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Hi folks, first post here. Recently had an electrician install an extractor for our cooker hood. I requested the core drilling and extraction ducting be 125mm which is specified by Baumatic. No problem they said…
Day of the install the guy keeps moaning about how 100mm ducting is standard and 125mm is a pain for various reasons. Then says he brought a 100mm kit and will have to run to Screwfix for the 125mm. He leaves and core cutting guys come and cut a hole big enough for 125mm.
Guy comes back with not a 125mm ducting kit but a 5’ long plastic pipe with a 90 degree bend at one end. This seems weird but he claims it’s all they had. He cuts it to size and finishes the install while I look after my son.
The last thing is installing the vent grille/cover on the outside of the house. Rather than use the included screw kit, the guy just puts a bunch of white sealant on the edges and sticks it to the exterior wall. Mind you it’s raining and around 4 degrees out, seems like a bodge but he claims it’s fine.
Fast forward 3 weeks and the extraction doesn’t seem to be doing much. We’ve had an air quality monitor setup since my son was born to check PM 2.5 and VOCs, and we’re not seeing much of a reduction compared to when the hood was only recirculating. So I take off the hood cover to see how the ducting is connected and find that there are 3 unsealed junctions which are bleeding air. This is because the plastic pipe is actually 130mm and is just sitting over the 125mm Baumatic vent outlet pipe attachment (black thing at the bottom in the photos between metal hood and plastic extraction pipe) with no clamp or sealant.
I put some duct tape around the 3 junctions and will monitor the air quality over the next few days but basically this whole job seems like a total bodge. I’m wondering if it’s common or even safe to use plastic piping instead of the standard aluminum ducting, and if the external vent cover is going to fall off or let rain in.
Day of the install the guy keeps moaning about how 100mm ducting is standard and 125mm is a pain for various reasons. Then says he brought a 100mm kit and will have to run to Screwfix for the 125mm. He leaves and core cutting guys come and cut a hole big enough for 125mm.
Guy comes back with not a 125mm ducting kit but a 5’ long plastic pipe with a 90 degree bend at one end. This seems weird but he claims it’s all they had. He cuts it to size and finishes the install while I look after my son.
The last thing is installing the vent grille/cover on the outside of the house. Rather than use the included screw kit, the guy just puts a bunch of white sealant on the edges and sticks it to the exterior wall. Mind you it’s raining and around 4 degrees out, seems like a bodge but he claims it’s fine.
Fast forward 3 weeks and the extraction doesn’t seem to be doing much. We’ve had an air quality monitor setup since my son was born to check PM 2.5 and VOCs, and we’re not seeing much of a reduction compared to when the hood was only recirculating. So I take off the hood cover to see how the ducting is connected and find that there are 3 unsealed junctions which are bleeding air. This is because the plastic pipe is actually 130mm and is just sitting over the 125mm Baumatic vent outlet pipe attachment (black thing at the bottom in the photos between metal hood and plastic extraction pipe) with no clamp or sealant.
I put some duct tape around the 3 junctions and will monitor the air quality over the next few days but basically this whole job seems like a total bodge. I’m wondering if it’s common or even safe to use plastic piping instead of the standard aluminum ducting, and if the external vent cover is going to fall off or let rain in.
