i recently moved into a mews type flat and in the hallway there is a boarded up old warm air heater i took the board off and the gas has been disconnected but all the old heater timer etc is still there is it safe to just take it all out of the wall and just put shelves in there.

tony w, February 2009

Be carefull as the reason that is was never removed could be that the appliance has an asbestos flue pipe and even if you do not intend to remove the old appliance most of these appliances had there compartments lined with asbestos so you should not drill into the walls and release asbestos dust. Contact your local authority enviromental dept for free advise.

davegas, February 2009