Location of my combi boiler flue problem

chaddythebear

Hello,

I have recently moved into a detached on the level bungalow and decided to put a combi in the loft, problem i have is where flue comes out the side of house is across from my neighbours upstairs top landing window, the houses are 7' 3" apart, and he was not happy at all, i told him i could have it relocated through the roof, but the problem is that this will be very expensive to do.

I really don't see that he can do anything if i just left it where is is legally?
As he was giving it "i'm going to call my lawyer".

What should i do?

Any advice will be appreciated.

ps. he is on the lookout for a smaller house so shouldn't be a neighbour for too much longer anyway

thanks

alanobrien

To quote the regs (condensing);

"The siting of the flue terminal shall be carried out in such a way that consideration shall be given to the position to prevent the dispersal of any plume of codensate build up causing a nuisance or damage to adjacent surfaces such as walls, windows, and onto adjoining property and should be a minimum of 300mm to the side of an opening window."

So in theory you could face a legal challenge based on the above.
Personally i would bite the bullet and move the flue.

espresso

I would not have thought that your neighbour could do anything if there is 7' 3" between the properties. There must be millions of cases where there is a 6' gap between properties i.e. a 3' path plus fence. What will happen when these properties need their boilers replacing? If the regs say 300mm to the side opening of a window, that is less than one foot!

margaretclare

This might be helpful - see page 10 in particular:

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_PDF_PTL_CONDBOILER.pdf

HTH

Margaret

espresso

Interesting. I have just looked at the installation and servicing manual for a Worcester R 28 HE condensing boiler and it states that the minimum distance from a terminal to a facing terminal is 2000mm (neighbouring property) and from a terminal to a boundary or surface facing the terminal is 1200mm.

andrew-b

When we recently had a condensing boiler installed in our kitchen (not combi but same arguments apply regarding pluming) we had a flue put up vertically through the roof (semi-detached bungalow) rather than reusing the old flue hole and going horizontally out of the wall. There's only a couple of metres or less to the bungalow next door. The difference in cost between horizontal and vertical flues was around the £200 mark so not massively different and definitely worth it in preference to a legal dispute.

Make sure if you have a vertical flue that whoever installs the vertical flue knows what they are doing and check it comes under any guarantee from the tradesman. Swale heating did ours, and used a proper pre-cast lead flashing in favour of an adjustable tile that some boiler manufacturers can supply. The heating engineer we had knew what he was doing and seemed very knowledgeable knowing the roof tile type and year as well as being an expert in beating lead to shape. I did come across at least one central heating company who wanted to bring in professional roofers for the vertical flue rather than do it themselves which worked out a few hundred more.

Andy

roger56

Is this any help?:
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061214064409AArGfgy

uncle_buck_3

I think the question that you have to ask yourself is would you be happy if you were in your neighbours shoes!

It’s all well & good discussing the legalities of this issue but the morel dilemmas also have to be addressed.

I’m sure that if this case were to find its way to court the question of alternative flue routing would be considered….& as there is an alternative available I’m pretty sure that would be the answer!