Need Advice on Recent Piping of Oil-Fired Steam Boiler

hopatcongtim

Would like to get opinions a contractor estimate that I got today on my steam system. I have had many issues over the couple of years that I have been in this house.

Some background:

-House was built in 1932
-Burnham Boiler cracked in Spring 2014, replaced with Weil Mcclean SGO-3 in Oct 2014. This guys did a cut and slide (no attention to piping)
-Had another contractor come in a re-do near boiler piping to what I currently have. (pictures attached)
-Had another contractor come in today and tell me that what the previous guy did was all wrong.

Today's contractor says:

-Hartford loop is too high above low water cutoff
-No main vent on return pipe
-relief valve set too high on back of boiler
-would like to re-configure piping so that all laterals come off of the main 2" pipe as shown in picture, but further down the line. In other words get rid of the laterals that are coming off main near the boiler, and make them tee off the main further away from boiler
-add another return line with main vent for the other side of the house. Currently, the only return I have is coming from one side of the house. It is also nearly non-functional (I think should be as hot as steam pipes going out). This could be due to the fact that there is no main vent???
-Boiler is very dirty, would like to do a complete blow-down using "Steam Clean" product

He's going to give me a full estimate, but he said I would be looking at about 3500-4000 for all the maintenance and re-piping. Can anyone help me with this, and let me know if all this is necessary? The system, works OK. Everything heats up pretty evenly, and fast. I do have some issues with cold rooms. (But that I believe is because the rooms share outside walls-they are in corners of the house) Not insulated great. So Im not sure how fixing the piping is going to fix that.

Hopefully these pictures help a little, I can always take more. If anyone has time to give me a call, I am always open to other opinions. (718) 219-0525

KC_Jones

Did they mention anything about all that copper? Yikes! Is there any steel/cast iron left in your system? Is this the person that we recommended to you on the other post? If it is I would believe what he is saying. The Hartford loop looks high, but without a tape measure I can't say for sure. If you are missing an entire return that is for sure an issue for efficiency at least. The return pipes won't be as hot as the steam pipes, if they are that would be a problem. How many "mains" do you have? Typically everything coming off the header is a main and I count 5 on yours. Whoever did all that copper....I have no words right now. On the plus side if you do opt to have the work done you can recover some money recycling all that copper.

hopatcongtim

Thanks @KC_Jones yes, I just spoke with ezzyt and like you, he is very concerned about the copper. I am having him come to my house this Saturday to get another opinion and estimate. Thanks for the advice