I know this is REALLY off topic but one of the ranges on the stovetop in the house we just moved into didn't work. I noticed it was REALLY dirty and there was a gummy substance all around it. So i cleaned off the burner and now it won't turn off. I turned off the gas in back and tried to find out what was wrong but I have no idea. Everytime i turn the gas back on the one range just spews gas. Any ideas?

Sounds like a valve, not a burner. (and this IS the place for off-topic )

Try removing all the *****, and check the orientation of the valve shutoff shafts. Are the flats all aligned? Or is one of them off by a bit? The valve should be closed, regardless of sticky condition of the burners.

For the burners, soak all the pieces in Easy-Off for a couple hours in the sink, then without rinsing, put them through the dishwasher on the pots/pans setting.

If you find a burner that won't shut off, you can cap it off with parts from Home Depot, and just not use that burner until it'* fixed. It is one burner, and you're renting?

yeah, it'* only one burner and we're renting. i noticed that the **** for the burner in question would just keep turning. when i took it off, the metal piece that the **** goes onto was loose as well, so i tightened it. unfortunately that didn't work. i think i may just go to home depot and get stuff to cap it. yikes.

You can turn the gas on to everything else if you want, if you just shut it off behind the stove. Should be a valve there, then you can go remove the valve in question, and go to Home Depot. Get a cap for the gas line coming into that valve. They may have rebuild kits for the valve itself, or replacement valves.

What brand is the range/stove? And model?

And don't forget to re-light the pilots on the heater and water heater if you need to.

yeah, i pulled the stove out and shut the valve in back off as soon as i realized gas was pouring into my house, haha. i went out and got some plumbers putty/caulk and put it in the hole that comes out of the bottom of the ****. i'd like to fix it for good but the caulk definitely plugged it up in the short term.

good thing you caught the problem before anything happened.

Renting? Might be the landlords problem, not yours. Thats the beauty of renting around here, I never did a lick of maintence as a tenant, apart from keeping the place clean, yard mowed and HVAC filters changed. Everything else was handled.

Valid point. Although some landlords will let you do repairs/painting, etc and deduct labor and materials from the rent. That has worked for me in the past.