Flue dripping from exhaust and from air intake.

[Yashimaki]

My neighbours flue is installed on my property & is dripping condensate from both the exhaust and air intake whenever boiler operating. The exhaust has kit fitted and is one metre above air intake so the drips are from different locations but both check out as acidic (i.e. products of combustion). It seems to be a loss of integrity of a seal between air intake and exhaust. Can anyone tell me is this an ID or AR fault and can a registered engineer put an unsafe notice on it.

 

[Riley]

Reopened on basis of pm.



This is going to be one of the few times!

You old softy

 

[newcastle phill]

So the owner moved it....

One minute "its trespass" "needs my permission"

Seems the OP allows access after all.

 

[Yashimaki]

Thanks for that Croppie.
Newcastle Phill, I never gave permission to trespass. They just do it from their extension roof. Definately unauthorised trespass by interfering with something on my property even if they do own it, but in the order of universe a mini trespass doesn't bother me as long as they don't point it at my property again. I know it can only be interfered with by a GSR engineer and wonder would an engineer take such a risk rather than ask my permission and do it from mine sensibly from a ladder?
I have called the council and their building inspector paid them a visit. The Inspector first of all said it's legally positioned and complies with regs. I was given a copy of the Building Regs Compliance Cert which says it meets Gas and Building regs. He then backed down after I sent a pic with the flue facing the open rooflights (as posted above). He then agreed it breaches doc j due to roof openings. He says they can alter the openings to make them non opening but I have no way of checking that. Since then they have turned the flue away from directly facing the openings as can be seen in later pics. The Inspector has stopped replying after I said it breaches doc j distance from boundary & he and has not got back to me re the leaks.
I was wondering how condensate gets into the air intake as it seems to me it is leaking from the exhaust pipe into the air duct. Maybe they dislodged something with their periscope turning antics. (Nice analogy newcastle phill. Made me laugh).
Incidentally the flue is not at 90 degrees to the wall it is tilted towards the wall which looks like it is putting pressure on an internal joint and possibly that's why it leaks from the air duct.
Thanks Riley and others for your posts I really do appreciate them all (the good the bad and the ugly 😉 They are all honest and straight talking which is breath of fresh air.

 

[SimonG]

OP you are a tenant?

 

[newcastle phill]

Best part is directly below you there is another flue which would be exiting in the same direction the way the 'problematic' flue was angled.

So

A question...

Whose flue is the other one ?
And have you complained about that too ?

Frankly the more you go on and the more images you add shows you in a worse light than previously imho

 

[newcastle phill]

 

[Riley]

Is that here and I don't mean to be derogatory but is this a wind up. The pictures are just showing a catalogue of oddities with all the boiler installs at the property ???

Can I once again suggest that you get an independent gas safe registered engineer to take a look

 

[Yashimaki]

The other flue serves my property and I have full control when it comes on and off. It used to disperse fairly well as it is pointed away from the rear wall and was well below the previous party wall height. Since the neighbours extension was built my flue is boxed in and has become problematic. You can see the frame which used to support the canopy over the kitchen door in one of the pictures I posted. The canopy was removed by me to try and help air flow but it didn't help and so my gas boiler is never used. Electric room heaters and electric immersion heater keep the water hot and the house warm. If you doubt this I've upload a screenshot of my suppliers energy efficency comparison for my home. My last gas bill I had was 371 kwh (from 15 sep to 1 dec). This is for a 3 bedroom terraced house so you can see how little gas is used (98% less than similar efficient homes). And yes I have complained about my flue but it is apparently within the legal requirements so I have to live with it. Whereas the neighbours flue makes a bad situation even worse because I can't open my bedroom window. It might sound off to you why I put up with it, but I've lived here too long. The apple tree in my garden (in a previous pic its in blossoms) was planted as a sapling by my previous wife before she passed away as a living memory of her.Now it's a proper tree and I can't take it with me so here I stay.
I had problems with the Council Building Inspector as previously stated and that didn't come out as well as it should have had I been a bit more savvy. Getting a GSR engineer to inspect the flue is obviously on the agenda but it is always a good idea to get the people who know their stuff to give their advice before doing so. That is what I am doing here. Thanks again for all who have taken the time and trouble to comment as it really does add some perspective.

 

[Riley]

I'm really sorry but this is just sounding more and more crazy nobody is going to be granted planning permission to build an extension if it is going to make their neighbours boiler redundant or at least as part of the planning permission process this would've been discussed between the owners. if it was your landlord he can't just agree for them to build an extension making your flue unsafe. Properdue diligence would have been carried out ensuring that your flue terminates safely, functionally and correctly. Unless of course there extension is illegal I am sorry to sound suspicious but something just doesn't add up

 

[Harry Askham]

Get a Gas Safe Engineer out, good grief.

 

[Yashimaki]

Hi Riley, thanks for your comment. If the information I have provided makes you think my flue doesn't satisfy regulations because of the extension please let me know because that could make a big difference.

 

[rpm]

Riley, tread carefully my friend, like you and others have said Something doesn`t stack up here.

 

[Yashimaki]

Thanks Harry, the flue has been there for along time now so it's past the stage of urgency but I will take your advice and I will get an indepedent GAS Safe engineer. They almost certainly will not get access to the internal installation so will probably have to inspect only what you can see in the pics posted. Please could you give me something specific I can bring to the attention of the engineer. In a previous comment I explained my experience with Building Inspectors and don't want to risk missing anything. Cheers mate.

 

[Riley]

The whole scenario just sounds ridiculous to me. All I can tell you is that the manufacturers instructions well set out exactly how you're boiler will work giving worst case scenario clearances. If your boiler is within these guide lines then the boiler will work if it doesn't then it's something the manufacturer needs to take a look at. All the same this isn't for you to sort out get a gas safe engineer out

 

[Riley]

Riley, tread carefully my friend, like you and others have said Something doesn`t stack up here.

Totally agree mate

 

[Riley]

Thanks Harry, the flue has been there for along time now so it's past the stage of urgency but I will take your advice and I will get an indepedent GAS Safe engineer. They almost certainly will not get access to the internal installation so will probably have to inspect only what you can see in the pics posted. Please could you give me something specific I can bring to the attention of the engineer. In a previous comment I explained my experience with Building Inspectors and don't want to risk missing anything. Cheers mate.

I'm sorry to say mate you are not going to get anybody committing to something on here to use as your evidence as we are working purely based on photos provided by you and we cannot give an objective opinion based on this. I am sure you can appreciate that these photos are not indicative of the whole install and that other underlying issues that you have missed off exist. One of our guys off here may be happy to come out and check it out? Where are you

 

[Yashimaki]

Hi Riley Gas installations do not need planning permission and there is no requirement to discuss what you intend to do with neighbours before starting to build.

 

[Yashimaki]

Hi Riley fair comment. No one in their right mind would ever consider using advice from an internet forum as evidence. Anyone trying to do that would have a pickle for a brain. I only wanted information and nothing else. The only thing that matters are hard facts. If there were any obvious breaches of regs or dangerous faults from the pictures I would have appreciated them being pointed out. I can give you my contact details in a PM if you want so can you recommend someone local to me or tell me how I find a good engineer?

 

[Riley]

Hi Riley Gas installations do not need planning permission and there is no requirement to discuss what you intend to do with neighbours before starting to build.

Post here

[DLMURL="http://www.ukplumbersforums.co.uk/im-looking-plumber-gas-engineer/"]I'm looking for a Plumber or Gas Engineer[/DLMURL]

My point was not planning for the gas install.

But rather when they built their extension your install should have been taken into account.

This is the issue when flues cross boundaries etc this is why I find what's gone on hardto comprehend

 

[Yashimaki]

Thanks Riley. I am sorry if I came accross as a bit iffy but this has been going on for some time and my problem certainly seems to be an odd one so fully appreciate all concerns expressed. Your response to the pic of my flue got me thinking and having taken another look at doc J, it says min distance to a terminal facing a terminal is 1200mm so if my flue counts as facing the neighbours terminal then they clearly can't put their flue where it is with or without permission. I never considered that before but you certainly got me thinking so cheers for that.
Believe it or not I have got a life apart from this so it sort of crept up to this stage.
Anyway I do thank you sincerely for the proverbial boot up the jacksy as it got me to put me thinking hat on.