Family cooks, sleeps for two weeks in condo unit with leaking gas pipe
The punctured pipe was near an open window and so the gas didn't have time to accumulate. -- Picture:GAVIN FOO FOR two weeks this family danced with danger and survived.
The punctured pipe was near an open window and so the gas didn't have time to accumulate. -- Picture:GAVIN FOO
Madam M Chen, 51, smelt gas but didn't know that it was coming from her unit.
And all this while the family continued to cook.
Madam Chen and her family had moved into their new condominium unit at Mirage Tower in Kim Seng Road just two weeks ago.
But unknown to them, a concealed gas pipe was leaking. It turned out that their sub-contractor had accidentally drilled into it while renovating the place.
Last Saturday, the smell got worse when they closed the windows and switched on the air-conditioner in the living room.
Madam Chen, a housewife, told The New Paper: 'My children were uncomfortable. Their tuition teacher also complained about the smell.'
Her children are aged 7 and 10.
Thinking that it was the air-conditioner 'leaking some kind of gas', she contacted the technician. But he told her that it was not the case and advised her to contact Citigas - which supplies gas to her condo.
The same day, a technician from Citigas visited her house and confirmed that a gas pipe in the kitchen was leaking.
SAVED BY GOOD VENTILATION
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), can be ignited if there's a certain percentage of it in the air.
LPG, which can build up very rapidly in poorly ventilated areas, can cause death if one inhales too much of it.
Pointing to the window beneath the false ceiling where the gas pipe was punctured, she said: 'Thank goodness the ventilation here is very good. We always leave the window open in the day and would close it only at night.'
Citigas has since cut off the gas supply to her unit.
Madam Chen said she had installed the false ceiling to conceal the water pipes.
She was still upset when The New Paper visited her yesterday.
She said it was a miracle that nothing had happened despite the fact that they had been cooking all the while.
She contacted her contractor from ID.com the same day Citigas told her about the punctured pipe.
The contractor was recommended by her property agent and the renovations had cost her about $50,000.
When contacted, manager of ID.com Lynn Liew said her company had sub-contracted the work to Wen Yi Plastering Decor.
Ms Liew also said that it was the first time she was working with this sub-contractor.
Mr Eric Tan, 36, owner of Wen Yi Plastering Decor, said he had visited Madam Chen's unit with his worker last Monday to assess the damage.
He said the pipe was concealed behind a wall and that before the renovations were carried out, they were not told of the gas pipe there.
He said he was unsure if his workers had done any checks as he was not around to supervise.
'It is standard procedure that when we do any renovation work, the main switch to the gas would be turned off. That is why we did not detect any leak during the renovation,' he said.
The pipe was punctured when his workers drilled holes in the wall to secure metal mounts that support the false ceiling.
'We were just unlucky to drill into the pipe,' he said.
Madam Chen said she had asked Citigas to repair the pipe tomorrow.
Mr Tan said he would bear the cost of the repair.
He said he will also fix and repaint the ceiling for her at no extra cost.
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