Various trades

[SS]

My situation..selling house (downsizing) this is likely to be my last move before I pop my clogs. Income will be very low from pensions but will be mortgage free. So what to look for when buying another property as I dont want to spend £ks after a couple of years. My bid would be dependent on the life of some of the things below, in other words if a combi lasts on average 12 years and it is already 10 years old then I need to take that into account.

What is average life of a combi type gas boiler? What is average life of a tiled roof? What is average life of double glazing units? What is average life of radiators (rusting through)

I am ok for general maintenance but dont want a big hit with lots of expense if any of the above are on their last legs (average) Anything else I should be looking at (assuming a survey will cover wood rot, general building etc)

Any thoughts on this would be helpful. thanks

[Skipweasel]

In all cases, at least twice what the sales-rep on the doorstep would have you believe.

[The Natural Philosopher]

25 yrs?

60 years before some maintenance needed. about 100 for full replacement.

Abourt 15 years IME.

15-25 years probably. they dont rust. The same water crculates and there is no air.

Almost any house over ten years old needs about 1% of its cost spent er year on maintenance.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Only for a top spec one. Could be as low as 10 years for a low build quality one, and installation workmanship can affect this too.

You can ask on here about particular models where there's quite a bit of experience. Also, look at the state of the boiler casing. If it's got signs of corrosion, that's generally not good for longevity.

Yes. Leadwork will require replacement at 60-75 years, and will likely need some maintenance 1 or 2 times during its lifetime, such as redressing back into brickwork.

I'd say 25 years for uPVC (and for first generation aluminium, but most of that has been replaced now). You might need to replace one sealed unit glass during that time.

Depends heavily on age. If the radiators are >= 50 years old, they'll last forever even without inhibitor. Over the intervening years, they have been manufactured progressively thinner, and consequently with steadily reducing lives. Nowadays they won't last any time at all unless the system is kept properly dosed with inhibitor. Also look at the radiator tails, where poorly made connections can seep very slowly and corrode through.

Replacing one radiator is not a major expense, although if they're all going, that's a different matter.

Yes.

In your position, I would also look at insulation levels for the purpose of cost of heating the place. You want somewhere which either is already, and can easily be, well insulated. Avoid a house which cannot be easily insulated. In theory the EPC should give you this information, but unfortunately they are useless because the assessors are clueless.

[John Rumm]

anything from 6 to 30 years probably, depending on who made it and what sort of generation of technology it is.

Depends on what you mean by "life" - for example they can loose their hermetic seal and mist up, but they will stiff function as DG units - just look a bit cloudy.

As to loosing their seal, if in full sunlight and installed badly, they could last as little as 5 years.

If the system has inhibitor and is installed correctly (i.e. not pumping over etc), 30 years+

Survey will cover rot if its immediately visible...

Its a difficult call - there are so many things that can bite you, its hard to know where to start. In reality, chances are only a few will.

I would make sure the place you buy is not on low level ground - especially in a flood plane. If a glance at the consumer unit shows rewireable fuses and lots of black rubber cables emerging, then factor in a rewire. (look for sockets as you go round as well - too few could indicate an ageing wiring system etc).

[SS]

Thanks for the tips.