Welcome! Here are the website rules, as well as some tips for using this forum.
Need to contact us? Visit https://heatinghelp.com/contact-us/.
Click here to Find a Contractor in your area.

flying heating equipment

Options
Mike Reavis_2
Mike Reavis_2 Member Posts: 307
in THE MAIN WALL
I regret the quality of the shot, however this photo shows how a contractor was able to get around the problem of continuing heat and water service during the time it took to jackhammer the floor, and install the new floor heat for the basement. The steam system is staying around to heat the upstairs-radiant for the basement.
Mike

Comments

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Options
    Looks like

    a great big accident waiting to happen to me! Reminds me of a job I was involved in tears ago in Southern RI where a house was being enlarged that sat right next to a coastal pond. The builder and engineer decided it would be real cool idea to try and suspend a 275 gallon horizontal oil tank from the bottom of a second level deck that also served as a car port. They argued with me about the load bearing capabilities of the deck and I informed them that they could do as they wished but I highly doubted that they would find a local oil company to fill it! They now have a 150% containment tank on the ground.

    Glenn Stanton

    Manager of Training

    Burnham Hydronics

    www.burnham.com
  • Ted_9
    Ted_9 Member Posts: 1,718
    Options


    That is scary!


    PATRIOT HEATING & COOLING, INC.

    To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"
  • eleft_4
    eleft_4 Member Posts: 509
    Options
    No less

    safe than some installs I've seen with cement blocks laid on their sides supporting boilers.

    al
  • m dewolfe
    m dewolfe Member Posts: 92
    Options
    uh boy

    I would love to be the inspector on this job! someone would go to jail!
  • DaveGateway
    DaveGateway Member Posts: 568
    Options
    HOLY FLYING BOILER BATMAN !!

    Now! I think I've seen it all.....But tommorrow is a new day. In all seriousness, that does NOT look safe...but, thanx for the smile:)..Robert O'Connor/NJ
  • Kyle Kubs - Benchmark Home Inspections
    Kyle Kubs - Benchmark Home Inspections Member Posts: 57
    Options
    Unbelievable...

    Now, this may just be me but, was it really necessary to run the radiant tubing under the boiler and water heater??? Love how he didn't even bother to take the blanket off the water heater...
    Another day, another idiot...
  • bob_25
    bob_25 Member Posts: 97
    Options
    unbelievable comments

    you guys" lead sheltered lives. What do you do when the boss says get everything off the floor but keep it operational,quit? It's common practice to hang furnaces from the joists with some long drive cleats until the floor is poured. We used to pour a slab the size of the boiler and pipe in some temporary radiators so the plasters could get in and out. bob
  • Weezbo
    Weezbo Member Posts: 6,232
    Options
    last week i had the 4'shower and the bath tub *\"Levitated\"*

    last year i had the boiler on a stand that as it loaded the building melted the ice out from under it :) I called it my "Titanic Boiler" some days id drive to work wondering if i would be better off pouring the cement around it and put a cover over it level with the concrete.....would be hell to service though :)
  • Gordy
    Gordy Member Posts: 9,546
    Options


    I want to see their "Riggers Card".
  • Grumpy_2
    Grumpy_2 Member Posts: 82
    Options
    Roofer's card!

    It covers everything! :)
  • Grumpy_2
    Grumpy_2 Member Posts: 82
    Options
    Unique to say the least!

    Not the safest idea, but they did have their radio to keep them oblivious to the dangers.
  • Mike Reavis_2
    Mike Reavis_2 Member Posts: 307
    Options
    I asked them if I could not run the pipe under the boiler

    I was informed that they eventually think that they will remove the steam system--or move the boiler. So they did not want a "cold spot" there. Maybe I give up to easy, but I have stopped arguing small points with customers for the most part.
  • Mike Reavis_2
    Mike Reavis_2 Member Posts: 307
    Options
    I don't need to remind you what every manufacturer

    writes into their install literature about not using the boiler or the furnace in construction sites. As you said--tell that to the boss.....
  • Mike Reavis_2
    Mike Reavis_2 Member Posts: 307
    Options
    well, at least you won't someone try to send it to you

    for warranty if it does take a tumble. It must be a relief when other companys' stuff is used in "novel" applications.
  • Larry Weingarten
    Larry Weingarten Member Posts: 3,304
    Options
    combustion chambers on ...

    ...water heaters get hot. That's why they don't use foam insulation there. So, plastic straps are safer than plastic insulation in the same spot? I'd be in a hurry to de-levitate that heater slowly, before the heater does it quickly! The levitator does get marks for creativity though.;~)

    Yours, Larry
  • Mike Reavis_2
    Mike Reavis_2 Member Posts: 307
    Options
    It wasn't me

    It was airborne when I arrived.
  • Constantin
    Constantin Member Posts: 3,796
    Options
    Someone likes to play the lottery

    I don't care if other folk have managed to do this successfully. I only care if I can reasonably safeguard mine and the lives of the poeple around me. Rigging a gas fired system like this is an invitation for disaster.

    Safety regulations are usually not the result of some code-weaving dingbat in Washington or even on the local town council. Typically, they are the result of having to add yet another grave marker to the local cementary.

    It's easy enough for the family to move out for a week, to drain the water lines and to do the job in a safe manner - with the boiler and gas water heater sitting pretty outside.
  • Mike Reavis_2
    Mike Reavis_2 Member Posts: 307
    Options
    A week? They had me out a month ago on OT because they wanted

    pour concrete the following day. They say they are pouring on Wednesday the 29th finally.
  • Gordy
    Gordy Member Posts: 9,546
    Options
    \"sheltered lives\"

    I don't know if this is sarcasim. But you act as though an unsheltered life is supposed to be filled with danger. Sounds like your boss shoots from the hip. Sometimes you have to draw a line in the sand. This instance puts everyone in the vicinity in potential danger not just the guy doing it. An old man I knew who lived to be 102, his favorite lines "do it right or don't do it at all" and "Make something out of nothing, not something into nothing"

    Gordy
  • Constantin
    Constantin Member Posts: 3,796
    Options
    Well, may I suggest a different GC then?

    Our 10 month renovation is proceeding on schedule and budget. With the right kind of organization, this basement pour could have been done in a week.

    One way to do it: First, you rip out the entire rest of the basement, leaving the WH and boiler to sit on a tall island. Install the pipes, gravel, vapor-barrier, wire-mesh, etc. leaving an "undone" area around the boiler. Kick the family out, throw out the boiler and the WH the day before the pour, finish the installation of gravel, V-barrier, mesh, PEX. Drain the water system and pour the next day. Also, pre-fabricate a steel stand for the boiler and the WH to sit on until the new heating system can be installed.

    Alternative: Build a stand out of steel. Disconnect, drag out boiler and WH. Demo floor around boiler, remove by hand, if necessary. Dig pit to where gravel ought to start. Install gravel, vapor barrier, steel stand. Reinstall heaters, then proceed as normal. Grind off steel stand legs when new install is done.

    It can be done safely and with minimal disruption, if things are thought out ahead of time.
  • Paul Pollets
    Paul Pollets Member Posts: 3,656
    Options
    Liability

    I wouldn't want to carry this guy's liability insurance. Aside from OSHA violations, Fire and structural damage issues, there are safer ways to do the same thing, with min. disruption of heating or DHW. The risk of serious fines (Labor & Industries) for doing same in Washington State would exceed $50K. That would put most small shops out of business. Why take such chances?

    To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"
  • Leo G_99
    Leo G_99 Member Posts: 223
    Options
    Mike

    what a great idea! I always wondered what skyhooks looked like!!!

    In all seriousness, I would think that if you were the installing contractor, you would be darned sure that everything was over-safe. If I had my druthers though, I think I would have asked them to use temp electric heaters and an electric tank for a bit.

    Leo G
  • jerry scharf_2
    jerry scharf_2 Member Posts: 414
    Options
    You piped under that???

    Tell them they are welcome to do that but it is an unsafe working condition and your life is worth more than this job. If they have a problem with that, you can always drop a dime on them. I'll be there are a few regulatory agencies that might have a thought or two about the situation. Even if you didn't have to work under it, the concrete people will.

    I'd be a bit nervous even working near it. I would have someone who's full time job is to look and listen to the floating wonders. Any sound or motion, and you run like hell. These things will often talk before they fail.

    If you are working for someone else and they regard your safety that lightly, I would look for a new hook for my hat.

    jerry
  • eleft_4
    eleft_4 Member Posts: 509
    Options


    http://eleaston.com/chicken.html
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0
    Options
    Mikey.

    You devil. Always stirring the pot(s).

    Don't know what all the fuss is about. Looks a lot safer than the basement you put that last Munchie in. At least these won't fall over in the next Mintwood Place earth tremor.

    Noticed no one asked about the "A" Dimension. Strange. I see your guys still carry their radio so they can listen to Opera. Nothing like running pex while grooving to Wagner.

This discussion has been closed.

Categories