Gas plumbing in fireplace - Question

purpur1

Hi

Have a question (granted, it's probably a stupid one, but anyway...)

Have a fireplace and it has a pipe leading into it, now it's never been used as a normal fire or a gas fire (landlord has never used it as a gas fire or a real fire so he's unsure if it's plumbed for gas or not). I wanted to use this as a real fire, so am just wondering what the likelyhood is of it having gas running through it or how to check (without blowing the house up!)?

Am getting a chimney sweep fella out but am a bit nervous now to use it until i know there's not going to be a problem if I use it with the central heating. The pipe is sealed with tape (loosely) and i've never smelled gas...

I told you it was probably a stupid question but any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Micky Dolenz

You say there is a pipe running into it? Best get an RGI out to have a look.

purpur1

Yeah there's a pipe popping up from the ground (sits in the middle of the floor of the fire). Was just talking to the chimney sweep bloke there (he's coming tomorrow) and he said "Ah yeah don't worry about that they're all like that, there's no gas going through them pipes, you'd know if there was".

Hmmmm. If there was gas running through the pipe, would i smell it? Bit apprehensive about his comments!! Or should i be?

Micky Dolenz

Is the pipe blanked?

you need to get an RGI in to have a look to be on the safe side.

Joey the lips

Can you post a picture of it...

purpur1

Photo0076+.jpg

Photo0078.jpg

Here's two pics, quality is crap sorry.

What do you think? It's never been hooked up to a gas fire or anything.

Micky Dolenz

You can't be seriously considering ignoring that pipe and lighting a fire. the hearth wouldn't fit in for starters.

Get your land lord to get a RGI in to make safe.

purpur1

Am not seriously considering ignoring the pipe, hence why i'm asking! The hearth does fit in, surprisingly. I'll ring the local RGI tomorrow. Thanks for your help. (any ideas how much something like this would cost to get capped?)

Joey the lips

Looks like soft wicku from a previously fit gas fire... I would not ignore that as it already looks like someone has,

Micky Dolenz

purpur1 wrote: »

Am not seriously considering ignoring the pipe, hence why i'm asking! The hearth does fit in, surprisingly. I'll ring the local RGI tomorrow. Thanks for your help. (any ideas how much something like this would cost to get capped?)

Yeah, sorry. But your landlord is responsible for this. Ring around and get some prices. You want a gas pipe to gas fire capped off outside of fire place.

purpur1

Thanks very much guys, cheers for all the help. Will get it sorted.

ntpm

purpur1 wrote: »

Thanks very much guys, cheers for all the help. Will get it sorted.

Just to clarify IS813... Gas Installation (Domestic) requires the pipe to be removed as it posses a possible Fire Risk from the gas source to the fire.
Also it could be possible for Fire/ heat could transfere from the fireplace down the pipe to the Gas source.
Removal could mean removing the hearth and disconnecting outside of the fire place.... not very practical.

As stated in earlier threads get a RGII engineer to look at it.

purpur1

Update

Got an RGI out to have a look. He confirmed no gas was switched on for the pipe, and then simply cut it off. He said that was perfectly safe to use then. Nice bloke, only charged me €20, said everything was already done and he just had to snip the pipe.

DoneDL

Good to know the good guys still exist, keep his number for further work or advice.

aujopimur

That appears to be a sleeve pipe thru' which a gas pipe would be fed to supply gas to a fire.
If you blow thru' it you will find the other end exits at the side of the chimney breast near the skirting.

Sharg

purpur1, I have same issue with newer fireplace plumbed for gas but now wish to use real fire. can you pass on the contact for that RGI guy? will forward you my contact if you can do this.
thanks

bungaro79

aujopimur wrote: »

That appears to be a sleeve pipe thru' which a gas pipe would be fed to supply gas to a fire.
If you blow thru' it you will find the other end exits at the side of the chimney breast near the skirting.

looking into doing the same as the OP, its a new house and theres a pipe coming out of the side and looks as though it goes in directly to the one in the fireplace. still need to call an rgi fella i suppose????

heinbloed

still need to call an rgi fella i suppose????

Yes.

aujopimur

bungaro79 wrote: »

looking into doing the same as the OP, its a new house and theres a pipe coming out of the side and looks as though it goes in directly to the one in the fireplace. still need to call an rgi fella i suppose????

If you post a pic of both ends of the pipe in your fireplace I'll tell if you need an RGI fella.

bungaro79

aujopimur wrote: »

If you post a pic of both ends of the pipe in your fireplace I'll tell if you need an RGI fella.

cheers aujopimur!

pics are below, pipe is at the left of the fireplace and coming out inside. just blew into it there and its the same pipe so i'm thinking its just there in case we wanted to get a gas fire, its not actually hooked up to any gas...

DoneDL

bungaro79, Pull the pipe out and tap fire cement into the hole, finish it off to smooth and leave to set. The fireplace will be ok for solid fuel. As an aside you cannot ever use pex as a sleeve for a gas pipe most especially to a gas fire:mad: