{Kindly Please Help Me} Replacing Cold Water Tank In Loft - Costs and is it Worth It?

The-Nomadic-Thespian

Dear All,

I unfortunately was in a situation where my loft cold water tank was leaking. I called out a plumber and he changed a washer and went about charging me £170 for the call out. On leaving he also said the tank needs replacing and quoted me £1500. I then called another plumber to get a quote and he said £1600! 
I'm really at a loss as to how much should a loft water tank (plastic) cost? I also have noticed that the tank has started leaking again and I conveniently can't get hold of the plumber who worked on it.
I would be really really grateful if people could give me some figures as the quotes I have been given seem steep. Also, I live in a very low pressure area so I'm not sure to just replace. 

Any help will be greatly appreciated. 

Thank you so much. 

grumbler

Why does it need replacing? Is it plastic or steel? The volume?

The most difficult part is to get a new tank to the loft. If the hatch is big enough, I don't see any justification for charging £1.5K for this.

190L tank costs about £165 and needs a hatch bigger than 503x503mm to get it into the loft.

https://www.screwfix.com/c/heating-plumbing/cold-water-tanks/cat830964

The-Nomadic-Thespian

Thank you Grumbler. The tank is plastic I think it is very old.. But I'm not confident the plumber has done a good job. I want to be safe. I think my tank is a 50 gallon tank. 

Apodemus

It might also be a good time to assess whether you still need such a big tank (or even a tank at all?).  What is it feeding? 

Bendy_House

Hi TNT. Any chance you can get up there and take a photo of WHAT is 'leaking'? If you can't do this, do you know anyone who can?

And, what do you mean by 'leaking'? Is it dripping out the overflow pipe to the outside, or is it coming through your ceiling?

At first glance, the quotes you have been given seem borderline criminal. On second glance too. But, there may be a good reason for this, and if two different plumbers have come up with very similar prices, then that makes it more likely.

Even if the loft hatch is smallish, tho', there are different-shapes and sizes of tank that can be used. Also, two smaller tanks can be coupled together to increase the volume that way. But, that could then bring with it other issues such as having to build a platform to hold them.

So, to help us, could you answer, please:

1) WHAT did this plumber fix - which 'washer'? (Ballcock?)

2) What were the symptoms of this leak - water oot t'overflow, or a leak through the ceiling?

3) What is the NEW 'leak' - exactly the same? (If so, the first guy didn't fix it, so you'd be daft to let them away with this, especially at £170...)

4) PHOTOS! Of the whole tank and surrounding area.

5) You have poor mains pressure and flow? Is that true of all neighbours too? What's the kitchen cold like? (There is a check we can do there, but perhaps later...)

6) How large is your house, how many bathrooms, and what's your typical hot water use like?

Ta

Section62

Apodemus said:

It might also be a good time to assess whether you still need such a big tank (or even a tank at all?).  What is it feeding? 

If the OP's living in a "very low pressure area" means mains water pressure, then that may be a very quick assessment....

The-Nomadic-Thespian

Hi Bendy house. Thank you for replying. 

Basically have tried to answer as much as I can. 

1) WHAT did this plumber fix - which 'washer'? (Ballcock?)

The plumber replaced the rubber washer on the compression tank connector (the pipe that feeds the hot water tank). God knows why there wasn't a washer there before. 

2) What were the symptoms of this leak - water oot t'overflow, or a leak through the ceiling?

The leak was occurring from the connector at the bottom of the tank that goes to feed the hot water tank. 

3) What is the NEW 'leak' - exactly the same? (If so, the first guy didn't fix it, so you'd be daft to let them away with this, especially at £170...).

 The new leak started in the same place. I'm thinking there is a hairline fracture in the tank. I guess there is no way of fixing this. I just can't get a hold of the person.

4) PHOTOS! Of the whole tank and surrounding area.

5) You have poor mains pressure and flow? Is that true of all neighbours too? What's the kitchen cold like? (There is a check we can do there, but perhaps later...)

Yes, poor mains pressure. It's a area thing. The kitchen cold water is pressured as it comes directly from the mains.

6) How large is your house, how many bathrooms, and what's your typical hot water use like?

I live in a 3 bedroom house. Share with another person, but don't use too much hot water. 

Hi I've tried to answer your questions above. Thank you for taking time out regarding my post. 

grumbler

In your case a big storage tank in the loft is needed only for a bath or supply interruptions. The tank feeds only the toilet, sink, bath and the hot water cylinder (that stores big enough amount of hot water).

Gavin83

The-Nomadic-Thespian said:

Hi Bendy house. Thank you for replying. 

Basically have tried to answer as much as I can. 

1) WHAT did this plumber fix - which 'washer'? (Ballcock?)

The plumber replaced the rubber washer on the compression tank connector (the pipe that feeds the hot water tank). God knows why there wasn't a washer there before. 

2) What were the symptoms of this leak - water oot t'overflow, or a leak through the ceiling?

The leak was occurring from the connector at the bottom of the tank that goes to feed the hot water tank. 

3) What is the NEW 'leak' - exactly the same? (If so, the first guy didn't fix it, so you'd be daft to let them away with this, especially at £170...).

 The new leak started in the same place. I'm thinking there is a hairline fracture in the tank. I guess there is no way of fixing this. I just can't get a hold of the person.

4) PHOTOS! Of the whole tank and surrounding area.

5) You have poor mains pressure and flow? Is that true of all neighbours too? What's the kitchen cold like? (There is a check we can do there, but perhaps later...)

Yes, poor mains pressure. It's a area thing. The kitchen cold water is pressured as it comes directly from the mains.

6) How large is your house, how many bathrooms, and what's your typical hot water use like?

I live in a 3 bedroom house. Share with another person, but don't use too much hot water. 

Hi I've tried to answer your questions above. Thank you for taking time out regarding my post. 

Sorry I'm a little confused by your answer. You state your area has poor mains pressure and then go on to say the kitchen tap is pressured (which I assume means decent pressure) because it comes from the mains. Which is it?

How old is your hot water cylinder?

If you're being quoted £1.5k to replace the tank I think it's worth looking into getting the cylinder replaced with an unvented version instead. You'll pay more (somewhere between £2k and £2.5k) but you'll get a new cylinder, do away with the need for the tank in the loft and your hot water pressure will be vastly improved. This does however rely on a reasonable mains water pressure and flow.

The-Nomadic-Thespian

Gavin83 said:

Sorry I'm a little confused by your answer. You state your area has poor mains pressure and then go on to say the kitchen tap is pressured (which I assume means decent pressure) because it comes from the mains. Which is it?

How old is your hot water cylinder?

If you're being quoted £1.5k to replace the tank I think it's worth looking into getting the cylinder replaced with an unvented version instead. You'll pay more (somewhere between £2k and £2.5k) but you'll get a new cylinder, do away with the need for the tank in the loft and your hot water pressure will be vastly improved. This does however rely on a reasonable mains water pressure and flow.

Hi Gavin, sorry what I meant was I do live in a low pressure area. however, the water pressure to all other areas of the house apart from the kitchen sink is very low. This is the case for many people living near me. 
I think the tank may be very old as I very much doubt it can fit through the loft hatch. 

Gavin83

Are all other taps running off the tank? If all the cold taps were mains supplied then they'd all be at the same pressure as the kitchen. It's generally common practice to supply hot and cold from the tank anyway so the pressure is balanced.

If you swapped the loft tank for an unvented cylinder then all the taps in the house, hot and cold would be at the same pressure as the kitchen tap is currently. However there's a certain mains pressure and flow rate you need to make this viable. I think it might be around 2 bar and 20lpm but someone else might have a more exact figure.