That's impressive indeed. Right now an old tin bath and a means of heating enough water would be handy!
To be honest we're coping fine without the heating, it's getting used to not having the luxury of a daily shower, and bathing the baby in the sink (which at least he seems to like!) that are the major stresses.
David
When I were a lad it was a weekly bath. Rest of the time you washed in the sink.
My parent's house as I remember it had coal fires and the 'main' one had a back boiler for heating water. Supplemented by an immersion heater for summer etc use. Built in the '30s, the original hot water system was a form of gas multi-point in the kitchen, which they had taken out as they didn't want gas in the house. Dunno why, though.
When I were a lad and we did a lot of caravanning, washing in the sink with naff all hot water and no shower or bath for 2 weeks was normal. Couldn't do it now *shudder*. If I go for more than 2 days without a shower, I feel gross. It's got a lot with what your used to.
Cheers
Tim
Wading into the labour cost for a moment...
I recently had the need to consult a lawyer. Luckily for me he had an assistant who specialised in one of the other aspects of law needed. he said "money, now I'm £200 ph and so is he" So because of the system I'm having to stump up £400 ph. Now because I'm not a lawyer -and indeed may need 5-7 years to enable me to be of that ilk I- simply had to sit there and take it like a man.
Similarly a Corgi plumber is offering a skill which takes years to acquire and carries expensive specialist tools to offer a full service. You may feel £50+ is expensive however personally I feel the UK would be far better as a whole if a lawyer charged £50 and the plumber charged £200. (+VAT of course;-)
Ignore the rate and go on recommendations as the difference in cost is horrendous !!
Cheers
Richard
Ding Dong! My bus-pass demonstrates that the world regards me as 'old' but I didn't realise that I was classified as 'ancient' ! My mother's house, and my grandmothers' houses - and the surrounding streets -did _not_ have the luxury of 'HW'. A cold water tap was to be found in the kitchen and any water above ambient temperature was obtained from kettles heated on the 'swivel thing' adjacent to the coal-fire. But I certainly 'predate ... amenity ' of running HW - and apparently my age-group is the largest decile in the population of England and Wales.
Isn't it amazing what one learns through this broadband stuff^W amenity!
So, what happened in the end is that we had a number of quotes from local firms, all in the =A31,000 for boiler plus =A31,000 to =A31,500 plus VAT range for fitting. Despite the amount they were hoping to charge, none of them could turn up when they said they would, provide a quote by when they said they would, or show any glimmer of reliability.
But we got used to the lack of heat and water, and were able to look around for a better solution without being panicked into paying this sum; as I have already made clear, =A31,000 (plus profit on sourcing the boiler) is not an amount I am comfortable paying.
Eventually, an acquaintance of a relative kindly came along on Wednesday and fitted for =A3300 + VAT (excluding electrics, TRVs, and making good of old boiler flue hole) a Worcester 30cdi that I bought for =A3850 + VAT from a local supplier.
Don't get me wrong, I quietly admire those of you that are pleased to be making =A31,500 a day fitting boilers (=A3300k per year, not bad!). I just feel bad for those of your customers who can't really afford to keep you in Ferraris. ;-)
And it took them what? about 4 hours max to fit the thing?
And it's not Ferraris, it seems to be foreign homes visited every other weekend :))
So, what happened in the end is that we had a number of quotes from local firms, all in the £1,000 for boiler plus £1,000 to £1,500 plus VAT range for fitting. Despite the amount they were hoping to charge, none of them could turn up when they said they would, provide a quote by when they said they would, or show any glimmer of reliability.
But we got used to the lack of heat and water, and were able to look around for a better solution without being panicked into paying this sum; as I have already made clear, £1,000 (plus profit on sourcing the boiler) is not an amount I am comfortable paying.
Eventually, an acquaintance of a relative kindly came along on Wednesday and fitted for £300 + VAT (excluding electrics, TRVs, and making good of old boiler flue hole) a Worcester 30cdi that I bought for £850 + VAT from a local supplier.
Don't get me wrong, I quietly admire those of you that are pleased to be making £1,500 a day fitting boilers (£300k per year, not bad!). I just feel bad for those of your customers who can't really afford to keep you in Ferraris. ;-)
Well done,
I had the same problem with people not turning up when they said they would. I can understand that, what I couldn't understand was not getting a 'phone call to tell me why they hadn't arrived. Two weeks of that and I just went for it myself. My total bill for a Vaillant Turbomax 828 was about £900, which includes boiler, flue plus two right angles, thermostat and wiring, insulation and all tools and piping necessary to relocate a boiler from a bedroom to an outside toilet.
Of course, you end up paying in inconvenience and blood, sweat and tears but at least you know you're making progress.
Do you have to drain down in two weeks and refill with Fernox/Sentinel?
Andy.
No, proper job including Sentinel. All warranty and CORGI paperwork done.
In answer to Eric P - even for a pro, it's a full day's work. So I suppose the question is what's a full day's work worth?
David
Many people have lived in properties without running hot water, and its not just 'ancient' people that have been there.
The wiki could have helped you out temporarily :)
In many cases it can be a full days work for two men... and even that can be pushing it if you flush everything first and/or run into any problems. Also its not only what a full days work is worth, it is what a proportion of all the combined overheads of running a plumbing/gas fitting business are worth as well.
That's the going rate as far as I'm concerned, and it's still pretty good money. I'm sure it *can* take 2 blokes a whole day sometimes, but I've stood and watched at least 3 combi replacements done by one bloke in less than half a day. 20 years with BG and I guess you get pretty fast with the pipework
You'd get me for two working weeks for £1500 which is rather more than even the most complex heating upgrade will take. Exchanging a boiler never takes me less than a 2 days usually 3. I don't think I'm particularly slow but I'm probably fairly thorough.
Nearly every heating upgrade (which includes a boiler replacment) IME involves adding/replacing TRVs even if you are really quick you won't do more than 4 an hour. So you have 2 hours of work or more on those alone.
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