Serious Boiler Problems - Housing Association Property

Boppy_2

3 weeks ago we could smell a gas smell in our house and next door could too (semi-detached) we had transco out 3 times the 1st day and continuously for 2 weeks we had transco out and also our housing association gas people who checked the boiler, did their tests etc and transco dug up our drive to find out the problem, nothing was found. The smell is boiler fumes, the 'professionals' who have smelt it have said the same. The smell only occurs when the boiler is on (not functioning just the pilot light) the smell is causing us all to be very poorly including our dogs.

For the past week we haven't had the boiler on at all and have just been using my gas cooker and we have had no smells, no illnesses etc and we're all feeling normal.

The housing association have been informed every step of the way whats happening but 3 weeks on we still haven't got any answers what they are going to do about it. Apparently on Friday just gone they were getting a report back from Transco about their findings and they would get back to me about it all, i am fuming that they can leave a house potentionally filled with dangerous gases with a 3 year old child like this :mad: and try to blame it on smelly socks would you believe :rolleyes:

From a legal point of view, how long should i expect to wait for them to sort out something so serious? I am very thankful the weather has been kind to us because we would've frozen to death by now!

Also slightly off topic but if i kick up a big stink to get it sorted once and for all, would they try to evict me? I have rent arrears which i pay back at an agreed amount weekly and have never been late but the arrears are still there.

Thanks in advance, sorry if this is babbled, it's late

Rabiddog_2

Possibly Carbon Monoxide poisoning, which is Fatal or permanently disabling (but odourless) :eek:(:-+ it sounds more like the gas is leaking, or the Boiler is on its last legs. Your child's health must come first so emphasise that in all communications.

poppysarah

Ask your local MP for help. They should prioritise this incident - it's going to be cold at the weekend.

Does this mean you've had no hot water either?

Canucklehead

Hi

I don't quite know what to make of this. Transco would have found /fixed any gas leak. Natural gas is non toxic.They would have capped and tagged the boiler if they thought it was producing fumes, and told you to get a Corgi in .In your case this is the HA.They in turn would have tested the boiler.If it's unsafe they would have fixed it or replaced it.A pilot will produce very little of anything.
If you had been feeling unwell a RIDDOR would have been raised.http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/index.htm

So ... was your boiler disconnected at any time? What boiler? (Make and model)
Is your next door neighbour still using their boiler.?
Something is not quite right. Maybe the 'system' has failed ? By that I mean the HA (it's internal communication etc)
In the meantime do what you are doing .DO NOT USE THE BOILER.

Corgi Guy.

Boppy_2

Transco couldn't find a gas leak because there wasn't one except a tiny amount of gas coming outside through the flume unburnt. The boiler had a shiny sticker put on it the first night saying to not use until a corgi person had been out which the HA did. The corgi person smelt the smell himself and said boiler fumes, he then go someone else out for a second opinion because he'd checked the boiler and found nothing wrong. The 2nd opinion came out the next day and told me it was smelly socks, i mean come on if it was smelling out next door too then my OH has powerful feet lol!!

The boiler is a Potterton Flamingo. My neighbours boiler has been on the whole time and there is no smell now, our boiler hasn't been used for over a week and we have no smell either.

Transco have had enough of the whole thing because they all believe the boiler is at fault but they aren't allowed to do anything about it due to a law change or something.

Thankfully i have hot water because we have an immersion heater, would've been very stinky ourselves if we hadn't lol!

RHemmings

Rabiddog wrote: »

Possibly Carbon Monoxide poisoning, which is Fatal or permanently disabling (but odourless) :eek:(:-+ it sounds more like the gas is leaking, or the Boiler is on its last legs. Your child's health must come first so emphasise that in all communications.

If it's potentially Carbon Monoxide, then the OP NEEDS TO BUY A CARBON MONOXIDE ALARM IMMEDIATELY!!!!

real1314

RHemmings wrote: »

If it's potentially Carbon Monoxide, then the OP NEEDS TO BUY A CARBON MONOXIDE ALARM IMMEDIATELY!!!!

If there was a carbon monoxide problem Transco would have disabled the boiler, as would (hopefully) the HA corgi gas engineer. As the previous poster pointed out carbon monoxide is completely odourless, hence it cannot be the source of the smell.

RHemmings

real1314 wrote: »

If there was a carbon monoxide problem Transco would have disabled the boiler, as would (hopefully) the HA corgi gas engineer. As the previous poster pointed out carbon monoxide is completely odourless, hence it cannot be the source of the smell.

Given the consequences of a carbon monoxide leak, I wouldn't trust that the boiler had been checked properly. And while carbon monoxide itself couldn't cause the smell, a faulty boiler could produce several byproducts of incomplete combustion, a subset of which produce the smell.

I'm not saying that it's likely that there's a Carbon Monoxide problem. But that if there's any chance, I'd err on the safe side.

Canucklehead

Hi
Is that a balanced flue? Does the flue from the boiler go out of the wall and terminate in a wire cage affair? Or is there a pipe about 5 inches in diameter off the top of the boiler?

If you feel that the Corgis from the HA are missing something then go to Corgi and voice your concerns to them. They will need the same info as I have asked.

www.trustcorgi.com

Corgi Guy.

Boppy_2

Canucklehead wrote: »

Hi
Is that a balanced flue? Does the flue from the boiler go out of the wall and terminate in a wire cage affair? Or is there a pipe about 5 inches in diameter off the top of the boiler?

If you feel that the Corgis from the HA are missing something then go to Corgi and voice your concerns to them. They will need the same info as I have asked.

www.trustcorgi.com

Corgi Guy.

Thanks again for replying, it goes into a wire cage affair outside.

I'm awaiting what the HA decide to do next but my neighbour is repairing a mans car who is corgi registered and he has said he will come and take a look if needs be because something doesn't sound right.

Canucklehead

Hi

Balanced flue .
There should be no smell inside the house with one of these. If the two Corgis found nothing wrong, such as holes in the boiler casing or not fitting properly, then it's possible that something else happened ,such as chemicals spilt onto pipes and then heated, or a dead rodent on pipes.
Let us know what happens.

Corgi Guy.