Sky Installation on upstairs chimney

spendy

Hi everyone

I live in a ground floor flat, and due to an abundance of trees, I don't get good signal (if any at all).

The sky engineer came to have a look and said the only way round it is to reinstall the dish on the chimney stack upstairs. I told him that all of the flats upstairs are privately owned, but he said the chimneys don't belong to anyone and I can install my dish there.

The special heights team is meant to be coming tomorrow to install, but I'm wary that what he said may have been a load of bull.

Does anyone know if this is correct?

PS, I believe that there are residents in the other ground floor flats which have their antennas on the roof.

Thanks

bengalknights

In communal flats he is correct about the chimneys as they are part of the building and not individual propertys as many would be using them

System

In a communal flats scenario they will belong to the freeholder(s) so you will still require permission from them.

spike7451

!!!!!! wrote: »

In a communal flats scenario they will belong to the freeholder(s) so you will still require permission from them.

Correct,he could also use a pole & bracket instead.Hopefully if they do attach the dish to the chimney,they'll use a lashing kit as to mount the bracket directly onto the chimney can cause problems,especially in old houses where the brickwork/mortar is old & crumbly,in which case it could also be dangerous for obvious reasons.

Kurtis_Blue

Nobody knows without seeing your documents.

But if your property is connected to that stack, I wouldn't sweat it, just get the dish fitted without interfering with anyone elses equipment.

Edit= 2nd that above, don't let anyone drill the stack.

jb66

everyone owns the chimney so you need permission from everyone

Colin_London

Don't let them do it unless you are happy with the risk! You could land up with loads more trouble and stress on your hands if they do.

The Chimney will be communally owned by all the leaseholders, and maintained by the management company. If you allow the installer to put the dish there it may result in action from the management committee (i.e. they'll take it down), and then they'll charge you for taking it down and even for retrospective repairs if the chimney was damaged.

Some chimney mounts are very poor - there was a dish fitted using a standard wall mount drilled into the chimeny on our roof when we bought the house, and we had to get it taken down almost straight away as it was damaging the brickwork on the chimney.

Not surprised the installer would try it on however - when I owned a flat in a block a few years back I was awoken one Saturday morning by a Sky installer installing a dish on MY wall because the flat below couldn't get a good enough visibility of the satellite. He quickly reversed his work after I gave him a few choice words! And he refused to tell me who he worked for (plain white van!).

BTW Sky put the onus on you to get all necessary permissions. If you let them install they won't have any come back on them because they'll just assume you got the required permissions before instructing them to proceed.

spendy

Thanks for all of the info.

None of the chimney stacks are currently used (as in none of the flats have a fireplace) and I believe a few have antennas on them currently. Does that make any difference?

Thanks again.

spendy

spike7451 wrote: »

Correct,he could also use a pole & bracket instead.Hopefully if they do attach the dish to the chimney,they'll use a lashing kit as to mount the bracket directly onto the chimney can cause problems,especially in old houses where the brickwork/mortar is old & crumbly,in which case it could also be dangerous for obvious reasons.

I did ask about the pole and bracket when the first guy came, but they said it still wouldn't be tall enough.

I think I'll have a word with the guy when he comes and tell him I've not had any permissions given. It's too late now for me to push it back.

macman

Whether in use or not make no difference whatsoever. In a freehold block you need the freeholder's permission, which may not be forthcoming (have you checked your lease?) in a communal block.
If you put the dish up without permission then the freeholder or management company may remove it without notice, and charge you for doing so. Since you live on the ground floor, you'll also be running the cabling over the property of the other leaseholders without their authority.

Kurtis_Blue

Don't forget that pretty much every semi-detached property has a communal chimney stack and hasn't effected aerial installs for the last 60 years..
NO ONE knows what your documents state your rights and obligations are to the shared/party stack.