Property survey suggests replacing boiler

Falafels

User4search said:

Thanks , in report Surveyor has mentioned that 

The heating is provided by a back boiler which is located in the fireplace behind the gas fire 

in the dining room.  Is this problem?

Back boilers are usually located in the fireplace at the back of the gas fire. That's no problem at all!

FreeBear

User4search said: The heating is provided by a back boiler which is located in the fireplace behind the gas fire 

in the dining room.  Is this problem?

No, it is not a problem. However, I would strongly recommend getting a Carbon Monoxide (that is CO, not CO2) alarm fitted especially if there is a gas fire front to it.

GJB1954

Falafels said:

User4search said:

Thanks , in report Surveyor has mentioned that 

The heating is provided by a back boiler which is located in the fireplace behind the gas fire 

in the dining room.  Is this problem?

Back boilers are usually located in the fireplace at the back of the gas fire. That's no problem at all!

Yes but when having to replace. The back boiler is redundant  . New boilers are not fitted in fireplace. So can be expensive to replace  if like most back boilers have been there 20 years or more. Plus cosmetic works required . 

Rambosmum

GJB1954 said:

Falafels said:

User4search said:

Thanks , in report Surveyor has mentioned that 

The heating is provided by a back boiler which is located in the fireplace behind the gas fire 

in the dining room.  Is this problem?

Back boilers are usually located in the fireplace at the back of the gas fire. That's no problem at all!

Yes but when having to replace. The back boiler is redundant  . New boilers are not fitted in fireplace. So can be expensive to replace  if like most back boilers have been there 20 years or more. Plus cosmetic works required . 

Or you can just disconnect the old one and leave in situ until such a time as the fireplace is being renewed. It doesn't have to be done in one go. We did this, it was no issue at all and saved us about £1k.

OP, it's really not a big deal - the house has an old boiler. The fact it's a back boiler suggests to me the house is in need of some cosmetic updating anyway so the new central hating system will cause little upheaval. If the boiler was 8 years old you wouldn't know how long it could last and on the whole, old boilers last longer than their newer counterparts. Just budget in for the new system. I doubt the owner will chip in, it should have been fairly obvious when you viewed (and you should have asked) what age the boiler was and the offer you made take that in to consideration.

If on the other hand, the property is in "perfect" condition and newly decorated/ renovated. Then I'd run a mile because if they couldn't be arsed to  put in a new boiler, what other corners have they cut?

TBagpuss

User4search said:

Thanks , in report Surveyor has mentioned that 

The heating is provided by a back boiler which is located in the fireplace behind the gas fire 

in the dining room.  Is this problem?

It's pretty normal.
It does mean that if/when you replace it you'll need to decide where the new one goes -  I moved into my current house 7 years ago, it had a very old back boiler which was in the chimney behind a gas fire. After discussing it with my heating engineer, the new one was installed in the loft,  a bit further forward than the chimney breast, as this involved the minimum or new / rerouted pipework.  
My survey suggested replacing all the radiators - I discussed it with my heating engineer who suggested that the radiators would be fine, and suggested that he flush them and fit new TRV valves, The old radiators cope just fine with the higher pressure.