Gas Pipe Sealant

southcoastrgi

The pipe is sleeved through the wall & it's this sleeve that is sealed to the brickwork, the space between the copper pipe & the sleeve MUST be left open on the outside but should be sealed on the inside of the house 

5hpr

Hi everyone thanks for the advice.  I have taken a picture of the neighbours set up (we are semi detached) (attached). Sealing from the inside would be difficult as the hole is under the worktops in the corner.  Would need to lie on floor with arm outstretched under the units and try and seal the hole properly would be difficult.  My colleague told me rats/mice could come in the hole and hence another reason I’d like it sealed.

jefaz07

5hpr said:

Hi everyone thanks for the advice.  I have taken a picture of the neighbours set up (we are semi detached) (attached). Sealing from the inside would be difficult as the whole is under the worktops in the corner.  Would need to lie on floor with arm outstretched under the units and try and seal the hole properly would be difficult.  My colleague told me rats/mice could come in the hole and hence another reason I’d like it sealed.

I can’t recommend you to do it. 

Here is a paragraph taken from the BS that we work to (note the use of the word ‘shall’)

8.10.2
Sleeves shall pass through the full width of the wall or the full thickness of the floor. Sleeves shall not impair the fire resistance of a building.
The annular space between the pipe and the sleeve shall be sealed at one end to the pipe with flexible fire resistant compound. Where a sleeve passes through an exterior wall, the seal shall be on the inside of the wall.


Inside may be awkward but that’s what it tells you to do. 

Should the pipe develop a leak then it’s going to fill your house. 

5hpr

jefaz07 said:

5hpr said:

Hi everyone thanks for the advice.  I have taken a picture of the neighbours set up (we are semi detached) (attached). Sealing from the inside would be difficult as the hole is under the worktops in the corner.  Would need to lie on floor with arm outstretched under the units and try and seal the hole properly would be difficult.  My colleague told me rats/mice could come in the hole and hence another reason I’d like it sealed.

I can’t recommend you to do it. 

Here is a paragraph taken from the BS that we work to (note the use of the word ‘shall’)

8.10.2
Sleeves shall pass through the full width of the wall or the full thickness of the floor. Sleeves shall not impair the fire resistance of a building.
The annular space between the pipe and the sleeve shall be sealed at one end to the pipe with flexible fire resistant compound. Where a sleeve passes through an exterior wall, the seal shall be on the inside of the wall.


Inside may be awkward but that’s what it tells you to do. 

Should the pipe develop a leak then it’s going to fill your house. 

Surely it has an equal chance of leaking inside as it does at the perimeter of the hole?  How does sealing a few centimetres along the pipe make a difference?

Jeepers_Creepers

I presume your walls have a cavity? In which case sealing the outside skin is unlikely to stop draughts coming in to your kitchen anyway?

You really cannot reach where it comes in the inside? Not even with your very fingertips?! It doesn't have to be neat (take a cue from your neighb... :-)  ) but just slap on some frame sealant or similar and stop the draught where it should be. Could you even get an extended nozzle from a foam gun in there?

It's your call whether to seal the outside instead as your neigh has done. As you say, this is an unjointed straight short section of copper pipe which has no physical contact with any hard surface that could abrade or fracture it* as it passes through your wall, so the chances of this section of pipe developing a leak is infinitesimally small. But, I still wonder just how much it'll actually help to seal the outside?

If you CAN seal the inside, that's the best thing to do I believe. 


(* which is why fire cement should not be used...)

5hpr

Jeepers_Creepers said:

I presume your walls have a cavity? In which case sealing the outside skin is unlikely to stop draughts coming in to your kitchen anyway?

You really cannot reach where it comes in the inside? Not even with your very fingertips?! It doesn't have to be neat (take a cue from your neighb... :-)  ) but just slap on some frame sealant or similar and stop the draught where it should be. Could you even get an extended nozzle from a foam gun in there?

It's your call whether to seal the outside instead as your neigh has done. As you say, this is an unjointed straight short section of copper pipe which has no physical contact with any hard surface that could abrade or fracture it* as it passes through your wall, so the chances of this section of pipe developing a leak is infinitesimally small. But, I still wonder just how much it'll actually help to seal the outside?

If you CAN seal the inside, that's the best thing to do I believe. 


(* which is why fire cement should not be used...)

I don't understand - sealing the outside won't stop the draught?  It's the draught not caused by wind blowing through the gap?

I will check this evening how reachable it is!!!

Jeepers_Creepers

Yes, there is a direct passage of air from outside, and very likely this is the source of most of the wind coming through. 

However, your cavity is also ventilated so blocking just the outside is unlikely to stop a draught coming through. If you don't want wind in yer kitchen, that inside gap is really the one to block.