Budapest - operating Gas pressure

If you want to replace the boiler etc., you need official permission (in writing) and a specific boiler in mind. 

Then you do not have to worry as they will tell you in your letter.   

You have to find a gas person to deal with it, draw the plans etc.

Kaboom!!
You need to get a pro into change the boiler.
We did put in our own stove but it was a simple turn on/turn off the valve, no replacing lines or dealing with gas pressure.
Fogaz probably didn't know what you were referring to because no one does such things on their own in Budapest.
Better to get a gas man in.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Kaboom!!
You need to get a pro into change the boiler.
We did put in our own stove but it was a simple turn on/turn off the valve, no replacing lines or dealing with gas pressure.
Fogaz probably didn't know what you were referring to because no one does such things on their own in Budapest.
Better to get a gas man in.

Connecting your own stove is easy enough but anyone connecting a heating system needs to have permission.

We're currently installing a new heating/water system and it has taken months to get the papers to allow the work to be done.  We had to specify the boiler system exactly, the size and type of pipes and it's route to the boiler itself.   They wanted to know everything.  BTW, the pipes must be on the outside of the building and very visible.  Not very happy about that.

We're also changing the location of the meter etc outside as it's ugly and obtrusive. That's taking ages as well.  So far we know we need a gas company approved installer to move the meter.  They will have to dig up the front garden.  We can only have certain specific approved meters. 

Same with the electrical people. We will also  have a new electricity system. Only their approved installers may fiddle with the meters and the supplies from the poles.

Wow, what allot of mental hassles for you, hope it goes smoothly as possible.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Wow, what allot of mental hassles for you, hope it goes smoothly as possible.

It's going badly. 

Just today, Mrs Fluffy told me they (the installers) say it will take until the middle of August.

I am somewhere near to imploding over these kind of delays.

We ordered our doors 2 months ago and they are still not done!

Summer holidays....probably...

Sorry to hear that, seems many people use these hotter months to do home repairs, the repairmen may be backed up with jobs?
Still not  much comfort to know that though.
Every summer it seems someone in the house is doing some big job or the other, banging away changing things or just painting.
I personally would do the jobs when the weather was cooler but then again to change windows one wouldn't wish to be stuck in a cold snap without windows installed.
Best of luck to you and perhaps a nice glass of wine is in order, doesn't solve the problems but makes it easier to take.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Sorry to hear that, seems many people use these hotter months to do home repairs, the repairmen may be backed up with jobs?
Still not  much comfort to know that though.
Every summer it seems someone in the house is doing some big job or the other, banging away changing things or just painting.
I personally would do the jobs when the weather was cooler ....

Of course the summer is time for outside work but realistically it could be done anytime.  Construction takes place regardless of the weather.  Never actually seen anyone stop.

It was cooler when we started several months ago and ordered our doors but for some reason, delays have occurred and now it's much warmer than we started.  It will all too soon be back to colder weather.

We also need to just get on with it for various reasons.

But yes, we should get our gas pipes installed as they will have to dig up the garden and if it becomes muddy/waterlogged.......

Thankyou will look into this as the owner of the apartment next door just changed everything without problems and used there own team from the uk do appreciate all your advice

Teddyb24 wrote:

Thankyou will look into this as the owner of the apartment next door just changed everything without problems and used there own team from the uk do appreciate all your advice

Be aware that without the correct paperwork and certificates, you could have trouble selling the place sometime later. 

Also to occupy a rebuilt/modified property you need a permit as well.

Obviously that is not needed if the changes are cosmetic.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Be aware that without the correct paperwork and certificates, you could have trouble selling the place sometime later. 

Also to occupy a rebuilt/modified property you need a permit as well.

This is a really, really good point and bit of advise. Many people here do construction and renovation work that is not officially permitted or sanctioned, which is always "easier" to do than asking for proper paperwork and permission.

fluffy2560 wrote:

We ordered our doors 2 months ago and they are still not done!

I replaced two double doors leading into our wine cellar. The first was done and installed within 6 weeks. The second had not arrived for many more months, and then the frame of the outer door finally broke (these are massive doors with 12 cm thick frame, yet over time the base of the door had rotted away). Only when I stated to the carpenter of this problem, did the new outer doors arrive within a week. Some times, only a crisis here will get results.

Which is why, after that, I did no more custom door or window orders. Just bought stock sizes, and when necessary, re-framed the opening to fit the new window. As I chronicled here:

https://stcoemgen.com/2013/09/09/house- … -chopping/

There are many reasons for delays in Hungary. But, quite frankly, they are, for better or worse, "normal" here. For example, from first inquiry to final completion, it took 18 months to get a new roof installed. And that included going through 3 different roofers (they each had "other jobs" scheduled and underestimated how long it would take to do our roof).

fluffy2560 wrote:

Summer holidays....probably...

Probably not. Summer holidays do not really start until mid-end of July. More likely they just over scheduled their work time, so are in delay.

fluffy2560 wrote:

[Of course the summer is time for outside work but realistically it could be done anytime.  Construction takes place regardless of the weather.  Never actually seen anyone stop.

Depends on what one is doing.

For example, one will probably never see outdoor plastering in the winter and rarely in mid summer. The times are either too cold or too hot for the plaster to cure properly. Sure, one "can" do that out of season, but then watch the plaster crumble and fall off a few years later because it did not cure properly.

And sure, one can add "anti-freeze" to the plaster mix, but that adds a level of complexity which can adversely affect the outcome. IMHO, the less one complicates things here, the better.

klsallee wrote:

....Only when I stated to the carpenter of this problem, did the new outer doors arrive within a week. Some times, only a crisis here will get results....

The latest news is that one of the window/door supplier's workers cut his finger off and another has a bad back.   While I sympathise, I cannot finish my house without these doors. 

Mrs Fluffy is keen to buy off the shelf doors for inside from OBI or Praktiker to avoid being trapped by  a custom made supplier.   

But apart from taking their time, I am happy enough with their work.

fluffy2560 wrote:

The latest news is that one of the window/door supplier's workers cut his finger off and another has a bad back.

One worker we had clamped a circular saw upside-down, with the guard removed, to a wobbly saw horse and proceeded to use it as a table saw. I was horrified. No wonder another worker was missing three fingers. Things like the USA Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) do not exist here or if they do, are useless and/or dysfunctional. Disturbing.

So, I have been known to buy extra personal temporary accident insurance when dealing which such issues, and because of this.

klsallee wrote:

.....No wonder another worker was missing three fingers. Things like the USA Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) do not exist here or if they do, are useless and/or dysfunctional. Disturbing...

Losing fingers seems to be a "popular" accident in Hungary.  Our neighbour chopped off two of his while doing something or other - possibly when using an angle grinder.  A guy and a woman I worked with sometime ago also had missing fingers.  No idea why.

I always wear Kevlar gloves or welding gloves if using cutting machines and I always wear eye protection too. 

I always ask myself before I start, "If I cut this thing in this way, what is going to happen?"  Is it going to fly off suddenly and unpredictably? Fall off on top of me? Get hot?

Yes OHSA standards are not seen much in HUngary.
I get vertigo when I notice people doing roof repairs in Hungary. Some use a thin safety line but some just "wing it" scares the "BeJesues" outta me.
My grandmother was 12 when she had some sort of machinery accident in Poland back around 1910. Lost her arm due to infection of her injury, lead to my great-grandparents getting a divorce which was rare at that time in a religious village.
At the time her village in SE Poland was part of Austria/Hungary.
My husband nearly lost a few fingers in a machine shop as a student, another student slammed some equipment down too fast and nearly cut his fingers off was painful enough for my teenage husband to faint from pain.
He did his schooling in HU.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Is it going to fly off suddenly and unpredictably? Fall off on top of me?

Happened to me. Angle grinder, on concrete with an air cooled serrated blade, got kickback which wrenched the angle grinder from my grip, which twisted in the air and the running blade landed on my thigh.

I was wearing double layered pants, and the fabric was designed to take on a chain saw, so I had no physical damage. But that blade sure tore up the pants. Without the pants, it may have cut me to the bone.

Take home message: Power tools can be dangerous. Wear protective clothing. Be safe, everyone.

You have no idea how lucky you were to be wearing those safety pants.
Our neighbors son was sharpening his garden trimmer on a cement surface( not smart) the blade hit the hard ground and bounced up and cut his thigh super deep to the bone.
He was in his late 50's.
He lives in a small village and the local medical clinic couldn't handle his injury, they were going to just cut his leg off in the clinic.
By pure luck a vascular surgeon was visiting his family in the same village that day. Someone called him up and he rushed to the clinic and  did some field surgery to save the leg, gave the ambulance enough time to take the injured man to Budapest for more surgeries.
This was 3 years ago and he still has a hard time walking, has to use a walker now but at least they didn't remove his leg.
On the bright side, with all the lab tests for his leg they found cancer in his bladder, got surgery for that too, if not for his leg injury he may of not caught the cancer in time.
Poor guy though,has to use a walker and has to pee in a bag.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

You have no idea how lucky you were to be wearing those safety pants.

I cross myself. Give offerings to various gods. Thank the Great Father. Give homage to my karma. Etc. Etc. Etc.

I was more than lucky that day. 

I prefer hand tools (All Hail Roy Underhill). But cutting concrete.... ain't gonna happen without a power tool.

P.S. I since bought a diamond blade for cutting concrete, which is not serrated. More expensive, but a bit safer. And that blade is amazing: cutting concrete with it is like cutting through warm butter.

klsallee wrote:

....P.S. I since bought a diamond blade for cutting concrete, which is not serrated. More expensive, but a bit safer. And that blade is amazing: cutting concrete with it is like cutting through warm butter.

I've got one of those with a 2500W angle grinder.  I used it to cut paving slabs.  Dangerous as hell, not just the general nastiness of the machine, but death by huge amounts of dust as well.

fluffy2560 wrote:

death by huge amounts of dust as well.

Yes.

Basically, a widow maker. 

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

death by huge amounts of dust as well.

Yes.

Basically, a widow maker. 

Yup, that's the one!