Ventilation duct inspection in Mežciems - panel buildings by the Biķernieki forest

How Mežciems is built

The history page of the neighbourhoods portal says construction of the Mežciems housing estate began in 1975, and it has 5-storey series 466 buildings as well as series 602 and 104 large-panel residential buildings. Next to it are the Biķernieki forest, a racing track and large healthcare complexes, and the neighbourhood also has detached houses. So a chimney sweep in Mežciems has three different kinds of clients: apartment building managers, private house owners and institutions.

Ventilation in a large-panel building

In a large-panel building, the natural ventilation ducts are built into the concrete blocks and come out in the attic or on the roof. They cannot be rebuilt like a brick duct, so it is important to find the blockage and its cause. We check the duct from the top with a weight or camera, and in the flats with a draught meter at the kitchen and bathroom grilles.

• A cooker hood with a fan connected to the shared duct: on the upper floors it can drive air back into the neighbours' flats.
• A grille covered with plasterboard or painted over after a renovation.
• Building debris in the duct after a flat conversion, or birds' nests at the duct outlet.
• Plastic windows without an air inlet: the duct is clean, but air does not flow because it has nowhere to come in from.

The fire safety regulations require ventilation ducts in apartment buildings to be cleaned and checked at least once every 10 years, and at least once every five years in rooms with gas appliances. A certificate is drawn up each time. In detail: ventilation check in an apartment building.

A gas cooker in a flat: who is responsible

If a flat has a gas cooker or gas water heater, the ventilation duct in that room must be checked once every five years. The building's owners, or the manager if the management contract provides for it, are responsible for the shared systems, including ventilation and flues in the common parts. Gaso itself does not replace or service appliances; it carries out periodic checks, once every five years in apartment buildings.

If a gas water heater or boiler is replaced in a flat, Riga binding regulations No. RD-24-260-sn on heat supply require a certificate on the technical condition of the existing appliance, the flues and the natural ventilation ducts to be submitted to the commission. To draw it up, we check both the flat and the duct tops on the roof.

Detached houses in Mežciems

In the detached houses of Mežciems the job is quite different: a boiler, fireplace or stove flue that must be cleaned by 1 November. A wood or pellet boiler needs a second cleaning between 1 November and 1 March. If a private house owner cleans a solid-fuel flue themselves, no certificate is needed; if we do the cleaning, we always issue a certificate. More about private houses: chimney sweep for a private house.

On Riga's zoning map for choosing the type of heat supply, by our reading of the map, Mežciems is not coloured, so it is in zone III. For a detached house this means that when you choose new heating, the regulations give priority first to zero-emission solutions or district heating, then to solid biomass such as pellets, and only then to gas. Check the zone of the specific address on the map.

Healthcare complexes and other institutions

Large institutions usually have a facilities service and their own technical documentation. If a building has a backup boiler house, a kitchen with gas appliances or another flue, we prepare a certificate for each flue and group of ventilation ducts that can be shown at a fire safety inspection. More: chimney sweep for businesses.

Access and price

Mežciems is reached along Biķernieku iela and Hipokrāta iela. The forest, the racing track and the large complexes determine how you can drive up to a building; write which side the entrance is on and where to park. In panel buildings the roof is usually reached through a hatch from the top-floor stairwell, and the building manager has the key.

There is no fixed price for a ventilation duct check: the price depends on the number of ducts and flats, the height of the building and whether a camera is needed. We quote the price once we have your request. Cleaning a detached house flue with a certificate costs from €100, call-out included. All prices: prices.