Warm Front Grant saved me a fortune!

Lady_K

Thanx for asking margaretclare

Well nothings happened as I havent actually done anything yet but its been on my mind all the time. What with my student daughter losing things in the burglary and getting her sorted plus shes not been well I've just had too much on my mind.

Havent heard from the installers yet about coming back to point the brickwork and remove that thermostat but I dont know what to do as every time I think about phoning warmfront I think they might think I'm not grateful or am too fussy or something. I thought about taking a photo to email warmfront about the bathroom radiator and the atrocious pipes 1/4 way up the wall to nowhere but I then remembered we dont have a camera as my daughters was stolen. Really the inspector would need to look at it but its just cosmetic isnt it and they might say its working and thats all I need. I'm still deciding if to call or not but if I do they could do it when coming to do those other jobs.

The heating isnt as bad now due to me changing it to be on all day, although I do have to still keep the dining room radiator off and the small bedroom off and the loo on 2 and the bathroom on 2 yo make it go to 21 degrees now but people can turn them up if they want to be in there long and turn them back down after. The bedroom radiator still goes cold for whatever reason I just dont know why but I'm just guessing its last in the house to warm up and the output isnt enough

Just deciding what to say to them because I signed the form to say I was happy didnt I

Have rang my broker to see if they can get a quote for contents insurance for me to get an idea before I start trying myself they said they will ask zurich my buildings insurer for a quote including all risks, I mentioned my daughter being at uni and we would need things like laptop covered, shes a student nurse but shes also a fully qualified reflexologist and aromatherapist and sometimes carries her treatment bed in the car and bags of stuff etc so I want that to be covered too

margaretclare

Lady_K

Just phone WarmFront, full stop. Do it now! Forget about being 'grateful', forget about what you signed. Say you want an inspector to call asap. All that you describe is not how it should be, all that fr*gging about turning radiators on/off, the unsightly pipes, you name it. The installers are getting paid for doing a job and they should darned well do it properly so that the customer (that's you) is satisfied. So what if you didn't pay for it yourself personally - someone is paying, and the installer companies are getting a darned good living out of it. Make a list of all that has gone wrong/all that you're not happy with. How long does that take? Less time than it took you to type the above.

I am not sure what to suggest about getting insurance quotes from a broker, except to say - who pays the broker's fees? You could get a better deal by 'punting around' yourself - but get that heating problem sorted first, phone WarmFront NOW!

Best wishes

Margaret

margaretclare

Well, the WarmFront inspector has just been, done a thorough inspection of the work that was done and all is well. We praised the installers from Interglow, Lee and John from the Chelmsford office and said how satisfied we were with all that was done.

One thing the inspector told us: the installers that WarmFront appoint, up and down the country, often have too much work on and can't get it all done within the required timescale, so they sub-contract. It may be the sub-contractors who are doing the 'duff' work which Lady_K and others have found.

WarmFront provide 2 years' free insurance, then there's the option of continuing with this insurance by paying for it. So the work that has been done is covered. Lady_K, have you phoned WarmFront yet to state your concerns and demand that something is done?

Margaret

Elhall_2

Only skipped though some of this, I've been off for a while. Something did jump out at me though...

You said that the Rads are getting hot at the TOP and not the bottom? This means the system needs flushing, not bleeding. The install team should have either given the system a manual flush (either by taking the rads off and flushing them with hot & cold water OR by running water through the system and using a small hammer to dislodge the sludge in the bottome of the rads) OR you should have had a power flush, a machine which does all that job using power/hot water & chemicals. After all that the should have put in Centinal X100 (or something like it) It's an inhibitor that stops the sludge building up in the first place.

Add this to you list when you talk to WF.

As a usful tit to everyone. Your rads only need bleeding if the are cold at the TOP where air has got in. You bleed the air out. If your rads get air in too often it can indicate a problem, so check it out. COMBI BOILERS when you bleed the system you need to top up the pressure. If your water pressure drops then the boiler won't work.

Hope that helps a little.

Get onto WF with your problems, ask for an inspector. If they refuse (which they shouldn't) escalate the call and ask for a manager to go out.

Good luck all...

Lady_K

I didnt know what to look for when seeing if they were powerflushing and I sat in the living room the entire time because I couldnt get out of it basically because of all the stuff all over the floor so I do not know for sure if it was actually done. The inspector asked me if they powerflushed it but how can I say if they did when I have no clue what to look for.

When they came back to sort the messed up outside water tap and put the new rads in they did look at the back room radiator that was staying cold at the bottom, he said he would flush it. I watched him do this, he opened the boiler inside and turned some tap on or something and let that run for a very short time he said he was powerflushing but I don't know if it was or wasnt but he didnt touch the radiator to do that just inside the boiler.

I havent rang yet but I will tomorrow just had so much other stuff to do. Today I recieved the corgi certificate thing from kershaws which reminded me about the guarantee form for the boiler which I noticed was in the brown envelope that I was given to show the inspector. I'm not sure if I was supposed to send the guaratee off or leave it for the inspector but it said within a month or something. What with christmas then the burglary just after new year I completely forgot. No one told me I had to send this off and I havent checked if the inspector took it out of the envelope but I will ring warmfront tomorrow I just hope its not too late as its over a month.

The inspector that came to me was young in his mid 20's which surprised me and he seemed a very nice pleasant person but not thorough in the slightest. He wasnt even going to look at the work outside till I mentioned the unpointed brickwork and although I mentioned some concerns he didnt seem bothered by any of them at all. Is it ok that the earthing wire is not covered outside along the wall? it goes the length of the house

margaretclare

Hi Lady_K

I'm surprised you haven't phoned WarmFront yet. It would be quicker to pick up the phone than to post on here! Having said that....

The Corgi certificate stays with the rest of your household documents, guarantees etc which you keep in a safe place. Reason: if/when a house is sold, nowadays there has to be proof of what's been done and what is covered by guarantee. Even if you're not planning to sell the house any time soon, just keep that guarantee in a safe place.

The work you've had done is guaranteed by WarmFront for two years free, and after that - we were told - you have the option of continuing the insurance by paying for it. It's a very good deal! But the thing should be working properly in the first place, 'as described and fit for purpose' as it says in the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982. Everything should do what it's supposed to do, in other words - if's a heating system it should give you heat!

Yes, the earthing wire doesn't need to be covered - it's already enclosed in plastic, so it can't be damaged. It might look a bit unsightly though and you might prefer it to be covered up.

Margaret

Lady_K

Thanx margaret I know what you mean about being quicker than posting here its just I want to get it all right when I phone I will do it. I was going to today but trying to get insurance has taken over I am really stuggling even zurich who have my buildings have told me they arent prepared to offer a quote for contents because of my old subsidence and told me I'm in a high risk flood area aswell but I've been here 18 years and havent had a flood anywhere. I'm now worried in case they might not even renew my buildings in April I'll be in a real mess then and I dont understand why my quotes for contents alone are coming out at the very best £280.00 for only 20k of cover

margaretclare

Hi Lady_K

High risk flood area? You wouldn't be in the Trent valley by any chance, would you? I think we'll get flooded before you do, because we're less than half a mile from a tidal inlet off the Thames.

However, with global warming a lot of areas are under threat of flooding even if they never had a flood before.

Best wishes

Margaret

Lady_K

I'm just on the phone to warmfront now while they are talking to the installers, she did say the inspector only comes once. I really dont want the original installers to come back to be honest but I bet they will have to put thier own work right not pass it to another worker.

I rang floodline it turns out I'm in a low risk area, the river leen and they don't even give out flood warnings for this area as its a 0.5% risk. I'm just worried about my buildings insurance now as zurih gave me a broker number to get new quotes from as though they may not renew my cover in April

Lady_K

Well I don't know what to think she has come back to me to say they the i stallers say the hole in the wall up in the outside loft area is from where the old boiler woiuld have been, I thought it was from where they pulled away the old pipes from there but it wasnt a hole before I know that. The brick has been made about half thickness and dips in the middle. They have said as this was from the old boiler its nit thier job to put it right. I asked the girl at warmfront if it wasnt part of the job to put it right, make it good after and she just said you will have to phone them yourself.

She said they will send an engineer to look at the faulty radiator and he will call me. I asked about the pipes in the bathroom and she said that kerwshaws said the remedial work is now done. I did tell her about the mess during installation and she didnt say anything but anyway I have asked her if there is anyone else who can look into this because the inspector did advise that the brickwork should be sorted anyway so surely it should be done. She is now tal;king to the inspectors dept