Unique radiator issue

Schmoo

Last year I moved into our apartment which was built in the early 1900s. I've had steam radiators before but the problems I've experienced here have been unique. Last winter, I spent countless nights awake at night hearing a loud screeching noise coming from our radiator. The last tenants must have used heavy sleeping pills because the radiator had obviously not been serviced in decades. The floor surrounding the radiator is either completely rotted through and soft to the touch, or not there at all, as there is currently a giant hole in the floor of my bedroom. The radiator had been painted over so many times for some reason, too. After so much arguing with the property managers, I finally convinced them to take the radiator out of our apartment completely. Now, there is a hole in the floor surrounded by rotted wood with the pipe that has the valve on it and a hole that has been covered by the property managers. So there is no heater there anymore.



They recently turned the heat back on and to start, it is unbelievably hot in here. When the maintenance guy came last year he said the boiler pressure had been turned up to the maximum level. Now, instead of the screeching, we get this constant metallic knocking sound. I know the property managers are going to tell me they can't do anything about it, so I want to try to fix this issue myself. I can see (through the hole in the floor) that the pipe is up against another pipe under the floor, and it's probably at some sort of angle considering the rotted wood it's sitting in, but when I tried to wiggle it, the pipe wouldn't budge. The picture I attached is the valve pipe sticking out of the rotten wood.



It's 4:20 AM now, I've been up since 3 AM dealing with this and looking at other apartments even though I really can't move right now. Is there anything I can do? Or at the very least, can someone fully explain what's going on and what I can tell the property managers to do so they don't assume I'm an idiot and tell me some BS and not actually try to fix it? Please help!!

JStar

Steam

Sorry for your troubles. This won't be an easy battle, apparently.



The real solution is to have somebody on site who understands steam. High pressure is a terrible idea, and usually a band-aid for a bigger problem. Also, the cap on the radiator valve is not even the same thread and is probably leaking. There is really nothing you can do right now, other than demanding that a steam specialist look at the system.

nicholas bonham-carter

Dysfunctional steam system

What a pity the management of your building are so clueless! The heating system is one of the few parts of a rental property where spending a little money on maintenance can actually save a lot of money quickly.

Turning up the pressure is counterproductive, just wasting more fuel as a result. Removing a radiator because it overheats is not the solution to the problem. The cap on the radiator valve looks to be cross-threaded, and will probably be leaking this winter.

Tell your management company, that a little time and money spent on the system will reduce their fuel bills by at least 30%. As you have no access to the boiler, and the system, you cannot do this, but they could. Perhaps you can ask them to start saving money now by coming here with specific questions.--NBC

Jamie Hall

Where are you?

That is a horrible mess.  If you are anywhere in Joe Starosielec's service area tell your landlord to give him a call.  If not, tell us where you are and there is probably someone he (or she) could call.



At the very least, try to get your landlord to post questions here on the Wall; there are a number of real experts who read it and can help (step one would be to get the pressure down where it belongs... step two would be to fix the botched job on the radiator termination!).