Furnace Accident.

[Staber Fan]

Hi everybody,

My wife's Grandfather passed away in April and his house has been sitting vacant and for-sale ever since.

Last weekend we noticed that the oil-fired boiler (which is 5 years old) was not working and so we called to have the boiler repaired. The boiler tech worked on the boiler on Monday afternoon.

On Thursday, my mother-in-law went to check on the house. When she parked her car in the driveway she immediately noticed a strong odor. When she entered the house she discovered to her horror that the wood floor and walls were covered in a thin film of oil. The second floor was also covered in a layer of oil but thinner.

It was discovered later that day that the basement had a layer of oil between an 1/8" of an inch to a 1/4" of an inch thick.

What are these people to do? They suffered a terrible loss in April as my wife's Grandfather was the last "elder". And then the house sits unsold in the worst real estate recession in modern times and now the house is nearly ruined by the boiler!

What happened?

Does this happen often because I surely never heard of a boiler do this? I might post pictures tomorrow. What caused this and what should these people do? They are absolutely devastated over this. First they lost someone they loved and now they are stuck with a house with no end to the emotional pain in sight!

Please we need advice.

Thank you!

[Cactus Bob]

YES OIL HEAT CAN DO THAT !   i worked on oil heat for 20 years and had a few go bad ! . it might have been a bad nozzle , a loose fitting or air shutter that moved closed OR something he had no control over like a cracked chambor or fire box inside the furnance and it was just its time to go ! . now you have a house full of SOOT  . thats why i allways had insurance ,its next to the most costly we can buy ( the most is if you work on propane )  theres a reason that is . so make some phone calls , get estmates . call the guy that worked on it, get his information . its just paperwork now ,you cant go back . good luck

[Northern-Tech]

   Well, its only 5 years old.......AND it was worked on just before it happened.....so it definitely would not hurt to get a 2nd opinion from a reputable service outfit, in the area. You may want to see if the service person was licensed.....and has insurance. Yes, it could have been a fluke, but none the less, check things out thoroughly.

 

[telefunkenu47]

I generally perform an efficiency test and staple the printout along with the smoke test strip to the work order. this protects me and shows due dilligence. By any chance was any of this information noted on the service order? What was the service performed originally on the no heat complaint? Was there an outdoor oil tank involved perchance? Was there adequate combustion air, or did somebody button up the house and maybe the makeup air inlet... Birds nest in the chimbley? After 30 years in the oil biz i have seen all of these things plug up a boiler along with everything mentioned by my esteemed colleague in the previous posting... 

[applianceman18007260692]

 Look on the bright side, at least you won't have to get an exterminator in there any time soon. The tech should be responsible for damages. Get his butt back out there and allow him to make it right. Don't just call a lawyer.