Flue sealed with duct tape - help

[Boilernumpty]

Hello,

I recently moved into a new property (a flat) and arranged for boiler insurance and central heating insurance via British Gas Homecare. The engineer attended today however advised he could not complete the inspection owing to being unable to view the flue as it was in a void space. He advised me of this and said that I needed to arrange for the flue to be visible

The flue runs above a fitted wardrobe in the spare bedroom which was sealed with a panel. Tonight I took the panel off to expose the flue in order to rearrange my safety check.

I was horrified to discover that the flue appears tobe sealed together using duct tape!! I attach an image so you can see. The boiler has been in the property since it was first built approx 15 years ago and as I have just moved in I don't know of the service history etc, but presumably the flue has never been inspected as surely this is unsafe?

How would you suggest I resolve this? It is a factored development so I am going to communicate my concerns to the building factor, but where do I go from here? How much is this likely to cost to resolve?

Untitled

• Boilernumpty
• 12 Mar 2015
• 1

Boilernumpty

 

[St0rmer66]

Stop using it immediately and seek professional advice. If you ring up BG and tell them what's happened they will first send out someone just to cap it off (tonight even if you rang) and then bring forward the other visit.

What boiler is it? The flue may just need correctly putting together or replacing if it is damaged (if the part is still available).

Worst case scenario you'll need a new boiler, but you really shouldn't be using it in that condition.

 

[Boilernumpty]

Thank you. Immediately upon discovering this I turned the boiler off. I got a huge fright as I've been living here for 6 weeks with no knowledge of this.

It's a Vokera Linea 24 boiler.

 

[St0rmer66]

Pretty sure that flue is still available so worst case is not so bad.

 

[Boilernumpty]

Thanks. I've recovered slightly! Do you have any idea of approximation of costs to put this right?

 

[DeletedUser]

The engineer who rectifies the fault should submit some pics to 'The good,the bad and the ugly'.

 

[Nige F]

This begs the question - what are the other flats like ? That is seriously bad, it appears the duct tape is used because the flue is misaligned .Who on earth with a Gas Safe certificate would install a flue like that . There is more to this.OP you did the right thing, perhaps you should see if you can find who did the original install.

 

[Boilernumpty]

This begs the question - what are the other flats like ? That is seriously bad, it appears the duct tape is used because the flue is misaligned .Who on earth with a Gas Safe certificate would install a flue like that . There is more to this.OP you did the right thing, perhaps you should see if you can find who did the original install.

Thanks, Nige. This is my primary motivation for contacting the factor of the development as I am pretty sure this can't be a one-off throughout the development! I have sent the picture and details this morning.

I will keep you posted on what happens. Interestingly there appears to be a Gas Safe engineer who lives in the same development as I do so I am going to try to contact him and see if he can pop round to examine this further.

 

[Nikkilou123]

Hi there .. this exact same thing has happened to me. The engineer who came to service my boiler had turned off my boiler and is coming again when he gets the part to rectify it. He advised it is a misaligned flue which has been sealed with duct tape. My boiler was new and installed last December and this is the first service. Please can anyone advise if this was dangerous?

 

[stem]

Hi Nikkilou and welcome to the forum.

Unfortunately after his first and last posts over 7 years ago, and despite saying.......

I will keep you posted on what happens. Interestingly there appears to be a Gas Safe engineer who lives in the same development as I do so I am going to try to contact him and see if he can pop round to examine this further.

.....Boilernumpty hasn't been on the forum since.

If you want some advice about your flue, I would suggest that you start your own new thread. It's much more likely to be seen by those in the know, than a post buried away at the bottom of an old thread. If you can add a photo to it, so much the better.

 

[Nikkilou123]

Thanks for your reply .. I will start my own