Buying house where Central heating has been off for a year - potential issues?

NeoVR2k6

Hi.

Im in the middle of buying my first house - its a probate sale and has been empty for about 18 months or so, although the vendors have been looking after it well and keeping it fresh.

One of the many letters ive received from my solicitor advises that the central heating has been turned off for 12 months or so and advises i get it checked out..

So what is the likelyhood of potential issues from this? - the boiler is an old un-efficent Halstead Buckingham III so it would be high up the list of getting ripped out anyway.

Is it just a case of getting a gas-safe plumber in to do a service and check everything still works etc? (any ideas on cost?)

The one thing that struck me about this house was when viewing it was always "comfortably" warm and dry inside, to the point i actually assumed the vendor was leaving the heating on. this was also reflected in the homebuyers survey, stating no damp anywhere, even by the big bay windows.

Thanks

Watto30

Hi,

Congrats on buying your new home, I can't offer any advice on boilers but I have just been through a similar thing myself, just bought a probate property before christmas that had been empty for 6 months through the summer and autumn with no heating on, on the 3 viewings we did the house always felt the same as you describe, dry and warm however after moving in it became apparent there was damp in the air, the doors had started to warp slightly, easy solution was to buy a dehumidifier, to begin with lots of water being extracted, now 9 weeks later hardly anything and we dont use the dehumidifier very often, hope this helps

diywhynot

NeoVR2k6 wrote: »

Hi.


One of the many letters ive received from my solicitor advises that the central heating has been turned off for 12 months or so and advises i get it checked out..

So what is the likelyhood of potential issues from this? - the boiler is an old un-efficent Halstead Buckingham III so it would be high up the list of getting ripped out anyway.

Is it just a case of getting a gas-safe plumber in to do a service and check everything still works etc? (any ideas on cost?)

Potentially several issues: ideally you should have a RGI check out the boiler and the rest of the CH system before you sign on the dotted line. Heating should have been left on whilst the property was vacant or has the system been drained down? If so, corrosion would have accelerated within the radiators. Tbh, the list goes on.

In terms of cost depends on where you live, the size of the property (larger = more labour to check out) and the general state of the boiler and CH system.

More advice here.

Ben84

NeoVR2k6 wrote: »

So what is the likelyhood of potential issues from this? - the boiler is an old un-efficent Halstead Buckingham III so it would be high up the list of getting ripped out anyway.

As you've never used the boiler before I would definitely get someone one to service it before attempting to light it. However, I would also suggest (assuming they conclude it's ok to use) trying to use it, as you may well find it works fine and the fuel costs aren't a problem.

Unless there's something obviously wrong with the house, like a hole in the roof, I think it's best to try living there a while before you start changing things. It's easy to assume you need to do things, but often your priorities change a lot after a while of living in a house. It would be a pity to spend whatever budget you have on things that you might not think important 6 months from now.

southcoastrgi

yes as DWN says, you could have any number of probs, heating system blocked/sludged, boiler not working, has the water been left on to the taps ? if not then the tap connectors will prob leak (as the fibre washers dry out), the list really is too long to say what probs you might have, a site survey with a plumber/rgi is really the only way to go

NeoVR2k6

Thanks for the comments so far guys. :beer:

Ill definitely try get a RGI/Plumber out to the house before i sign my life away, and ive asked the EA to chase the vendor to see if they can find any paperwork or history about the boiler, and if they just turned it off or drained it first.

Just to fill in the "specs"
Its a '60s 3 bed semi in manchester.
boiler is a Halstead Buckingham 3 (between 10-15 yrs old)
has a hot and cold water tank in upstairs airing cuboard. The Hot water tank looks quite modern - ie its not just copper with a jacket round it - it also has an electric immersion heater fitted.
There also a gas fire in one of the rooms - id probably get this isolated as id never use it.


Whats the usual accepted way of finding/contacting plumbers these days, is that "rated people" website any good?.

Ben84

NeoVR2k6 wrote: »

Thanks for the comments so far guys. :beer:

Ill definitely try get a RGI/Plumber out to the house before i sign my life away, and ive asked the EA to chase the vendor to see if they can find any paperwork or history about the boiler, and if they just turned it off or drained it first.

Just to fill in the "specs"
Its a '60s 3 bed semi in manchester.
boiler is a Halstead Buckingham 3 (between 10-15 yrs old)

That's not so old at all, it could have plenty of years life left in it.

NeoVR2k6 wrote: »

has a hot and cold water tank in upstairs airing cuboard. The Hot water tank looks quite modern - ie its not just copper with a jacket round it - it also has an electric immersion heater fitted.
There also a gas fire in one of the rooms - id probably get this isolated as id never use it.

If you have a working gas fire, I'd keep it. It will be the only heating appliance you can use during a power cut and it's a useful back up if the boiler breaks down.

NeoVR2k6 wrote: »

Whats the usual accepted way of finding/contacting plumbers these days, is that "rated people" website any good?.

I'd go with the low tech old fashioned option - ask your friends and neighbors

southcoastrgi

sorry ben to disagree, it's a halstead boiler imo it's lucky it's lasted this long & i don't think it will be long before the OP is chucking money at it or more likely chucking it in the skip

Ben84

southcoastrgi wrote: »

sorry ben to disagree, it's a halstead boiler imo it's lucky it's lasted this long & i don't think it will be long before the OP is chucking money at it or more likely chucking it in the skip

That's a pity. It's not a brand I've heard of before however, so it's good to hear what others think about them. I've mostly had baxi and gloworm back boilers in the houses I've lived in, which have all lasted well past 10-15 years.

southcoastrgi

Halstead were/are a British made boiler & one of the worst boilers ever made even worse than ideal, they are a money pit & forever breaking down, really terrible boilers, they were bought by Glen Dimplex & the boilers re-badged to the parent company, however as far as i am aware they are no longer sold as GD realised what we could have told them before they spent all that money buying Halstead

Johnandabby

Can't think of a worse boiler - we moved into a house with a Halstead boiler and it didn't last 5 years from installation and only 3 months from when we moved in.

Made even worse by previous owners having BG contract who chose not to notice two massive holes in the heat exchanger - casing filled up with water until the pilot light was extinguished!

Budget for replacing it