Show us yer house and house-related meddlings

[miss direct]

Here it is. Nothing happens when I press reset. Noticed the pressure has gone up (it was around 2 the last time I looked) so I turned the whole thing off. Nothing happens when I fiddle with the thermostat.

 

[gentlegreen]

There's damp in my neighbour's alcove.
When that happened on the other side, capping my chimney fixed it.
But logically if it was a repeat of that. the damp would coming down their chimney and be on MY side and there's no sign - though I will have a good rootle around.

In the previous case it was not at all clear that it was anything to do with the chimney based on the damp patch ...
He says the mains socket is showing corrosion ...
It rather looks to me like it's getting in from the wall by the window ...

The houses are sitting on very free-draining soil.

 

[teuchter]

Could quite possibly be condensation if there is normally a bit of furniture up against that wall.

 

[WouldBe]

View attachment 294249
Here it is. Nothing happens when I press reset. Noticed the pressure has gone up (it was around 2 the last time I looked) so I turned the whole thing off. Nothing happens when I fiddle with the thermostat.

That pressure looks to be too high. Iirc the pressure is usually between 1 and 1.5 Have you left the filling tap open? If so you need to close it and let some water out of the system (can be done by bleeding the radiators and letting some water out). Boiler will not usually run if the pressure is too high. Sort out the pressure and press the reset button again and see if that sorts it.

 

[danski]

View attachment 294249
Here it is. Nothing happens when I press reset. Noticed the pressure has gone up (it was around 2 the last time I looked) so I turned the whole thing off. Nothing happens when I fiddle with the thermostat.

I wonder if the pressure is too high and that’s why it’s not working?
I might be wrong and not all boilers are the same but I’m sure between 1 and 2 bar is normal pressure.

 

[danski]

Jinx^

 

[gentlegreen]

Could quite possibly be condensation if there is normally a bit of furniture up against that wall.

There was indeed a bookcase with a back on it that was hiding it ...
I

 

[miss direct]

Right, well gas person came around. Fiddled around, did various things, couldn't get it started and said it's very old and there is no model name or number to be found. He advised that I get a new one and has quoted me £2800. Is that normal or should I shop around? It's worth saying that next week I'm going away again for about six weeks - is there a point to having this done now (and not using the new boiler at all) or am I better off waiting?

 

[Looby]

Right, well gas person came around. Fiddled around, did various things, couldn't get it started and said it's very old and there is no model name or number to be found. He advised that I get a new one and has quoted me £2800. Is that normal or should I shop around? It's worth saying that next week I'm going away again for about six weeks - is there a point to having this done now (and not using the new boiler at all) or am I better off waiting?

I would get it done in case there’s a cold spell whilst you’re away. You don’t want pipes freezing.

 

[miss direct]

I would get it done in case there’s a cold spell whilst you’re away. You don’t want pipes freezing.

But it won't be used when I'm away as the place will be empty

 

[kabbes]

Right, well gas person came around. Fiddled around, did various things, couldn't get it started and said it's very old and there is no model name or number to be found. He advised that I get a new one and has quoted me £2800. Is that normal or should I shop around? It's worth saying that next week I'm going away again for about six weeks - is there a point to having this done now (and not using the new boiler at all) or am I better off waiting?

Boilers come in many prices and the installation comes in many levels of difficulty. So I don't think we can just say whether £2800 is normal or not. If it helps you, I can say that when we had ours replaced in 2016, we replaced the old gravity system with a combi boiler, which required the plumber to remove the tank from the loft and re-engineer the hot water system, and we went for the best combi we could, and that all cost in the region of £4-5k, as I recall. So not tremendously comparable and 5 years worth of inflation to bear in mind, but it certainly doesn't make £2,800 sound out of line.

Should you have it done? Depends if you like hot water and warm radiators. Should you have it done right now? Do you have a cashflow issue that will be resolved by waiting for six weeks? If not, why take the chance that you'll come back into a freezing snap?

 

[Looby]

But it won't be used when I'm away as the place will be empty

Surely you would leave it to come on if the temperature really drops? Up to you, seems a bit silly to leave it if you have the option before you go away.
Also, if you can get it done now that might be better than trying to find someone with availability when it’s cold and everyone’s boilers are fucking up.

 

[miss direct]

This is combi to combi and £2,800 looks at the top end of what I can see by googling the price of a new combi. I felt like I was being pressured into deciding on the spot and paying a deposit (only a few boilers left, problems due to Brexit, very few time slots) - that gets my back up so I just took the card and said I'd be in touch. Didn't realise this gas man represented a particular brand of boilers - are they all like that?

Looby That would make sense if I could work out how to do it before I left. Or ask a friend to come around now and then and turn the heating on for a bit.

It's already cold up here. Well, 14C at the moment apparently but feels cold to me.

 

[danski]

I would at least get a second quote/ opinion.
It’s probably far easier and definitely more lucrative to fit a new one than piddle about trying to repair. However, you might be lucky in that the next engineer is familiar with that type and knows exactly what’s up.

 

[kabbes]

You want to get the best one you can, really, because nothing makes you sadder quicker than having shitty hot water flow.

Worcester-Bosch look like they do a direct replacement for a maximum of £1900 installed.

Gas boiler replacement | Worcester Bosch

New gas boiler replacement is easy with our FastTrack Installation service. Get your gas boiler replaced with a Worcester Bosch Greenstar 2000 for a maximum price of £1900,

www.worcester-bosch.co.uk

 

[miss direct]

I would at least get a second quote/ opinion.
It’s probably far easier and definitely more lucrative to fit a new one than piddle about trying to repair. However, you might be lucky in that the next engineer is familiar with that type and knows exactly what’s up.

Is that something I can do without having someone come round? I've already paid out £170 in the last few days for men to come round and the only useful thing that's happened so far is a new tap.

 

[miss direct]

You want to get the best one you can, really, because nothing makes you sadder quicker than having shitty hot water flow.

Worcester-Bosch look like they do a direct replacement for a maximum of £1900 installed.

Gas boiler replacement | Worcester Bosch

New gas boiler replacement is easy with our FastTrack Installation service. Get your gas boiler replaced with a Worcester Bosch Greenstar 2000 for a maximum price of £1900,

www.worcester-bosch.co.uk

That's a better price. I have an electric shower so have coped without hot water until now. Just been boiling the kettle to wash up.

 

[WouldBe]

Looby That would make sense if I could work out how to do it before I left. Or ask a friend to come around now and then and turn the heating on for a bit.

It's already cold up here. Well, 14C at the moment apparently but feels cold to me.

Leave the heating on continuous and turn the thermostat right down.

 

[kabbes]

Even better, follow this wizard to find out which boiler would best suit you:

Find a New Boiler | Worcester Bosch

Our new boiler replacement tool helps you find the right new boiler to suit your home, heating and hot water requirements and makes requesting a quote even easier

www.worcester-bosch.co.uk

 

[danski]

Is that something I can do without having someone come round? I've already paid out £170 in the last few days for men to come round and the only useful thing that's happened so far is a new tap.

Ah, perhaps not. Unless when calling you ask specifically about your make and model to see if they are familiar but even then they’d probably need to poke and prod to investigate/eliminate.

 

[miss direct]

Leave the heating on continuous and turn the thermostat right down.

That makes sense. Would you (or anyone) have any idea how much gas this is likely to use? Everything is on meters (apart from water, which is the one thing I do want on a meter) so I'd need to make sure it had enough left on it for an extended period of time.

 

[kabbes]

That makes sense. Would you (or anyone) have any idea how much gas this is likely to use? Everything is on meters (apart from water, which is the one thing I do want on a meter) so I'd need to make sure it had enough left on it for an extended period of time.

Depends how cold it gets, unfortunately. It might use zero gas, if the temperature stays above your thermostat level. If we get a freezing spell, on the other hand, it could use quite a bit.

I have had much better realisation of this since I got a Nest thermostat, which tracks exactly when and for how long it has turned on the boiler. There can be huge variation from month to month just as a result of the ambient temperature dropping a few degrees.

 

[WouldBe]

That makes sense. Would you (or anyone) have any idea how much gas this is likely to use? Everything is on meters (apart from water, which is the one thing I do want on a meter) so I'd need to make sure it had enough left on it for an extended period of time.

How long is a piece of string? It would all depend on how cold the weather is going to be over the period you're away and how well insulated your flat is.

 

[Epona]

It could end up being more expensive to leave the heating off, have the pipes freeze while you are away, crack, then thaw causing a lot of water damage (and possibly to neighbours property too if in a block).

It is possible that it simply won't get cold enough, I am in a well insulated upstairs flat in a mid-70s block and it never comes on to the low setting I use to prevent the above.

 

[Elpenor]

Is that something I can do without having someone come round? I've already paid out £170 in the last few days for men to come round and the only useful thing that's happened so far is a new tap.

They’d want to look at the site the boiler is and assess access too.

While having the boiler done if you go down that route, also work out what else you may want them to quote for - do any radiators need replacing or swapping for doubles, are there Thermostatic valves fitted?

I understand you’re reticent to spend money but remember - you’ve bought an asset - a flat - which will deteriorate in value if it’s not maintained and updated. The fact it wasn’t by the previous owners is how you got it so cheap.

Unfortunately you have 2 options - become good at DIY and be able to handle a lot of jobs or pay for people to fix and improve things. Neither option is easy, both require the commitment of resources (time / expenditure).

 

[teuchter]

i would say it's nuts to get something as expensive as a new boiler without getting at least three quotes and looking properly at what each one is offering in comparison to the others.

You want to make sure the boiler has enough capacity for your usage and also some are more efficient than others.

 

[Looby]

i would say it's nuts to get something as expensive as a new boiler without getting at least three quotes and looking properly at what each one is offering in comparison to the others.

You want to make sure the boiler has enough capacity for your usage and also some are more efficient than others.

It could also be nuts to go away for 6 weeks in winter with no working heating though.

 

[miss direct]

Yeah, I leave next Friday so don't have a lot of time, working full time as well, only have Sunday off.

I filled in the form on that Worcester site, thanks kabbes will hopefully get a few more quotes tomorrow.

I wouldn't say I'm reticent to spend money, I just want to be sure I'm getting the correct price.

 

[Boudicca]

I paid £1650 in February to replace the combi boiler in my garage conversion, but it only heats two radiators and hot water. I paid £2,200 to replace the boiler in my house 4 years ago. So around £2k is what you should be aiming for. Get another 2 quotes.

 

[miss direct]

I'm definitely not going with that guy. He seemed nice but I'm now thinking he was a bit of a crook. He said the boiler had no model number or name on it (which is true) and without those, it would be impossible to get parts. Asked if I had paperwork, I said no (no specific paperwork for boiler). While he was fiddling about, I found a gas safety record check and presented him with that and said it might have the model name and number on. He brushed it aside. I've now looked at it closely and it very clearly has the name and model there.