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House sold, possible boiler problem.
Yazmina
Posts: 321 Forumite
The house I inherited is now sold STC. I went round there today, and the carbon monoxide detector was going off. The gas man turned the supply off and said that the boiler and cooker need to be checked. Both the boiler and cooker were installed about sixteen years ago. I feel I should arrange the check as I know there's potentially a serious problem. Alternatively, I could just leave it all for the buyer to sort out, and risk them finding a fault then asking me for compensation. Or I could do the check, find that the boiler and cooker are condemned and have to compensate the buyer.
Or I could check and find that there's nothing wrong, and it was just a faulty alarm.
There was a homecare agreement, but BG said there was no record of the boiler being serviced, which is odd.
Also, strange thing is that the alarm was on the sofa under a cushion rather than on top of the kitchen cupboard, where it had been for years. My husband was in the house on 16/10 and would have heard the alarm if it was going off then. The boiler was last turned on in August, the cooker hasn't been used.
Or I could check and find that there's nothing wrong, and it was just a faulty alarm.
There was a homecare agreement, but BG said there was no record of the boiler being serviced, which is odd.
Also, strange thing is that the alarm was on the sofa under a cushion rather than on top of the kitchen cupboard, where it had been for years. My husband was in the house on 16/10 and would have heard the alarm if it was going off then. The boiler was last turned on in August, the cooker hasn't been used.
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Comments
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Have you checked the detector is working? An alarm sounds when the battery is dead and the unit itself doesn't last forever.
2026 wins - Parker Pen, American Sweets bundle, dish magic bundle, NEU shots & a NEU training T-shirt
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Ignoring the moral responsibility to deal with this, if you have already completed the property information forms and stated that the boiler and cooker are in good working order and house has a gas connection then you must inform the buyer that this is no longer the case and that the gas has been shut off for safety reasons. But regardless, if the carbon monoxide alarm is going off that suggests a serious fault that you would surely want to deal with to make sure your house is safe.8
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It has three lights on it, and it was the one above 'alarm' that was flashing, rather than the light where it says 'power'. We put it in the garden for five minutes and it carried on beeping.marcia_ said:Have you checked the detector is working? An alarm sounds when the battery is dead and the unit itself doesn't last forever.1 -
'We put it in the garden for five minutes and it carried on beeping.' - would indicate a battery or end of life beep? Check the manufacturing date - most have an 10 year life and will beep when this is reached. Our neighbour went without gas for a few days because of this!
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If it continued beeping outside you need a new detector.Yazmina said:
It has three lights on it, and it was the one above 'alarm' that was flashing, rather than the light where it says 'power'. We put it in the garden for five minutes and it carried on beeping.marcia_ said:Have you checked the detector is working? An alarm sounds when the battery is dead and the unit itself doesn't last forever.2026 wins - Parker Pen, American Sweets bundle, dish magic bundle, NEU shots & a NEU training T-shirt
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Or to get rid of all the carbon monoxide which is somehow lurking in the garden...7
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I see. I should be able to check the date on it. We pulled it apart to get it to stop beeping, but I should still be able to find a date on it.
Then is it worth buying a new one to re-test?0 -
Yazmina said:Also, strange thing is that the alarm was on the sofa under a cushion rather than on top of the kitchen cupboard, where it had been for years.Does anyone other than yourselves have a key ? The estate agent or next door neighbour ?I wonder if it;s possble that it was going off when someone walked in (surveyor? buyer having another viewing ?) and when they couldn;t switch it off they put it under the cushion to try to muffle the sound. The noise they make is of necessity very penetrating and I speak from experience when I say having one go off conrinually in the vicinity when you can;t switch it off is very irritating.2
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If you went round today, but the devices haven't been used what was generating the carbon monoxide for the alarm to be going off?
If nothing powered by gas it has to be a faulty detector as CO is produced from burning gas.6 -
The estate agent has keys. I've emailed them to ask if they know anything about it. If they knew the alarm was going off, they should have told me.1
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