Toxic Fumes from Neighbor's Chimney
Two years ago, I noticed a strong smell of gas in my second floor bedroom. The gas company came to investigate a possible leak, and it turned out that my neighbor had turned on an old gas fireplace in his neighboring townhouse for the first time in over a decade, and the exhaust fumes were…
Two years ago, I noticed a strong smell of gas in my second floor bedroom. The gas company came to investigate a possible leak, and it turned out that my neighbor had turned on an old gas fireplace in his neighboring townhouse for the first time in over a decade, and the exhaust fumes were seeping through the chimney/flue that runs between our two attached houses, and into my bedroom through the wall, mainly around some electrical sockets. The gas company sealed his fireplace on the spot as a dangerous health hazard to my family and forbade him from using it. The neighbor, who can be a pretty difficult guy, claims that prior owners of my house (with whom he apparently had some legal issues) must have dislodged several bricks that damaged his flue when they were upgrading my home’s electrics the year before I bought it. He therefore wants me to rip open my bedroom wall, replace electrical sockets and patch up alleged holes in the brick chimney behind the drywall so he can use his fireplace. He has furnished no evidence to substantiate his claim that the prior owner of my house somehow knocked a hole in his flue. When I ask him whether he has ever had his chimney properly lined, he gets angry, saying only that he is an architect and he knows what he is talking about. He has yet to give me a yes or no answer as to whether he has a properly lined chimney – he simply gets angry when I ask the question, and accuses me of obstructionism by not agreeing to rip open my bedroom wall to take a look. I hardly want to block my neighbor from being able to use his fireplace, but I am certainly not willing to have toxic fumes come into my bedroom or my kids’ bedrooms. I don’t want to rip open my walls — certainly not at my expense — without receiving any grounds to suspect that this might solve the problem. The neighbor fought with me for a year, stewed silently for another, and now has started up again. He is a retired architect who spends a lot of time digging around the DoB and through his wife, is threatening to start filing violations on my property (no clue what) to force me to rip open the walls. I don’t want World War III with my neighbor, and am at a loss for the best way to handle this. Suggestions welcome. I have thought of a) finding a neutral chimney specialist (not someone of his choosing) to come and check out the situation to give an unbiased opinion as to what will make his chimney harmless; b) if there is indeed a problem that can be accessed only from my side, I am not averse to to allowing some work from my bedroom, at his expense, but I am not comfortable about liability issues about having someone else’s workers in my space. Any ideas?
I wouldnt worrie about what he says. All new gas fireplaces, boilers that are using a old brick chimney now has to be lined by law.
It does sound like what he thinks has caused the problem is pure speculation – as he has no idea what has caused his flue to deteriorate. They will deteriorate over time – brick does, as do liners. I would take his refusal to answer your question about whether he has lined the chimney to mean that he hasn’t done so.
But even if the problem turned out to be exactly what he thinks it is – that prior renovations to your home damaged his flue, it is his flue, and he needs to fix it if he wants to run his gas appliance. I also can’t think of a problem that could be accessed from your side that couldn’t also be accessed from his. In his position, I’d undertake to fix it from my side, and if I needed access from your side (though I think this unlikely), I’d politely ask you to allow me access, pay for it, and compensate you something for the disruption. (And, since he has been an angry jerk already, in your position, I’d NEVER give him access…he’s forfeited his right to ask for that, in my opinion.)
I think your neighbor is just angry he can’t use the old gas insert with the flue as it is. Frankly, that’s to be expected after 10 years. He’s not much of an architect if he didn’t realize that he needed to have it checked out before starting to use it, for his own safety, if not that of his neighbors. He’s just cheap and doesn’t want to pay to fix his flue, and wants to blame someone else for the problem.
Like you, I tend to try to find solutions to calm things when people are angry and threatening me. But it does seem to me that you shouldn’t hire a chimney person here. You are trying to acting reasonably with an unreasonable person, and, in my vast experience of trying to do that, I know it doesn’t work.
I agree with the advice to consult an attorney – you can find out exactly what is expected of you (my guess is nothing), and be prepared to protect yourself. Or you could follow the advice given above, and see what happens. My guess if he hasn’t done something yet, he may not. I think he probably knows that it is his responsibility and is just acting out. That, or he’s developing dementia.
By raphael9 on January 10, 2011 1:57 PM
“Every house in brooklyn has work done without a permit.”
Wrong
95% then.
“Every house in brooklyn has work done without a permit.”
Wrong
What’s 100% right here is what posters are saying regarding the fact that relining a chimney is done entirely from the within the premises where the chimney is located, is entirely the responsibility of the property owner and isn’t even that expensive, but that’s also irrelevant since it’s not your obligation. A chimney is relined with one continuous stainless steel liner fed from the base of the chimney up to the roof, at least that’s the way I’ve seen it done.
What happened or didn’t happen in the past with previous owners is also irrelevant.
You have no obligation to let the neighbor or anyone into your house or break through your walls.
A threat to you regarding potential violations, real or imagined, is harassment, and should be dealt with as such. Get in touch with your lawyer, find out exactly how to protect yourself. A prolonged battle with your neighbor is not a good thing, but being bullied is unacceptable.
If the flue serving the fireplace is shot, the flue exhausting his boiler may be in similar condition, so there could be more than one issue here. You don’t say whether he has one chimney or two.
I would not volunteer to pay a dime toward any of this. Chipping in on shared issues is one thing; contributing to repairs in a party wall with a friendly neighbor another, contributing to nasty neighbor’s repairs that are clearly his responsibility still another.
Good luck.
Not sure what you mean by “not an expensive proposition.” A stainless steel liner for the furnace flue in my three story house cost me $4,000 a few years ago. To med that wasn’t inexpensive.
A flue line is not an expensive proposition, and does not require any work in your building. If the source of the leak is his fireplace, he is under obligation to fix the problem. If you want to be really nice, tell him you’ll split the cost of the liner, let him pay for the installation. (Other than peace in the neighborhood, I see no reason why you need to be that nice, though.)
Follow Master Plumber. It is his flue that is causing the problem. He has to correct it, if something you did caused the flue to leak then it will be up to him to fix it and sue you.
Of COURSE he can re-line his flue from the roof. Often this doesn’t require opening any walls, but, if walls need to be opened they should be your neighbor’s. Don’t let this a**hole bully you!
Of COURSE he can reline his flue from the roof. Usually this doesn’t involve breaking any wall