New boiler - SW London

WobblyGoblin

Hello everyone.

Had lots of useful advice so far from the users of this site so I was hoping for a bit more.

We're in the process of modernising our bathroom (mouldy peach coloured fittings have never been our style...) but need to get the boiler sorted first.

Essentially our current system is a regular boiler (Suprima) and hot water cylinder. Pressure and everything is fine but the cylinder is tiny so we struggle to get 2 showers out of it. The boiler is rubbish and takes ages to heat up the tiny cylinder (well over an hour). There isn't really anywhere to put a larger cylinder apart from the loft but moving everything would be costly and the pressure would be badly affected (I believe). The answer to all our problems seems to be a combi boiler.

We had a recomendation for a guy (CORGI) to come out and look at replacing the boiler with a combi. Initially our bathroom fitter had indicated somewhere between £1500-1800 for the boiler and instalation.

When he came out he noted a couple of issues - the current boiler is apparently illegally placed (too close to the external wall of the house, I believe) so needs to be moved to the adjacent wall and as a result the flue will need to be moved (so alterations to the extension's roof etc). Additionally, the gas supply pipe is apparently too small (15mm) so needs upgrading to 22mm.

When we finally got the quote from him it was for £3,400. I am in the process of getting another 2 quotes together but this seemed a lot to me considering the initial indications. The quote lists what needs to be done but isn't itemised in any way. It doesn't tell me the cost of parts etc (just that boiler is 35kw). I'm asking for a more detailed breakdown of the different elements too.

Can anyone give me an indication of rough costs for this kind of work? I can supply any more details if it helps.

QUOTE:

To remove conventional heating system including tanks, hot water cylinder, vertical flue kit and Suprima boiler from downstairs utility cupboard. This is to be replaced with a new 35KW combination boiler which will be it will need to be fitted in the utility cupboard on the adjacent wall to the old boiler. The new vertical flue kit will need to be installed and work done to the roof tiles; there are 2 vented tiles on the roof that will need to be blocked off.

The gas will need to be upgraded from the meter to a 22mm supply to the boiler. 3 new thermostatic radiator valves will need to be fitted and a wireless room thermostat will also be installed. A new condense pipe will need to be run to a waste outlet and hot and colds and heating flow and returns pipes will need to be adjusted and run to and from combination boiler.

To upgrade system to mains power on all taps in the house and the mains will need to be run back along underneath the floors from the hot water cylinder cupboard to the bathroom to bring the cold across.

All work includes the upgrading of any necessary pipe work and fittings.

Canucklehead

Good afternoon: Your quote hasn't specified the boiler i.e. brand or included a powerflush, scale inhibitor, Boiler Buddy/Magnaclean, all pipework lagged with insulation or notification to Building Control. Don't expect to see a fully itemized spec with a breakdown for material costs and labour. Your bathroom installer is well off the mark for your neck of woods. A condensing combi with a high flow rate and a decent warranty isn't cheap...my OH would charge, in SW London, for eg.a Vaillant Ecotech Plus 837 or Worcester 37CDI and the items listed in my first sentence in excess of £2800 dependent on site survey and other requirements. More info on the installation and specification of gas boilers is available from the Energy Saving Trust . Just as an aside...are you having a thermostatic shower mixer installed in your new bathroom to take advantage of the combi's instantaneous hot water facility i.e. long showers without running out of DHW?

HTH

Canucklehead

rdpro

I agree it seems a bit high considering no boiler model quoted - I just got a very similar quote (in Bristol) for 2200 quid, including upgrade to gas pipes, removal of old back boiler/hw tank, building control, flush, Vaillant 837 (he offered Worcester, but I stuck with CH's advice ) with boiler buddy with commissioning logbook. He also offered to refit the entire bathroom (plaster, tiles, suite, piping) for 800 quid labour