Steam heat and boiler help in Soulard
Soulard is one of St. Louis's oldest neighborhoods, packed with 19th-century brick rowhouses, small flats and corner buildings. Where those buildings still have radiators, they often have a boiler and piping that has been changed many times over the years.
Housing and heating in Soulard
ZIP codes: 63104. What you'll commonly find:
- Brick rowhouses and attached flats, many built in the second half of the 1800s, long before central heat
- Heating that was added later, so steam or hot water piping often runs through tight basements and around later renovations
- Buildings converted from multiple units to single-family homes, or the other way around, which can leave radiators removed, capped or re-piped
- Shallow or partial basements where the boiler and piping can be hard to reach
Steam and boiler problems that come up here
- Radiators that were disconnected during a rehab and never reconnected or re-pitched, leading to banging or cold rooms
- One boiler serving a building that is now split differently than when it was piped
- Old main vents in the basement that have failed, so far rooms heat last or not at all
- Pipe insulation from earlier decades that should be tested before anyone disturbs it
These are common patterns in older housing like this, not a diagnosis. Every building is different.
When you call
Tell the technician how the building is laid out now (single-family or how many units), which rooms are cold, and whether any radiators were moved during renovations.
STL Steam Heat is a free referral service operated by Thurr Solutions LLC. We pass your request to an independent local heating technician, who quotes and does the work.
Soulard steam heat questions
My Soulard rowhouse has radiators but the boiler is newer than the piping. Is that a problem?
Not necessarily. Many older buildings have had their boiler replaced while keeping the original piping. Problems start when the new boiler wasn't sized to the radiators or the near-boiler piping wasn't done to the manufacturer's specs, which can cause banging, wet steam and high gas use. A technician who works on steam can check both.
Can a radiator removed during a rehab be put back?
Usually, if the pipe connection is still there and the radiator is sound. It has to be reconnected with the right pitch so condensate drains back, and on one-pipe steam it needs a working air vent.
General steam heat questions
Why do my steam radiators bang?
Loud banging (water hammer) almost always means water is trapped where steam is trying to pass, usually in a pipe or radiator that has lost its pitch, or because the boiler water is surging. Steam condenses back to water and has to drain back to the boiler. If a radiator tilts the wrong way, a pipe has sagged, a one-pipe radiator valve is half closed, or the boiler water level is too high, the water pools and the next rush of steam slams into it. Common fixes are re-pitching radiators (a shim under the legs), re-pitching or re-hanging sagging pipe, opening one-pipe valves fully, correcting the water level, and skimming or cleaning dirty boiler water. Light ticking as metal warms up is normal; loud bangs are not.
Why are some of my radiators cold while others get hot?
Most uneven steam heat comes from air that can't get out: a stuck or undersized radiator air vent, missing or failed main vents in the basement, or on two-pipe systems a failed steam trap. Steam can only fill a radiator as fast as the air inside it escapes. Radiators far from the boiler need the air pushed out of the main pipes first, which is the job of the main vents near the end of each steam main. Other causes are a closed valve, a radiator tilted so water sits in it, or the pressure set too high, which makes vents close early. On a two-pipe system, one failed trap can let steam into the return and leave other radiators cold.
Should I repair or replace my old steam boiler?
Repair it if the boiler itself is sound and the trouble is controls, vents, water level or piping; consider replacement if the cast-iron sections are cracked or leaking, repairs keep piling up, or parts are no longer available. Age alone isn't the deciding factor: many old cast-iron steam boilers keep running for decades with basic care. Signs that point toward replacement are water leaking from the boiler sections, a firebox or heat exchanger that is rusted through, unsafe combustion or venting, and repeated major repairs. A new boiler has to be sized to the radiators you have, not to the old boiler, and piped correctly, or it can run worse than the one it replaced.
No heat in Soulard?
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