Central heating - I think I've been had

Mrs_Cupier

This is my first post on this board, so apologies if this is not the right place.

18 months ago we bought a house that hadn't had much done to it since the early 1970s.

15 months ago, on the advice of our surveyor and after three separate quotes, we had a new central heating system fitted - new boiler, new hot water tank, new closed system, new immersion heater, two additional radiators, therm valves on all except the 'thermostat' radiatior. Some new pipework. £4.3K of work.

Central heating fine last winter. Hot water fine all last winter and this summer.

Last Sunday, we turned the heating on to test it and it produced a 'fault' message on the boiler within half an hour and no heat downstairs. The plumber that fitted it told us to try a number of things, none of which worked, including cranking up the pump and bleeding all the radiators.

Today, he came out and poked the system. Tells us that, by a process of elimination, the boiler itself is now full of sludge in the heat exchanger (despite a powerflush before he fitted it). We either need £400 of work to clean it and fit a magical 'magnacleaning' device; or we need a new boiler and a magnacleaning device (between £1K and £1.3K). And if we do the first, we may need the second anyway.

He presented it to me as just one of those things - our system was sludgy, it's furred up.

Mr Cupier is incandescent (unlike the heating). Do you think we really have a leg to stand on to complain? And to whom? Or should we just take the hit (or old-style it this winter without a boiler)? Rather at my wits' end.

spacenase

Sorry to hear about your problems.

I'm no expert, but I'd start by getting another plumber in to get their verdict. Try and find someone recommended by a friend or family member to get a reliable opinion. Make sure you get a quote for any work required and then present it to the original plumber.

If they are not willing to play ball, you are probably best going to Trading Standards or any trade body the original plumber is a member of.

Hope this helps and good luck.

Browntoa

system should have been flushed prior to commisioning of the new boiler to get rid of any Flux or other rubbish from the pipework, do you know if this was done or is on the invoice ??

Mrs_Cupier

Hi, yes we had a full powerflush done and inhibitor added to the system. At least, we paid for it and I think I remember it being done.

Difficulty is, this plumber was recommended by someone! I think I'll stick a pin in the phone book next time.

Going to try other plumbers tomorrow and ask the boiler manufacturers if 15 months is considered a reasonable life span (I rather think not).

gyzmo

Anything you order should be free of defects and be able to perfom its job properly. If the surveyors did a proper job, they should have realised any problems and informed you of them or not fitted the system at all.

You certainly do have a leg to stand on. Contact the company that installed they system and ask them to fix it. If they don't check their details and see if they are registered with any professional body (if you are on gas, they MUST be CORGI registered). try also contacting the OFT for further advice if they refuse to fix the problem.

Mrs_Cupier

Thanks for this. Original fitter wants paying before he can fix it. Consumer Direct suggests getting a 'professional opinion' from another plumber, as the work may not have been done with 'due care and skill' and 15 months is not reasonable durability for an item like a boiler. CORGI were only really interested in the gas safety aspects, but did say there were proper procedures for cleaning a system before a new boiler and if they weren't followed, he shouldn't have installed it. Glow-worm didn't have an opinion on whether 15 months was a reasonable lifespan, but did want £250 to come out and see what the problem was, with no guarantee they could fix it.

A man from another well-known national company is coming tomorrow to give an opinion and, hopefully, make it all go again. I had to make custard for the first time in years this evening to warm everyone up.

Mrs_Cupier

Result! The second company we got to look at the system said it couldn't possibly be the boiler (because it had been heating the water happily and without any change of output for over a year). Instead, they treated it like a radiator blockage, drained the system, refilled it slowly, made it work a radiator at a time, left me with a toasty warm house and a working system, in under 3 hours. Oh, and they said the original powerflush should have taken a FULL DAY, not the hour or so I recall.

All I have to decide now is whether I can be bothered to pursue the original plumber for shoddy work on the installation (they thought the blockage was either something dislodged by the improper powerflush, or a bit of solder left in the system :eek:). Thanks for all the replies.

Mrs_Optimist

Mr O is training to be a plumber and he cannot believe the shoddy jobs so called experience plumbers do and charge through the nose for. In his experience the bigger companies with the flash vans etc charge through the nose and do crappy jobs, whereas the smaller one man bands with 5 year old vans charge a fair price and do a fair job because they have to rely on word of mouth recommendations to get the work in the first place and so have more to lose if they take the pi**