Re: Cowboy plumbers - question about elderly neighbour

In article , Rod scribeth thus

Hi, > >My elderly next-door neighbour lives on her own now, and she has had a >grant to have a central heating system installed at last. The installers >have been round the last few days, but today I noticed that they have >run the pipework along the outside of the house, from the kitchen in the >back (where the boiler is) to the front room. >This can't be right, as the pipework is uninsulated and will freeze when >the temperature drops, plus all the heat that will be lost.

It -might- be the gas pipe, that is sometimes done or at least it was done whether or not its OK practice now I don't know.

If they have run a water pipe outside then thats got to be worth a U tube vid at least;!..

You might be best off contacting "Gas-safe" I think its called these days or ask your local building control office at the city council if in Cam city for their opinion.

Have you got the name of the installers as they should be gas safe registered if working on domestic properties for gain..

I've posted this to uk.d-i-y for comment, some Gasman in there;)..

>I don't know precisely who has commissioned the installers, but I have a >horrible feeling they have done a quick and rubbish job as they think >that she is an old lady who is not paying herself and won't complain. I >need to find out from her who the grant was from. > >Does anyone know if there are any legal/building regulations that >prohibit this work, running the pipes on the outside of the house. I >want to do something to get this fixed before the winter for her, but I >need to work out a gameplan. > >Cheers >Rod
Reply to
tony sayer
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Gas pipes outside did seem very odd to me the first time I saw it, but it seems to be common practice now.

Reply to
Tim Ward

It's proved to be a fantastic opportunity for nicking copper pipe, and it is also often mounted in a position where it is likely to get damaged. I've often wondered if the regs should be changed to require iron pipework outside unless the pipework is well out of reach and out of danager of being damaged.

The other thing is that it should be sleeved where it passes through the wall, and it very often isn't. The pipe should be sealed to the sleeve on the inside only with a suitable flexible mastic, so that any leak inside the wall will result in the gas being discharged only to the outside, without any possibility of the gas leaking into the inside of the wall construction or the inside of the building. The sleeve also serves to prevent the copper being in contact with certain building materials such as mortar and plaster, which can corrode through it.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

given the explosion risk it's considered preferable to running them in voids.

Reply to
Duncan Wood

The reason it's done is that if there's a leak, there can be no build up of gas that could cause an explosion. These gas explosions invariably occur when a cupboard/floor space/ cavity wall etc. fills with gas from maybe a very small leak.

However as someone else says, the pipe gets nicked if copper. They should be installing screwed steel pipe but the NVQ plumbers we get these days don't know how to do it or have the equipment.

Reply to
harry

Bollocks. It's run externally due to costs.

Reply to
ARW

Also happens when replacing an old boiler with a combi that needs a larger supply pipe - it can be a lot cheaper to route the new pipe outside even if the original supply was inside.

Reply to
Al Grant

No. It's done because it's too difficult, disruptive or expensive to run it internalyl from wherever the existing supply is to wherever the new boiler is sited, e.g. due to concrete floors.

MBQ

Reply to
Man at B&Q

:

Gas pipes used to be routed under suspended floors with no problems. I remember the fitter had about a 12" high crawl space under the floor when my parents had a new gas fire fitted in the front room.

Is that not done any more?

MBQ

Reply to
Man at B&Q

It depends on whether it's ventilated " Where any installation pipework is not itself contained in a ventilated duct, no person shall install any installation pipework in any shaft, duct or void which is not adequately ventilated"

Reply to
Duncan Wood

I'd hope a crawl space under a suspended wood floor is ventilated - if it's not a gas leak is going to be the least of your likely problems.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Yes it is still done. But give a customer a choice between ripping up the laminate/tiled floor to get the pipe under the floorboards or running the pipe work externally and you can guess what they choose.

Reply to
ARW

It may be your last problem, though!

Reply to
newshound

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