time to service it because if you wait too much longer, you'll end up with the flashback.

JS: What is the typical cost to service a grill?

JR: A typical service call runs around $99. That includes the cleaning of it, vacuuming it out, cleaning the venturi tubes and making sure all of the major debris are outside of the grill. It doesn't include actually physically polishing it and making it look brand new. We make it functional again.

JS: How long does a service call typically last?

JR: A service of a gas grill will last between 30 and 45 minutes.

JS: When is your busy season for repairing gas grills?

JR: Usually it will start in April. It really depends on how the weather is at that particular time. The warmer it gets, the busier we get. People want to get out and start cooking on their grills.

Over that course of time, spiders have gotten in and woven their webs. A lot of times people want us to come out in the spring just to make sure that if they're having a party that it's going to work.

JS: What are some tips for homeowners to extend the life of their grill?

JR: Number one, you should have your gas grill serviced at least once a year.  If you're a heavy gas grill user, you might want to consider even twice a year. A lot of times we'll come out in the spring and then we'll come out in late summer or early fall. It also depends on how often you use it, but service is key number one.

Number two is covering it. Putting a cover over the grill protects the life of the grill. It also helps to keep the inside parts from rusting out.

JS: Are there certain styles of grills that are more problematic than others?

JR: What I can say about that is you get what you pay for. If you spend $200 on a grill, it will probably last you a couple of years. If you go to a specialty retail store and really invest in the grill, those will typically last a lot longer. You're also more prone to service them because they're more valuable. That's how you can extend the life and become less problematic.

I will say that it doesn't matter if you spend $200 or $2000 on a gas grill, the first thing that's going to be a problem is going to be in the ignition system.

JS: Why is that?

JR: Because they are more apt with weather changes to fail or to not work on a consistent basis. The best replacement for a lighter is a long grill lighter - just a long match.

JS: How can a homeowner determine if they should repair or replace their grill?

JR: Well, it really comes down to economics. Is it going to cost more to get the parts and replace it than it would to go out and buy a new grill? And then you also have to look at: is this grill servicing all of your needs or do you need something a little different?

Sometimes Daren will get to a house and he'll look at a grill and he will see everything that is wrong with it. He’s very honest and will say, "I can repair this for you, but it's really going to take quite a bit of money and you're just better off going out and buying a new grill."

JS: When is a grill beyond repair?

JR: If you have a natural gas grill, if the collar is broken off on the bottom. You can't repair those. [If] you can't get parts for it. You really have to consider if your cart is rusting out or if there's things breaking on it that you just can't get parts for, or if it's too hard to replace.

JS: What are suggestions for homeowners to find a good company to service their gas grills?

JR: I would ask them what is included in their service.  Do they clean the valves in the venturi tubes? If the valves are seizing or are a little hard to turn, do they lubricate them? Will they give them a parts suggestion? Really it's just pulling it out and cleaning it. It's not really a difficult thing. It's actually something homeowners can do themselves, but manufacturers like to see service people come out and clean them.

Additionally, contacting a specialty retail store that sells natural gas and propane grills - they will have good grill service people.

JS: Does having someone come out to maintain a grill help maintain its warranty?

JR: Some manufacturers have certifications, but it isn't actually necessary that the person be certified in that particular grill. But if you can prove you have had your grill maintained on a regular basis, some manufacturers do like to see that. They will put in their warranty to have your grill serviced once a year. Look at your book. Look at your warranty and read through their qualifications to see if it says that a qualified person should service it.

Then if you have a receipt that shows you have had it serviced by a company that it’s obvious that's what they do, you should be pretty good on your warranty at that point. 

Most manufacturers don't argue with you about that. They just want you to get out and grill.

JS: Any interesting stories?

JR: We've seen pretty much it all - animals, rodents, birds nesting in the grill. Bees … that sort of thing.

Really, the best thing to keep your grill up and running is to use it. If you leave it sitting for a long time you never know what can crawl up there and nest in there. Then you really have a problem because even the gas grill guy won't want to come out and clean it up.

JS: Any other thoughts on gas grill repair that I haven't covered?

JR: Just having it done on a regular basis is the best thing you can do as a homeowner - to use it, to be aware of how it's cooking and what changes are occurring. The more you can communicate to your gas grill person, the quicker it's going to get done and the better it's going to get done.

If you're having a certain problem and you say it's not cooking well over here, but it's cooking better over here. That immediately lets them go to find that problem. It allows them to take a little bit more time elsewhere




Jeremy Stacy, “List-en!” associate producer
Debra Xedus interview
May 13, 2009

Jeremy Stacy: Please give me your name, company and location for the record.

Debra Xedus: My name is Debra Xedus. Our company is called The Grill Doctor and we're located in Mooresville, N.C.

JS: How long have you been in business?

DX: We're going on our sixth year.

JS: What are common problems consumers have with gas grills?

DX: Mostly the igniters and just not maintaining them properly is a huge problem. We at The Grill Doctor recommend that you clean your grill professionally at least twice a year and if you use a lot of sauces and marinades, three to four times a year is not unreasonable.

JS: What does a professional cleaning entail?

DX: A professional cleaning entails cleaning the bottom of your grill, cleaning the burners - making sure they're all debris free - cleaning the flavor bars that go over the burners, cleaning the cooking grids that your food sits on and cleaning inside the grill to the best of [our] ability. [We] then power wash any doors or drawers and they hand polish the top.

JS: Do you have many problems with grill ignitions?

DX: We do. A lot of time people don't realize that it's just a battery that has to be changed for their igniter to work again.

JS: What are some other problems homeowners have with their grills?

DX: People think that their grills are just dirty and need to have them cleaned, when really their burners are bad. What happens when a burner has gone bad is all the little holes kind of blend together where the gas comes from and that will cause a lot of corrosion. They’ll have big flames coming out of their burners. So cleaning them doesn't help. You have to replace your burners.

A lot of people don't realize that when they purchase their grill, if they keep a copy of their original receipt, many grills have warranties that sometimes are lifetime or 10 years for parts. But without the receipt, they are entitled to nothing. There's a tidbit.

JS: Much do you charge to service a grill?

DX: We charge by how many burners you have and that's how many knobs you have on your grill. One to four burners are $89.99, five burners are $99, six is $129 and it just goes up from there.  

JS: What about replacement parts?

DX: Each grill has their own unique piece; meaning that there are very few grills that you can use a universal part for because each manufacturer manufactures their own grill with their own burners. Some burners you can replace fairly reasonably - anywhere from $29 to $39. Some grills - for burners - you can go up to hundreds of dollars. You want to make sure that when you purchase a grill you know what you're getting into if parts need to be replaced.

We charge a $40 service call. Our techs come out … and make sure the grill is working properly. If there are any parts that aren't working properly, they will note it. They're not going to clean a grill that doesn’t work. What they'll do is write down a part description and all the pertinent information like the model number and serial number. They will then bring it back to me and I will price it, call the customer and they can decide what direction they want to go in.

JS: How can a homeowner decide if it’s time for a new grill?

DX: If you've had your grill for eight to 10 years, that's a pretty long time for a grill. You want to determine if you put in new parts is it worthwhile purchasing a new grill for an opening price point at $399 and having another 10-year grill or is it worth putting parts in that don't cost that much. It all depends on what the estimate is.

Some estimates are $200. Well, you can't buy a grill for $200 that's going to be worthwhile having.

JS: What can a homeowner do to make sure they’re buying a worthwhile grill?

DX: You just want to make sure you do a lot of homework because grills are not disposable. They don't have to be disposable anymore. They're too expensive not to buy the right one. In my ad, I put, "Call me for my recommendations before purchasing your next grill." [This is] because there are so many grills on the market that aren't going to last.

When you walk into the big box stores, you see this grill and it has everything on it and you think, “This is such a deal and its $299.” Well, come on. You know it's not going to be of any quality, because if you go to the better grills, you're not going to get all that stuff for that money. It doesn't happen that way if you want a grill that lasts for any length of time.

JS: What can homeowners do to extend the life of their grill?

DX: Keep them covered. You have to keep your grill covered. Keep grills as clean as you can. Keep the burners debris-free and just clean them as needed. Another tip is there's a Weber spray out now that lubricates the cooking grids. Or, you can use olive oil and what I do is I dip a paper towel in olive oil - use my tongs - and I rub the cooking grids with olive oil before and after cooking.

You have to make sure that whatever you're cleaning your grill with, it's safe for food and fire. You can't just use anything on a grill.

JS: How can homeowner find a qualified person to work on their grill?

DX: First of all, you want to go to your grill company - whatever brand of grill you have - and find out who their authorized service person is because you don't want just anybody working on your grill. It seems easy enough, but it's very, very technical. And, once again, you're working with gas so you don't want just anybody. You want an authorized service person to work on your grill.

JS: Do you have any interesting stories that have come from servicing grills?

DX: As a matter of fact, after I finished reading your invitation to do this interview, my techs called me up and they were laughing their heads off. I said, "What is wrong?" They said, "We are locked in the back yard. We came around with some of our tools to work on the grill." All of sudden this giant dog came around and started chasing them and he was on the outside of the fence in the yard and now my techs are locked in the fenced area with the grill and the pool.

They have also found birds' nests in the side burners of the grill from people who don't use them all season. And, there's one lady, she had a contract cleaning with us - that means she has hired us to clean her grill every three months. She lives in kind of a wilderness area and she is constantly cooking mice because she'll go out there and turn the grill on and all of a sudden all these mice will be scattering.

You have to be careful also about cleaning your grease trays because what happens is if you have a dog, they'll smell your grease and  bite through your hoses on your grill and squirrels like it as well.

JS: Any other thoughts on gas grills?

DX:  Don't use a grill that's not safe. If you see flames coming out of the burners, it doesn't just need to be cleaned. Never ever start your grill with your top down. What happens is the gas collects and then it can blow the top off.