£280 to replace a gas valve? seems high to me

[kjhi98]

I'm replacing a Gas Valve for a Glowworm 45 back boiler which seems t

have packed in right at the coldest spell we've had in a while!!luck me

*plumber wants £280 to do it which sounds sky high to me,pleas somebody agree! *I've got the original instruction manual to do it & think I've source the correct part needed too. *Is it a DIYable job?Is it as straight forward as the manual seems t show or are there any hidden problems such as post installation se up? *Any constructive replies very much appreciated,any righteous sill comments ,I'll ignore.

ta in advanc

-- kjhi98

[Guy King]

The message from kjhi98 contains these words:

I did mine no trouble.

[John Stumbles]

The valve is about £100 so if he's supplying that he's charging you for perhaps 1/2 day's work (say £40/hour + callout/shopping time getting the valve) to fit it. Since there's a fair amount of work to do just to get at the boiler (you have to remove the gas fire to get to it) and assuming he's doing a conscientious job and servicing the boiler and gas fire and checking that they're all safe to use again it's not an outrageous quote.

(Also assuming he's a gas fitter and not just a plumber :-))

If the price is for fitting a valve you've already bought then it is a bit steep.

It is DIY-able if you're competent to do all the checks that this potentally-lethal type of boiler & fire require: ventilation, flue condition & spillage, safety interlock etc. If you're asking here then, with respect, maybe you're not.

[R.P.McMurphy]

Tis a doddle. Just turn the gas of first though! ;-)

Steve

[Jonathan Pearson]

Call British Gas on 08450 777 111- ' British Gas will repair your central heating problem for an upfront, fixed price. And no matter how big the problem the price includes all parts, labour and call out charges, so you'll know exactly what you will be paying from the start.'

Cost = £156 incl VAT

No idea if they are any good / how quick they come out J> I'm replacing a Gas Valve for a Glowworm 45 back boiler which seems to

[Guy King]

The message from "Jonathan Pearson" contains these words:

That just can't be right. What if the heat exchanger's buggered, for example - just the parts will cost more than that.

[kjhi98]

any suggestions/advice for doing the job?

thank

-- kjhi98

[Jonathan Pearson]

Apologies it looks like its £198 in the South East, and £156 for the remainder of the country??

Jon

[kjhi98]

*the gas valve cost me £55 delivered

*the boiler has been serviced not long ago so doesn't need that jus now.

*The foresaid plumber serviced it for me not long ago for a decen price of £130. *So I can't understand why he wants £280 for this job when he know he's already given it a good servicing? *I'm obviously no expert but would guess he'd do this swap over i under an hour unless there's some special post installation set u procedures that need undertaking??Is there? *I've checked and I can get to the securing screws and the supply pip flange screws of the gas valve without moving the fire & pulling th whole unit out . *other than jointing compound for the gas union nut & leak detectio fluid/spray is there anything that's needed to do it?

thanks for the answer

-- kjhi98

[Grumps]

From their T&Cs:

1. We will not carry out the repair if:

- parts are unavailable; or

- your system is not included on our servicing list.

What BG call 'unavailable' may be different to what is normally defined! And who knows what is on their servicing list.

Still, it seems an attractive price and competetive to their own servicing contracts (assuming just a a single fault per year).

[Jonathan Pearson]

Grumps wrote: "How old is the boiler?" will rear its ugly head at some point

I know quite a few people in their service contacts - the 'unavailable' appears to be the same as elsewhere i.e. if the manufacturer has stopped supplying / can't get hold of an alternative, then the clause comes into force.

The servicing list covers most boilers IIRC

As BG has only brought in the fix a fault / fixed fee - i'm sure that the price will go up once they have cornered the market - nevertheless as a first glance it appears to be very attractively priced as most heating engineers call out charge are approaching the quoted price.

Jon

[John Stumbles]

where from? I'm sure the last one I bought was around the £100 mark

An hour might be optimistic since you've got to dismantle & then refit the fire front as well as actually change the valve, but I'd guess the only post-install work is to check the pilot & main burner pressure & gas rate and test for satisfactory flue flow (spillage test) - on the fire as well as the boiler of course.

The manual should give chapter & verse.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Given the heavy TV advertising expect Watchdog to be full of complaints in a few weeks about their excuses as to why they couldn't fix the problem...

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Not in the van?

[Jonathan Pearson]

But as they dont charge if they can't fix it - I can't see where the complaints will come from?

Jon

[Guy King]

The message from "Jonathan Pearson" contains these words:

From people who've had their boilers tagged as dangerous and unservicable.