Cinnamon Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 OK, I have spoken with he who knows & this is what he says. A plumber must be CORGI registered to fit any gas appliance, so if you find their website they will probably have a list of recommended people in your area. However, plumbers in general are in great demand & you will lucky to find someone who can do it right away, well around here you would anyhow And he says you simply must get a written quote, or I am afraid you may be on the recieving end of a large bill By the way,British Gas fit & supply boliers, so that may be worth looking in to too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocchick Posted October 3, 2007 Author Share Posted October 3, 2007 He IS corgi registered The one that gave the first quote now says he isn't doing any work via the Sheffield forum We will not be going with the con artist corgi plumber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 Poor you Choccy Hope you get it sorted soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superjules Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 Finding a good plumber is an absolute nightmare, I sympathise totally with you. We've got a vaillant combi which was fitted into our 3 bedroom house 3 years ago and it does a fab job. I think most plumbers/heating engineers recommend you get a boiler capable of heating a house 1 bedroom bigger than you have, just to make sure you will have enough capacity should you ever need to add another radiator onto the system. I love having a combi boiler, you never have to give the whole family written notice that you want to have a bath like we used to at my parents house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tessa the Duchess Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 We had a new combi boiler fitted recently, a Vaillant £2,200 including fitting. It is a condensing boiler which means that a lot of the steam which is normally blown out of the chimney thing is recycled, making it very efficient and a bit more eco than a normal boiler. It is almost silent. We have always had our boiler serviced once a year £75 we have to agree to have a yearly service or the co. won't come and fix it if it goes wrong, which of course would be in the middle of a freezing winter I highly recommend the make and the co. Tessa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 Give Pete a ring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 I am reading this with interest, as last night we had our friend round to look at our house in order to either put it back to its original 3 bedroomed state (with a tiny boxroom) or to put in a loft conversion for us. We are going with the conversion plan, more expensive but will give us bigger bedrooms. We will need to get a new boiler so that we don't have any water tanks in our loft. Our first plan of action is to get some architects plans drawn up, then get advice on whether to put the boiler in the kitchen or the loft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Jules, we lived in a bungalow which needed a new roof. When we were in a position to do it all, we had the new roof and extended the bungalow into a loft conversion (in the new roof) and added a large extension to the side and rear. We extended the heating off the existing Worcester Combi boiler but fitted a double hot water cylinder in the new bathroom airing cupboard, to provide hot water for upstairs (two bathrooms) We could heat the small part of the cylinder for general use and heat the larger part as well for filling the bath. The second phase would have been to fit solar panels to heat this water in the cylinder - but we moved to the farm instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 That's interesting Lesley as we will be putting an ensuite shower room in the loft- Alexander is fighting with us over whose room it will be Our house is really small floor space wise. We have a living room (with the stairs in, our computer is in the space under the open plan stairs ) & a kitchen.... nothing else downstairs. We had a lovely patio built in block paving a couple of years ago, so we don't want to extend out the back, & to the side the only width we have is a one-car driveway width. We reckon that we don't need any more downstairs living space because as the boys get older we are sure they will spend all their time in their rooms and not want to sit with us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizzyLizzie Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 I'm watching this thread with interest too - we are soon to be moving (only taken nearly a year ) and the new (30's) house has an old back boiler which we want to change for a combi. In our first place (basement flat) we had British Gas in to fit a combi boiler and take away the old one and tank etc. They were very good and cleared up after themselves very well. It was about £2k and included a power shower (which was FAB!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocchick Posted October 10, 2007 Author Share Posted October 10, 2007 Waiting for a quote from a boiler fitter recommended by a friend. He was admiring the eglu and considering chickens so is a firm favourite Can't get hold of Pete the plumber via mobile Egluntine-went to voicemail, and now has a message OH says means his voicemail is full. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missuscluck Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 We had a worcester combi boiler fitted a year ago, as our floor standing boiler in the kitchen nearly killed us all . It cost us just over £2k as we had it installed in to the upstairs airing cupbord doing away with the water tank (which was new 12 months beforehand..grrrr.) and extra work changing pipes etc. Its really good but you need a phd to work it to start with but once it is set up it is clever and does its own thing. It is more economical and our house maintains a nice temperature as it was all or nothing with our old boiler. And we are still alive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 you need a phd to work it to start with but once it is set up it is clever and does its own thing. Well that's OK as Choccy has almost got hers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocchick Posted October 10, 2007 Author Share Posted October 10, 2007 We had a worcester combi boiler fitted a year ago, as our floor standing boiler in the kitchen nearly killed us all . It cost us just over £2k as we had it installed in to the upstairs airing cupbord doing away with the water tank (which was new 12 months beforehand..grrrr.) and extra work changing pipes etc. Its really good but you need a phd to work it to start with but once it is set up it is clever and does its own thing. It is more economical and our house maintains a nice temperature as it was all or nothing with our old boiler. And we are still alive Brilliant. OH does electrical things and saves me from potential fire hazards surprisingly regularly, and I understand Biochemistry. Recently my earrings have damaged the new washing machine and I got the (ex) kettle wet in the electrics I'm death to machines at the moment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Don't stand near Kate then - she kills washing machines - regularly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 I find the worst things for damaging the innards of a washing machine are the rogue underwires from bras which escape occasionally. They get through the holes and into the mechanical bits and create havoc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 As Lesley says, I do kill my washing machines regularly . I've had 5 in 20 years and the current one eats clothes and shreds them. It ate LSH's new polo shirt yesterday so no doubt it will be in a strop today because the filter will now be full of bits of the aforementioned shirt and the stupid machine won't empty . I hate washing machines ! I got to the stage a few years back where one of them broke down every couple of months so I bought a big galvanised tub and a washboard from the antiques centre and got used to washing by hand rather than risk turning the stupid thing on. Fortunately LSH is a clever soul and can fix just about anything and can usually get them working again in no time - until this one eats something else ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocchick Posted October 11, 2007 Author Share Posted October 11, 2007 Maybe me and Kate would cancel each other out? OH wasn't impressed, even though he put the washing on Maybe it was a rogue bit of bra wire as the earrings are all accounted for? They've started losing wires as well These things are generally my fault as I seem prone to destroying things We have a man coming round next week to look at it. I can just imagine OH and the repair man examining an underwire now trying to work out what it is.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Don't! A friend's washing machien broke down and the repair man found the culprit - her diaphragm!!!!!! Goodness only knows what it was doing in there - just goes to show how little she used it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 I had loads of trouble with washing machines until the repair man told me to buy a Miele. More expensive initially but 5 yrs on not a sqeak, and I do 3 loads a day on average. He said they were the only machines that last he reckoned 15-20yrs against 3-5 at best for any other make and so far so good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmandaR Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Same as Tessa, we had a Vaillant condenser boiler installed about 3 years ago. We got rid of the old floor standing one in our kitchen, had the pipe work rerouted up into the loft and the new boiler installed up there. It cost just under 2K all in. We haven't had any problems with it. It is virtually silent and as a bonus, we now have extra space in our kitchen. The only downside is that we don't have a fixed staircase to our loft. Although the loft is boarded out, we have found it difficult to find someone who is prepared to service it by climbing up a step ladder into the loft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocchick Posted October 18, 2007 Author Share Posted October 18, 2007 We have a man booked in for next Thursday ....and the washing machone problem was bra underwiring. He put it down as a loose part that sometimes occurs. He was telling OH how the same thing happened to his last week, and wondering why women need this wiring. We're getting a Worcester boiler BTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocchick Posted November 4, 2007 Author Share Posted November 4, 2007 The saga is nearly over We had a lovely man come round and we have heating and hot water again, and the boiler is in a new place. The downside is we still need the corgi man to check his work, and it ended up taking about 4 days with just him doing the work. He kept coming back to do little things. He was nice though, did a good job and didn't charge more. He still has to collect his ladders (which OH is borrowing to paint the pipework outside), and do a 10 min job on the boiler when he collects them. Our washing machine still works after the bra wire incident was resolved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Try washing your bras in a delicates bag Choccy - I always do that - saves me a fortune in washing machine repairs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocchick Posted December 15, 2007 Author Share Posted December 15, 2007 The boiler man now has an eglu and is collecting some chickens just before Christmas The gas corgi man is also getting an eglu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
