Can't Find A Steam Heating Contractor That Services Wilmington, Delaware

AugustaRd · June 15

Hi - I just bought a home in Wilmington, Delaware that has a steam heating system with some problems. Because I came from a water radiator heating system I didn't think anything of it. But now I've been struggling for six months to find a contractor who can fix the issues. The 5 or 6 companies in the area I talked to said they don't do steam. The one company who does do steam won't return my calls even though we're very flexible about when they do the work and whatever else they need. Anyone have any recommendations? The issues are: (1) we need two thermostatic valves installed in two small rooms running 20 degrees hotter than the rest of the house; (2) no heat coming out of one radiator on the third floor; (3) loud violent banging in multiple places throughout the house like the pipes just want to break apart (or join kindergarten steel/metal band).

Steamhead · June 15

Sounds like all these problems are related. Can you post some pics of the boiler and a few radiators?

leonz · June 15

I agree with Steamhead,

Please look in the Find a Contractor section of the forum, if there is no one listed in Wilmington, you should call the City of Wilmington Department of licenses and Inspections and ask then who installs and repairs residential steam heating systems for contact information for a steam licensed plumber.

1-302-576-2620

Mad Dog_2 · June 15

Sir. You cannot do any better than "All Steamed up" out of Baltimore, which is under an hour and a 1/2 from you. Steamhead commented on your post, first. It would behoove you to have them out for a paid consultation at the very least so you can hire the proper people as knowledge and competency with The Steam is very rare these days. Mad Dog

AugustaRd · June 15

These are the photos. The radiator with the screen in front is one of two that need the thermostatic valve. The radiator behind the cut out wall is the third floor radiator with no heat coming out.

Label 1 on Boiler.

Third Floor Radiator - Behind Wall - Cut Out.jpeg

AugustaRd · June 15

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1898575#Comment_1898575

Thanks! I definitely checked the find a contractor first and it had no listings for Delaware. I called the City of Wilmington Department of Licenses and Inspections and they said they couldn't help me. They transferred me to another department who also said they couldn't help me.

Mad Dog_2 · June 15

That's Not a surprise. Mad Dog

mattmia2 · June 15

the boiler needs to be skimmed, you can see oil floating on top of the water in the sight glass. that will cause boiler to surge, violently throw water and steam in to the system instead of gently producing steam.

it is a vapor system because of that webster boiler return trap. The radiators should have special metering radiator valves. Webster valves have a kind of thimble shaped steel cup in them that forms the metering orifice. If anyone has replaces any of those valves you will need to do one of a number of things to return that functionality to the radiator. If the radiator is getting too much steam and it doesn't have a functioning trap it is likely to put steam in to the return and keep other radiators from being able to vent and heat.

it needs to run at very low pressure, under about 8 oz/in^2. I can't tell if the control on the boiler is the vaporstat that you need or if it is a pressuretrol. it kind of looks like a pressuretrol to me.

The boiler itself looks like it is more or less piped right but since it is a vapor system the water line being high enough and a few other things are important, it is a system, the boiler needs to be connected in to the system correctly and the system piping needs to be correct.

overheating radiators can be throttled by partially closing the radiator valve, you can balance the system this way once the other issues are corrected.

Steamhead · June 15

@AugustaRd , that's a Webster Type R system. The Return Trap gives it away.

There should be radiator traps piped between the ends of the steam mains and the dry (overhead) return lines. Can you post pics of these?

Also, the radiator that's too hot is near the boiler, correct? And the trap on the cold one is a vertical Hoffman #17C? You might have to take a pic of the top of the trap to be sure……………