central heating failure anyone any experience of new install

Brilliant news Jack

 

Great news Jack! The weather will probably warm up now and you won't need it.

 

Well they fitted the central heating, nice and warm again :-)
As they were leaving I said you have not connected the gas fire, so they did sort of
They sheared the gas tap, sealed it up and put a condemned notice on all my gas fittings and said they may make it back Saturday :-(


Jack McH

 

Three companies in nine months, not one has completed a job competently
(I am not talking cheap companies or homers here, I mean real and expensive companies)

Now I am not an electrician, I was electronics and maintenance
The electrician yesterday spent 45 mins fitting a blanking plate to a dead supply
The electrician did accept that one of the two dead cables was actually LIVE (After me advising him)
The Plumber did not know how to sweat Lead, (No lead in this house, but I was sweating Lead when I was 15)
Now the Plumbers (2) were good, though I reckon hitting a 20" wrench clockwise with a hammer is not going to loosen a Nut, it might actually shear the gas tap :-)

The roofer who fitted the periscope had a problem, the roof tiles were like Digestive biscuits
He came to me and said I have broken ten tiles, so far, You will have to pay for them and I may make it back Sat/Sunday
He did notice the house over the road had a new roof, and asked if I had managed to get a few spares off him ? Err NO
My Daughter (500yds away) has about 50 spare tiles, so I checked and agreed he could get ten, He was back in fifteen minutes and completed the Job, then told me he had generously left me five spare ones at my shed! cough cough

I admit in the past, I have taken on Homers, but when it came to gas and electrickery I picked the best of the best, This was them

My central heating is actually brilliant, and so far apart from the initial cost is warmer and 30% cheaper to run

My confidence in major companies is shattered
BG engineer arrived and before looking at my system pulled out leaflets offering me £400 cash back on a new boiler (he did not know how old or what boiler I had) which worked out at only £200 dearer than anyone else

Sorry gone into rant mode again

Jack McH

 

This all scares the heck out of me because I am after having some building work done and don't have the technical background that some of you peeps have, so the way is open for the builders to make mincemeat out of me. Very important to get a good bunch in. I'm quite happy to give them tea and biscuits.

 

Does anyone actually get a good job done these days? by which i mean from start to finish....IME there has always been a hitch along the way...if it's not one thing it's another and i'm talking so called reputable companies here...I'm sorry for all the hassle you've had Jack,it makes you dread anything else going wrong...

 

I just can not believe that of three major jobs done this year, The Artisans fell short of the mark
surely it can not be just MY luck

When I had my first central heating put in, it was two men and an apprentice, they started and finished when they said.
IF they found something missing or short, they sent the apprentice back to the shop or to a Plumbers merchants for it

My latest Central heating, I could have done it myself, given my health, time and legal certs, but the work itself no problem, it is not "rocket science"

At least the owner phoned me this afternoon, apologised for the delay, but it was a special type and had to be ordered from London, should be with him Monday, Drawing air through teeth, it must have been faulty for months
I can see where this is going, I pay for the new part and the installers time
Well if the gas tap had been sheared for months, then I am amazed that the gas fire worked, and that when his plumbers were waving their blow lamps about on the new water piping the house did not blow up

The central heating side is great though, nice and cosy again

I just want my faith in the workforce restored, even Tesco's delivery man dropped next doors shopping on their drive today

Jack McH

 

I can totally empathise with you Jack. When you are paying out good money for a 'proper job' you ought to be able to expect to get a 'proper job'.
You do at least have your new CH to help keep your wrath warm !

We just had a totally opposite experience. We lost two ridge tiles during the gales and normally I'd have fixed them back myself but Mrs W vetoed that and insisted on getting in 'someone'. We posted on the village Facebook site for suggestions for reliable local builders and got the same chap suggested by several folk. Phoned him, he looked at the job, said he be back in two days to do the job. He and his mate arrived as arranged, did the job and also fixed a tile that had been knocked loose when we'd some recladding done in January. The pair of them were here for about an hour and the charge was just £40!

 

Thanks, Shiney, some excellent tips there! I would certainly get written quotes and ask about liability insurance but would probably not have had the nerve to insist on all the documentation. I'm planning to get recommendations for builders from friends & neighbours who have had similar work done.


My sister has recently had a massive kitchen extension built. It is gorgeous, but the builders went bust near the end of the job. To be fair to them, they had tried to get the build completed to a point where my sister would be least inconvenienced by what had happened. She is pretty tough and effectively managed much of the project herself, although it helped that they had an architect design it.

She says that it is important to make as many decisions in advance as possible, and have an extremely clear idea of the details of what is going to be needed, down to the position, quality and quantity of electricity fittings, piping etc, so that this is quoted for from the start. Being woolly or changing your mind due to insufficient planning & preparation adds to the length and cost of the job. She also did her own ordering and liaising with Howdens which I gather is unusual.