Leaking boiler- due to no gutter?

[Boilergirl85]

Hi there,

Our flat is in a block of 4 which the council are regenerating, and in the last week they've taken the gutters off. It's rained heavily twice since then and each time we've had water leaking out of the bottom of the boiler. It starts as soon as it rains, and stops as soon as the rain stops. It's rained heavily before the guttering came off and there's never been a leak so I'm not sure it's a badly sealed external flue.
We rang the building company and they sent the roofer out to fix it, he did something and then we expected him to knock and tell us what he'd done but he'd driven off.
I have the water collecting in a large container and the boiler switched off, I was just wondering:
• is it safe to use at this point?
• if the 2 slow drip leaks stop as soon as the rain stops, does that mean there's no big build-up of water inside of the boiler as that would continue draining out after the rain stopped?
• How does no gutter equal water leaking from boiler?

Thankyou in advance!
Emma

 

[Boilerman2]

Water is probably running down the outside wall - no gutter, into the air intake of your boiler and out into your kitchen!! Contact the Site manager without delay as water and electrical parts of boiler do not get on very well with each other and damage could result!!

 

[ChrisR]

DOn't use the boiler, the whole thing could become live, the water could interfere with combustion, all sorts.

LOOK outside to see if they've fixed things, and let it dry out for several hours before you use it.

I've scrapped several boilers where this has happened.

 

[Agile]

Emma, you have not told us the important fact!

Is it YOUR boiler or is it provided and maintained by the council?

If its YOURS then you need to gather written evidence such as an invoice detailing the cause of water entering the boiler from an identifiable engineer.

Thats needed as you may be entitled to claim costs involved from the council if their contractors have caused the damage.

In that case you should write a letter to the council asap to formally point out the problem to the council. A telephone call does not count because you cannot produce it in court.

Tony

 

[Boilergirl85]

Thankyou for all your replies!

Boilerman2- Thanks for the explanation, makes sense.. no-one from the building company can come today but will sort the leak first thing tomorrow. We're leaving it turned off for now.

Chris- Thanks, we're leaving it off for now. The rain has stopped and so has the leak, but we'll let it dry out. When they took the gutter off, they replaced it temporarily with a bit of wood. When he came out to fix things, we just heard him banging some more wood into place!

Tony- We own the house, but it is leased by the council which is why they're doing the building work.. so yes it's our boiler. I have insurance to cover a boiler expert coming out, but if he has to fix something it will still cost £99 and we can't afford to pay that out at the moment. I will get a letter written, they are aware of the problem though and accept it's their problem.

 

[Agile]

Your boiler insurance cover may not cover damage caused by third parties and a visit as a result of the contractors negligence might be chargeable.

Any view expressed over the telephone is not useable in court which is why you need to formally put them on notice of a problem and possible claim.

We would always suggest that a boiler engineers looks inside the boiler before powering it after a leak. But thats best delayed until after the likelyhood of more leaks has ceased.

Did you look at the slope of the flue?

An installation defect like that reduces your chance of claiming costs or damages if there was anybody half compentent involved but many woudl not even be aware of that or notice it. The council or insurance companies dont usually employ boiler experts for small claims like this.

Tony