Problem with gas in rented house...

dansylvester

Good Evening, I would be very greatful for any help/advice you can give me... I will make this as short as possible...

I live in a rented house, with a combi boiler in the cellar. Next to the boiler is a solid metal grate, which used to be a coal chute back in the day, which has 5 small (Coin sized) holes in a pattern. It is aprox 1 foot square in size. Because of the way the boiler was installed (Around 10 years ago), the boiler has to be topped up manually, so a hose pipe goes through one of these holes to an outside tap.

Now my problem...

Last week we took delivery of several new wheelie bins from the council, one for every colour of the rainbow almost, and because of the limited amount of space, one of the bins was placed close to where the flu exits the wall from the boiler, and where this grate is. Today, my partner was in on her own, and started to smell a gas like smell in the house, so called me at work. I told her to turn the heating off and open all the windows and doors - I was due to get home from work in half an hour, so advised her to sit tight and il check it when i got home. In the meantime she made a fatal error of calling her parents for advice, and they advised her to call transco. When I got home I realised immediatley that the problem was the bin infront of the flu, making the fumes go back into the cellar from through the grate. Her parents then phoned and insisted we call transco anyway, to be on the safe side. After MUCH nagging I agreed to call them, and they sent out one of their men, who looked at it and confirmed I was correct.

He then capped off the gas supply to the boiler, saying it was unsafe to use as it was within 30cm of a grate. He states we are unable to have the supply turned back on until the grate has been bricked up...

Now here in lies my problem... We have been left with no heating or hot water, our landlady is on holiday for the next 2 weeks, and besides its not really her fault that we are in this position - we have never had a problem in the 2 years we have lived here, and besides, she has just had to fork out several hundred pounds for a new gas hob for us as the other had a minor leak.

First thing, is this problem really that serious? - It only came to light after I accidently put the bin infront of the flu when I brought it back in the other day... Its not practical to block the hole up as it will require a new tap plumbing into the cellar for topping the boiler... but no plumber is going to re-connect the supply as its been capped off by transco, without the corrective works being done... so all round were a bit stuck...

sorry its a bit long winded... Any advice is very much appriciated...

PasturesNew

The thing is, it's illegal now and has been spotted/capped.

What if:
- somebody else dumped something outside, and you were unaware
- other people moved into you and had no idea whatsoever

Get in touch with your landlady and just explain .... but you could pretend you hadn't spotted the error yourself ... and point out it wasn't you that phoned them etc etc.

kippen_noedel

You don't need to lie, just tell the truth.

Transco made the decision for safety reasons, not you. It's the landlords responsibility to make it safe. Could've been much worse if carbon monoxide and taken hold.

G_M

If transco have turned the gas off it is illegal to turn it on again. Don't touch!
You're only options are
a) contact the landlady - she should not go away without giving you an alternative contact person - as a landlord I always do this.
b) pay to get it fixed/re-instated yourself and deduct from rent, but you MUST show you've tried to let the landlady get it fixed first, so WRITE to her.

silvercar

Do you have a valid gas safety certificate for the property.

By law the landlady has to arrange one and renew annually.

If you do have one then phone the contact details for the plumber (they will be on the certificate) and he should sort it. After all he issued a safety certificate for an appliance that transco have said is unsafe.

roses

Why can't you move the bin for now?

poppysarah

Ring shelter for urgent advice.

Your landlord shouldn't leave you without emergency contact details for someone to organise repairs.

Especially important gas related repairs.

Don't put the boiler back on.
Have you got a gas certificate?

dansylvester

Thanks for your advice all, we do have a gas certificate I believe it was Jan or Feb when it was renewed, we have lived here for 3 years, and I think it has been different plumber this year to the last 2 years and nothing was mentioned about where the boiler had been installed, the boiler has been in around 10 years ish, although the boilers before may have been sited in the same place as well. We have moved the bin so the flu is clear now, but gas has still been capped to the boiler, and I dont know how to uncap, and besides reading the notice given to us by transco it says if we uncap it, we would be breaking the law... which just isnt worth the risk!

I will contact the landlady when she returns from her holidays, we can manage without for now as its not too cold, and we are only really using it for hot water at this time of year anyway.

I know its for our own safety, and I can see why transco have done it (The risk of boiler fumes blowing back into the cellar, if the wind is in the right direction), just seems abit OTT to say us, the landlady herself when she lived here, and the people she bought the house off in 2005 have all managed with it like this with no problem, and nothing has ever been mentioned on the 3 gas safety checks we have had (I was present for all 3). As far as I can see the hole can probably be cemented up, rather than bricked, as its around 1ft x 1ft in size, and has a cover around 2 inches set back, that could just be covered over, Id even be happy to do it myself for the sake of a bag of cement mix and a couple of hours one afternoon!

poppysarah

You don't know how to uncap it because you're not supposed to!

G_M

we do have a gas certificate I believe it was Jan or Feb when it was renewed,

Call the plumber who issued it. Do NOT uncap the gas yourself!!

silvercar

Transco will always turn off an appliance that is "at risk". Whereas registered gas installers make an "at risk" appliance safe and will only turn off if that is not possible or the appliance is in the "dangerous" catagory.

By contacting Transco, you didn't have anyone available who could make it safe so they turned it off. To Transco its safe or not, they aren't in the business of making things safe - however easy that may be.