Thank You Dan, and The Wall Guys! Beautiful Steam!

Hal

Thank you Dan!

This is the third winter my wife and I are living in our new (1899) row house. Figuring out the cause of noise and poor heating in one part of the house has consumed some time and energy. We had hammer in the kitchen, living room and our bedroom, where the rads are directly behind our heads when we're in bed. Banging, gurgling, spitting. We heard it all. Then we had knuckleheads come and tell us everything including replacing the boiler (not even ten years old today). Everybody's quotes were in the thousands of dollars to stop the noise and give us some relief.

Well I started looking for help on the web, and found it with Dan's books. I learned about the system and how it works. Then I set about
studying my system and comparing it to the books.

I started by checking the pitch and vents on every rad. I continued by drawing a schematic of every pipe in the house. In the process of looking at every pipe that was visible, I noticed something that not one of the knuckleheads noticed. In the basement there's a horizontal runout to a riser for the three rooms with the noise problems. This pipe was pitched the wrong way, probably as a result of settling.

So we got some quotes for simply repitching the pipe. The first guy obviously didn't know as much as he should about one pipe steam. (I knew he was a knucklhead thanks to Dan's books.) He wanted $2500 to replace about eight feet of pipe and three or four elbows. The next guy was a little old man with a funny accent who looked at the pipe and right away said "you have lots noise upstairs, no?". I said "Yes lots noise". He asked me how I knew this was the problem, and I told him it's obvious that the pipe is pitched the wrong way and there must be a puddle in there. He wanted $450 to do the job. I gave it to him. It took him and an assistant three hours from start to finish. He did nice work too. Bless him.

We fired up the boiler. Twenty minutes later all the rads were hot and not a knock or even a tap. Only the vents clicking closed. Beautiful. $450 for the plumbing and $100 for the books. (The Lost Art, We've Got Steam, etc.). I'm a happy camper.

Many thanks to Dan for his great books, and some of you pros who gave me support and suggestions last winter. (I doubt you remember, but I posted pictures of my boiler).

Peace and quiet! Warm and wonderful!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!

DanHolohan

Hal,

that's for the wonderful post. Nice gift for the holidays!

Hal

Dan Himself!

Hey, you're really there! Cool...I mean HOT!

Thanks again, and keep up the good work!

Hal

Constantin

Inspirational Post...

... posts like your illustrate why it pays to educate yourself. Not only do you understand your home heating system inside and out, you also know how to spot a steam knucklehead when you see one. That alone will save you thousands of dollars.

Congratulations and all the best with your newly silent heating system.