please please help! lead pipe to copper in communal

[njh82]

Hi, can anyone help at all. we have just made the terrible mistake of buying a victorian flat. we had a combi boiler put in and upon installation it turns out the pipes are lead and too narrow. although it only drops slightly for heating as soon as you turn on the cooker it drops to 13 (apparently should be 18?). So boiler guy said we need to replace the pipe. trouble is the meter is in a communal area and so the first two metres would run under communal boards. according to regs they have told us it would need to be encased in steel and cost £1000 plus. They offered alternative of getting gas company to move metre to outside and then pipe could come in through external wall and avoid communal area. but again that would near £1000....we simply can't afford it can anyone offer any advice?

 

[Wangerman]

Are you referring to the incoming gas main to your property ?

There is such a thing as a viking coupling which can convert lead to Copper I think

I am sure real experts will be along to help soon

 

[njh82]

thanks- are you suggesting that we could use the coupling to keep lead until the pipe hits our private propertya nd then go to bigger copper? that seemed to make sense to me but the gas guy seemed to think it had to be bigger pipe copper from start to finish??

 

[libby lou lou]

bigger pipe copper from start to finish

 

[johnnojob]

trac pipe could be an alternative.ask your installer.

 

[njh82]

tracpipe looks promising....is this usable in a communal area instead fo the steel? would it be any cheaper? Our issue really is the cost as whatever the steel regulations are it seems to come to a lot?

 

[Agile]

It seems that you are the victim of a gas cowboy who knows that the boiler is not going to work properly and expects he has a good chance of getting another £1000 for upgrading the gas supply.

My advice would be to complain to Gas Safe, who register him, that he has installed a boiler and the gas bsupply is inadequate.

You could also take him to court!

My cowboy colleagues on here will not like me saying that but this guy has been trained to know what to do and is either incredibly dense or intended the consequences.

You probably helped by picking someone who gave you a cheap quote. Cheap does not usually mean GOOD!

Tony

,

 

[njh82]

well he is a family friend and used to have a very high job at a reputable boiler company. He is now semi retired and only installs boilers so the job is too big. He did give us a heads up but when he inspected the original tankl and boiler it had been bodged by the previous owners and all he could see was copper pipe as they had put a couple of feet on. He works in the countryside and has no experience of flats or regs for communal areas as doesn't come accross it. I wouldn't dream of reporting him as he warned us it would not hopld but once the lead pipe had been discovered it was too late and so he wanted to see if it would hold. It does hold the heating and shower but not the cooker. Also he is not doing the pipe work so he is not out to get the extra money, that is a seperate quote from a plumber

 

[OwainDIYer]

Get a second-hand electric cooker in the meantime (assuming there is a suitable electricity supply, which might be a big assumption if the wiring is in a similar state to the gas)

But a twin boiling ring from Argos will run off 13A, a single electric oven will usually run off 13A - just watch socket/circuit loadings as that might be getting close to the max for a socket circuit depending on diversity ie don't switch everything on at once.

 

[njh82]

the gas cooker is brand new and they do offer the same one in an electric version so can check if we could do a swap. The electrics have all been redone so are fine and passed all tests etc. My only other query was whether a dual fuel - so gas hob and electric oven- might be feasible. However, I assume as its already running at 17 mbars that it would drop too low to be safe?