Bathroom Refurb

 Here's a new bathroom we finished last week. The old suite and tiles were stripped out. In addition to the plumbing works there was some replastering, a new door casing, stud work, floor tiling and wall tiling.

 

We like to do everything on jobs like this to ensure continuity and perfection.

 

 

We are always happy to discuss your dream bathroom with you. We can help with the design and planning and share our inside knowledge with you of the best products.

Would You Like To Reduce Your Gas Bill?

 We are always keen to speak to people who wish to reduce their gas bills as we can help them. Here is how we done so this week for a new customer. How many big old boilers like this are still around? Quite a few I'd imagaine. This is an Ideal 'Concord' balanced flue model which has been a reliable boiler but is now at the end of its life span. Compared with modern boilers it is very inefficient.

Before we removed this boiler we had one last run to give it. We disconnected the pump and attached our flushing machine to it and gave the system a power flush . The system was surprisingly clean which is testimony to the landlords planned maintenance and use of inhibitor. Once disconnected it took two of us and our trolley to get it safely outside as it was very heavy.

 

With the system cleaned out it was now time for the new boiler. We are replacing it with a Worcester 'Greenstar' i, system boiler which fitted neatly in the same cupboard but up on the wall rather than on the floor. The system had previously been converted to a sealed system so we removed the remote expansion vessel and controls as they are all integral on the new boiler. The former balanced flue hole was bricked up and the new unit was soon up on the wall.

Just a few hours later with the pipework completed the new boiler is fired up and getting commissioned. John is checking the combustion settings in the bottom picture and printing off the readings to attach to the manual. The gas savings will be quite dramatic on this one.

Jobs like this aren't as bad or messy as many people imagine. They are very straight forward for us and we work with the minimum fuss and disturbance. We are always happy to advise on all matters relating to high efficiency boilers and energy saving controls.

Undersized Gas Pipes?

The Problem {a common one} ~ A combination boiler with an undersized {15mm} gas supply. As a result of this it wasn't producing enough hot water. The boiler was sited in a former airing cupboard within a first floor rear bedroom. All of the upstairs floors were over laid with laminate flooring which the customer didn't want disturbing. It was a two bedroom terraced property with both bedrooms fitted out and rather full so lifting the flooring would have been extremely difficult and time consuming. The floor had also been glued so if lifted would have been damaged beyond repair.

The Solution ~ We installed a new continuous run of gas pipe in 22mm  flexible 'Trac Pipe' as shown in the picture. We routed it from the meter cupboard up in the corner of the room, straight through the floor into the bedroom and up into the loft. It was all neatly concealed in trunking tight in the corners of the rooms and no flooring or decoration was disturbed. We then dropped it down from loft into the boiler cupboard where it adapted to 22mm copper tube via a male iron fitting and connected to the boiler. It's very easy to work with as it comes on a roll making long runs without joints possible. Before and after gas rating results showed the boiler was now working as it should in 'hot water' mode.

This product is also very useful when replacing sections of pipework in floor voids which have failed tightness tests. Please feel free to contact us to discuss any gas related matters.

Flame Free Pipe Jointing

In certain areas where we work we have to use flame free methods of joining pipes. This is usually down to insurance, health & Safety or when fast track repairs are required and hot work permits haven't been issued. The picture below was taken in a hotel in Blackpool where we had to surface mount some heating pipes along a skirting board to supply a radiator in a conservatory. Using blow torches to solder joints would have set off the fire alarm system. It wasn't permitted to disable the fire alarm system so the work was done using these 'Tectite Sprint' fittings from Pegler Yorkshire. No machines are required as the pipe simply pushes into them for a water tight joint. They are much more pleasing on the eye than some of the plastic push fit fittings which are available. They also maintain earthing continuity when pipes are part of an electrical earthing system. We have installed pipes in many unusual places, special environments or where heat restrictions apply and are always happy to advise on such matters which, incidentally are becoming more common.

How To Fit A Watertight Shower Enclosure

Despite what tilers or bathroom showroom salesmen may tell you, plasterboard is unsuitable as a tiling surface in the wet areas of bathrooms. This includes over baths where showers are fitted as well as in enclosures. All wet areas in a bathroom should have the plasterboard removed and be boarded with waterproof tile board like shown in the pictures..
We use a product from Travis Perkins called 'Hardibacker Tileboard'. It is a cement based waterproof rigid board. The shower tray in the pictures is a Mira 'Flight' with two tiling up-stands which the finished tiles will lap over ensuring a water tight joint at the junction of the tray and tiles even before it is sealed with silicone. In fact once all the joints on the boards are sealed the job will be waterproof before a tile is even laid!
All tiles must be laid on waterproof adhesive. Once they have dried they are sealed with waterproof grout.


All junctions are then sealed with a good quality silicone sealant containing anti fungicide. We use the Dow Corning brand. Avoid the £1 a tube products from so called DIY superstores {you know who I mean}.
We do this as standard on all our bathroom refits. We also do a lot of remedial work and insurance claim work putting right poor quality installations that have failed. I can honestly say we have never had one leak or failure using these methods.
We are always happy to discuss any bathroom or shower issues. Please remember that the expensive finished bathroom is only as good as the foundation on which it has been fitted.

Power Flushing

The problem: a heating system that just doesn't get hot enough. The radiators were blocked up with sludge and sediment. There was also a partial blockage in the return pipe. A lot of gas was being consumed by the boiler with little heat in return.
Our Anton power flushing machine {pictured} and some water treatment chemicals solved the problem and the cost was much more reasonable than our 'friends' at B****** Gasp had quoted. The system is now running much more efficiently.
Correctly installed, leak free heating systems that have been treated with inhibitors seldom if ever end up blocked or full of sludge. Unfortunately many people neglect to maintain the inhibitor in their systems. Other systems have been incorrectly installed with pumps, feed and vent pipes incorrectly positioned causing air ingress. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you think your system may need cleaning and flushing out. We are happy to advise. Also call us if you have been quoted extortionate prices by a certain national company who's staff might just be on a bonus if you agree to their quote. We are tradesmen, not salesmen and won't make a mountain out of what is a fairly straight forward job.

Remote Controlled Gas Fire

We promised our customer more space in their lounge, the very latest fire and all the associated work done by one company; us. This was the end result. We fitted this fire and a new flue liner about eighteen months ago but for some reason or other I didn't take a picture at the time. I was back at this customers house today doing some other work and measuring for a new dream bathroom, so took the opportunnity to take this photo. The fire is called 'Desire' and is made by Flavel. It is operated by a remote control unit similar to that used for televisions. It was the first remote controlled fire we had fitted. It replaced an old fire, hearth and surround thereby creating more space in the room. We done all the associated building work for the flue {including at roof level}, remodelling the builders opening, concealing the gas supply pipe and patch plastering. We prefer to do any building work ourselves so the continuity of the job is maintained and also to ensure all manufacturers dimensions are exact.

Commercial Boiler Room Maintenance

This is a Grundfos twin headed pump, in a boiler room in a hospital. The top pump head had failed and was tripping out on the control panel. Swapping it is a fairly straight forward job as there are isolating valves either side and the electric control box just plugs back in. An automatic air vent above the pump {the brass fitting} was leaking, as was another on some high level pipework so we took the opportunity to replace these at the same time. This boiler rooms serves some Doctors accomodation. The Doctors work all manner of unusual hours so the building requires heating almost all the time. It is therefore essential that any maintenance such as this is carried out quickly and efficiently to minimise shut downs. We hold the keys to this and other boiler rooms we maintain which enables us to respond quickly and at all times to any breakdowns or problems.

Wireless Controls

  We actually install more wireless controls now than hard wired ones. The picture is of a seven day Honeywell programmable room thermostat which we fit a lot of when we install combination boilers. As these type of controls eliminating the need to run and conceal cables there is no disturbance to decorations. Getting them in the optimum position for sensing room temperature is easier too without wires to worry about.

On all replacement boiler installations it is a building regulations requirement that controls are upgraded to current standards. As most old installations have inadequate controls we find ourselves doing a lot of this work. Even if you are not replacing your boiler it still makes good sense to have your heating system properly controlled to save money on your energy bill. We rewired a heating system this week in a house on a fairly new estate. It had never been wired up correctly in the first place and the frost thermostat by the boiler in the garage had never even been connected! So much for building inspectors! It was supposed to be a 'Y-plan' system but was a mish mash of controls by different manufacturers. We changed everything to Honeywell for wiring clarity and it's all working perfectly and most importantly, efficiently now. We are always happy to discuss and advise on any heating control issues you may have. With wireless technology it's less disruptive than you may think to get your system under proper control.

Another Shocker

No wonder there was a blockage in this wash room with this curious section of waste pipe. It was all revealed when the boxing in was removed during a maintenance call. An electrician once said to me "Plumbers only need to know one thing; s**t runs down hill". If that's true then whoever fitted this wasn't a Plumber! This is a typical 'bread & butter' day to day type maintenance job for us. It clearly wasn't feasable to simply unblock and leave this as it would have soon blocked up again. The second picture shows the inside of this pipe.

We renewed all the pipe back to the soil pipe connection, clipped it securely and fitted a rodding point for future maintenance. A good maintenance engineer should always leave things in better shape than he found them.

Commercial Installations

Here's John Mitchell swapping a pump in a commercial boiler house of a large sheltered accomodation scheme we look after. The scheme was built in 1984 so the old Crane pump replaced lasted about 27 years. There are two pumps; a duty pump and a stand by pump. Each six months when we carry out maintenance we switch over the duty pump so they wear evenly and don't seize. The orange coloured pump below is one of the original Crane pumps which are now obsolete hence the new model we are fitting. The new pump is fitted on 3" flanges and has a maximum speed of 2800 lt / minute. The rest of the system comprises of 3 Hamworthy boilers all linked together and on a shared flue system. The main system pipework is in 3" steel which circumnavigates the ceiling void of the upper floor of the building, dropping down to feed each flat in groups of 3 {ground floor, 1st floor & 2nd floor} where it enters each flat in 22mm copper tube. I enjoy this type of work as it is what I was trained in as an apprentice many years ago. We are always keen to quote for this type of work.

Accidental Damage

Just when I thought it we were over all the burst pipes and floods of the severe weather of the winter another similar emergency crops up. This was accidental damage rather than ice damage. An alarm installer was drilling through a wall to route one of his cables when disaster struck. Two plastic heating pipes had been installed behind the skirting board. There was nothing to indicate pipes were hidden there and plastic pipes like these cannot be picked up like copper ones, with a metal detecting tool. On the new build houses we recently completed all of the hidden plastic pipes had to be wrapped with a foil like metalic tape so they could be traced before drilling into walls. This is a good idea as a lot of accidents like this could be prevented. Luckily for my friend the alarm installer this one didn't cause too much damage and was an easy repair.

A Plumbing Legend from America.

Here's me {on the right} enjoying a shandy in the famous Grapes pub, Matthew St, Liverpool, with the legendary American Plumber Merlin Jacobsen from Utah. Merlin was over on holiday with my great friend Andy {behind me in picture}who like me is an ex ICI apprentice and now plys his trade in America. Merlin was shocked when I showed him all the certification cards I carry in my wallet.
"You need all these just to work here?" he asked scratching his head in amazement. He was even more shocked when I told him how much we charge per hour. He was surprised how anyone could even live on that! I then went on to tell him about some of the further legislation that hinders us leaving him wondering how anyone even manages to make a living in this country. He'd left behind several feet of snow in Park City, Utah which hadn't really caused any problems. He landed here to find a couple of inches of snow had brought our country to a standstill........
Have a safe journey home boys and I look forward to when we meet again.

Plume Management Kit

This is at a guest house in Blackpool where we fitted out the new boiler room & system controls. The standard flue termination from this Vaillant 'Eco-tec Plus' system boiler fully conformed, but we noticed that in certain weather conditions the plume of flue gases were drifting over the neighbouring boundary. The plume management kit shown in the pictures solved this problem by taking the flue outlet to a higher level. Most of the boiler manufacturers make these kits and they can be fitted retrospectively on many modern boilers. We are happy to advise on any flue issues.

Inside The Worcester Bosch 'Greenstar' 30CDi

We installed this boiler earlier this week as a replacement for an 20 + year old Myson 'Midas' combination boiler. It is a Worcester Bosch Greenstar 30CDi. It looks much more interesting with the cover off! We have probably installed more Worcester boilers than any other brand over the years. It's amazing to see how they have evolved and improved. Whilst it probably looks rather complicated inside to the untrained eye we are very familiar with them and know them inside out.
We upgraded the system controls on this installation to current standards. Our customer should now notice a marked reduction in his gas bill.
This customer was a second generation referral. A couple of years back our accountant referred us to his brother in law who we done a similar job for. We recently carried out the annual service for him and he mentioned he'd passed our number onto a work colleague which resulted in this job. Hopefully he too will now recommend us and continue the word of mouth cycle.

Those Little Finishing Touches.

The first picture shows the hole left in a wall after an old balanced flue boiler has been removed and replaced by a modern fanned flue boiler. To anyone not in the trade a balanced flue was a rather large, unsightly metal box usually around 12" square or more. We've fitted a new boiler with a fanned flue, now popping out of the middle of the hole and bricked up the inner leaf using thermalite block.

There's been some interesting {well to me anyway} correspondence and pictures in the 'Gas Safe' trade magazine about the unsightly way such flue holes are often made good. Perhaps 'made bad' would be a better term as everyday I see some shockers when just simply driving around. Many don't even get patched up at all!

To me it's all about having pride in your work. We cut out any half bricks and clean away any old mortar. It's then simply a matter of sourcing a few matching face bricks to complete matters as shown in the second picture.

These bricks are 73mm pre war commons and it cost a couple of quid from our local builders merchants for eight of them to match in, leaving a nice finish. The whole task took about an hour.

If You Think Hiring A Professional Plumber Is Expensive Then You Should Try Hiring An Amateur One!

Here’s another shocker from one of our supposed competitors. I apologise for the quality of the picture which was taken using my Blackberry. It’s in the social housing sector and I came across it whilst on a repair call. A new boiler had recently been installed and the flue, where it passes through the wall had been sealed {?} up using the paper wall template from the installation instructions. I know we have to recycle waste paper but this was stretching it a bit far! I suppose it makes a change from filler foam. The offending company has since been back to seal this hole up properly with mortar.
This is what happens when the cheapest bid is taken. We have never claimed to be the cheapest nor sought to compete with those who do, as it merely devalues your brand & reputation. What we can assure our valued customers is that our workmanship is always to the highest standards and that includes all making good too.

Traditional Plumbing Skills; Lead Work

The first picture is a 'before' shot and shows a flat lead covering on a bay. There were two rolled joints which were badly positioned, the flashing where the bay meets the brickwork was poor and to make it all look worse it had been painted black.

Not many of the new generation of Plumbers can do lead work. Much of it has been claimed by roofers. A large part of my training consisted of working with lead. In those days if it was lead then it was Plumbers work whether it was pipes or roof flashings.

I dusted all my old tools off and the other two pictures show the finished result. The actual canopy was specially made from GRP to imitate lead. The cost to do this job all in lead was not viable. The flashings however all in code 4 lead. These days the flashings are pointed into the brickwork using a special grey, flexible sealant which is much better than mortar. Special stainless steel spring clips hold it in and again are much better that the old lead wedges. Finally it is all polished with patination oil which stops any staining.
The middle picture has been used in the new City & Guilds NVQ, level 2 Plumbing text book {page 23}. It was a pleasant surprise when the publishers / compilers asked to use it. It's nice to know that the Plumbing industry is keeping hold of lead work.
Only this weekend {24/06/2012} I was called to a "Water coming through my ceiling" leak. I correctly predicted over the phone that it was almost certainly a roof leak as we'd had a night of torrential rain. It actually turned out to be a lead valley at the intersection of two parts of the roof. Luckily it was a relatively easy repair.

"My Hot Water isn't very hot"...........

We get regular calls from householders complaining that they aren't getting sufficiently hot water from their combi boiler. This can be caused by several single factors or a combination of them all. It maybe an undersized gas supply to the boiler. It could be a budget / DIY store boiler {I won't name them} which  are cheap to buy but have very poor hot water flow rates to start with. The boiler itself could be undersized for the hot water demands placed upon it. Many boilers were 'found out' over the past two severe winters as the incoming cold water supplies from our resevoirs were colder than they have ever been in recent times. In many cases it was coming in to properties at just 2 - 3 degrees C. Even after the combination boiler had raised the water the standard 35 degrees C it just wasn't hot enough for showering or bathing in winter time. One of the most common causes of poor hot water performance in combination boilers is a scaled or sludged up water x water plate heat exchanger. The picture shows a cross section of one which I cut open out of interest after we had replaced it. The heating waterways were full of sludge and the domestic hot water ways were showing signs of limescale formation. After flushing this system out and replacing the water x water heat exchanger we have treated it with corrosion proofing inhibitor to protect the heating side. A limescale filter has been installed on the incoming mains cold water service to help combat limescale formation on the hot water side. Sometimes in less severe cases chemical treatment can cure the problem without the expense of swapping the heat exchanger. In this case it failed. The best cure of all is prevention by treating new systems correctly, installing limescale filters as standard and ensuring old system which new boilers are fitted to are properly flushed out & cleansed. Lastly and perhaps most importantly; don't buy cheap DIY store boilers. Whilst you may save a few pounds on the initial purchase, the life time cost {over priced parts and unreliability}of these poor quality appliances far exceeds that of the good quality brands. We are always happy to advise on on any hot water issues you maybe experiencing.

Sinks, Cookers & Kitchens

Here's a couple of pictures of a kitchen installation we have recently finished. Many years ago we were regularly asked to fit kitchen as much of the technical work involved is plumbing & and; gas related. After all the fitting of the actual units {most of which now come ready assembled} is well within the capabilities of a good DIYer. These days we have so called specialist kitchen fitters who are usually joiners who can connect a sink up with flexi hoses! This installation involved plumbing, joinery, electrics, plastering and tiling work; all of which we can take care of.

Housing Trust Partnering Contract

Here's the combustion getting set on another high efficiency boiler installation. This solved an ongoing problem for one of our long standing clients.

The problem – Some housing trust properties of about 15 years of age fitted with standard efficiency boilers. The systems have never been wired up correctly as the pumps and a permanent live supply should have been connected directly to the boilers. This has made overheat lock outs an ongoing problem. The systems also suffer from too little static head due to the cold feed and vent pipe arrangement in the airing cupboard. This results in air being drawn into the system causing corrosion, system noise, sludge, and short life for the pumps.
The solution – Drain off and chemically flush out the systems. Supply & fit new band A high efficiency boilers, heat only modern equivalents. We chose the Glow-worm ‘Flexicom’ 12hx as they have a rear flue option and suited the client’s budget for this scheme. We also fitted new system controls by Honeywell. The systems were rewired correctly to Honeywell Y-plan scheme with permanent live supply to boiler and the pump wired directly to boiler. The pipework in airing cupboard was also rectified to stop air ingress.
The result is cheaper fuel bills for the tenant and less breakdowns for the client.

Commercial Gas Escape Job

This was an one interesting from the start of the year when the country was in the grip of the coldest winter for a long time. A commercial customer of ours had rang their gas supplier as they had smelt gas. The supplier turned up as they do and simply shut off the supply advising the customer to contact a 'Gas Safe' engineer. Anything after the meter is not the concern of the supplier. Luckily the customer called us and we were able to trace the escape to a section of underground pipework. We were able to isolate this section and get the gas back on to the main building & offices. The underground run of pipe supplied an out building / workshop at the rear of the site. The pipe run was just short of 50mts and had originally been installed directly in the ground without a protective duct. Groundwork contractors excavated a trench and we installed a 100mm protective duct. Within the duct we ran stainless steel flexible 'Trac Pipe' which is coated with yellow protective plastic. It comes on a roll {see picture} and as the manufacturers had discussed with us was perfect for this job. We were able to get everything in within a day to allow immediate back filling. The following day we tested, purged and reinstated supplies. I was impressed with this product which whilst widely used in USA is fairly new to this country.

EMERGENCY????

11/01/10 - A 15mm copper pipe which burst after being frozen in the recent cold weather. It was in a hotel we look after and was the hot water supply to a bar sink. It was routed through an unheated lean to/out building and should really have been insulated. Luckily it was fitted with a service valve so the staff were able to isolate it before it done any real damage.
When I first started out in business in 1984 burst pipe jobs were fairly common throughout the winter months. They were the typical 'Emergency' job associated with plumbing. Our winters were colder then, than in recent years and many properties didn't have central heating.
Today almost all homes have central heating and this coupled with the milder winters {until this present one} means burst pipes aren't as common. These days a central heating boiler which has broken down seems to be the new 'Emergency' though I haven't quite figured out why this is so yet? I guess that our society is becoming weaker and softer.

Another Gas bill Reduced!

This is a new Potterton 'Promax' high efficiency boiler we recently fitted. It is a SEDBUK Band 'A' rated appliance. It replaced an old Potterton floor standing boiler which must have been forty years old. In the bottom left hand corner of the picture you can see the wet plaster I'd just finished troweling up. This was the former flue hole of the old boiler after it had been made good. It was quite a job lifting the old boiler out as it was a big cast iron, gas guzzling monster!
The cupboard in which it is installed now has more useful floor space as the new appliance is a wall hung model. We converted the system from an inefficient gravity hot water / pumped heating to a fully pumped Honeywell 'Y-plan' scheme. All of the radiators are now fitted with Honeywell thermostatic valves with the exception of the hall where the room thermostat is installed.
The system was being commissioned when the photo was taken and my Anton Flue Gas Analyser is measuring the combustion readings. Our customer will see a big difference in her gas bills now and will have much more control over the system. It will also benefit from having been flushed out, chemically cleansed and treated with corrosion proofing inhibitor.

A Shocking Example Poor Workmanship

This was an installation by one of our former competitors. I say former as they are now, thankfully no longer in business. In reality they operated on a different level to us and to compare them to us, or to any reputable installer is like comparing fine art to creasoting....
It was a simple installation in a housing association property.
I was called to the property to, amongst other things investigate a report of poor hot water performance from the boiler. I knew straight away who was responsible as I pulled up outside the address. Even by their low standards it was still a shocker. The flue terminal of the new boiler was too close to an openable window. Inside the house one of the plugs was missing from the flue turret elbow {pictured}. Luckily it was the air in take rather than the flue gas outlet or it could have been fatal. Rather than neatly core drilling a hole for the flue an air brick had been smashed and filled with expanding foam {pictured}. The system controls didn't conform and weren't wired up correctly. The combustion had never been set on the boiler. They had left all of the rubbish and waste materials from the job up in the loft. The tenants floorboards had been butchered. The list goes on.....and on.......Whilst it wasn't the worst job I've ever seen it was certainly in the top 10.
We spent the best part of two days carrying out the remedial work and getting the system up and running as it should have been. Everything now conforms and is running efficiently. The tenant has the hot water flow he should have. It's a shame that in these very difficult times ridiculously low tenders are so readily accepted. It's not just in the social housing sector either the private sector is worst. A very apt saying springs to mind ~ If you think hiring a top quality engineer is expensive, then you should try hiring a cheap one!

The New Ideal 'Logic' 30 Combination boiler

I attended the grand sounding product launch for this new boiler a couple of weeks back. This is the first one we have fitted and it performed quite well. It was a full new system we installed in a bungalow which previously only had a multipoint water heater.
From a future maintenance point of view there are a couple of components which look a little tricky to access if they need replacing. The hot water flow rates remain the same as the previous two models. I'd have liked to have seen improved flow rates but maybe next time?
Will we be fitting more?
Yes I am sure we will.
Was the customer pleased?
Yes it's a big improvenment on his old multipoint and the radiators are much better than the old economy 7 electric heaters he was previously using.

Real Mens Plumbing / Gas Fitting!

Three of the five external gas meter boxes at some flats we done in Litherland Park. The supply pipes from the meters to the flats was routed in galvanised mild steel on the outside of the building. It is then ordinary mild steel in the communal hallway / stairwell before switching to copper tube inside the flats. The cutting, threading and jointing of the steel brought back happy memories of my apprenticeship were we done a lot of this type of work. All of the joints on this job were cut and threaded using our hand threader. On bigger steel jobs or when working with larger bore pipework we will normally hire a threading machine.

Another New High Efficiency Boiler Installation

Jon Mitchell makes the final electrical connections to a new Vaillant 'Ecotec' 837 condensing combination boiler we fitted this week. It's a boiler we were very impressed with and a fine piece of German engineering. The boiler it replaced was also a Vaillant but a standard efficiency model which was about 15 years old. The customer wanted to stay with the Vaillant brand but wanted to upgrade to a modern high efficiency model. The pipework on the original appliance was rather poorly installed so we tidied it up at the same time and also upgraded the system controls. The customer will now benefit from cheaper gas bills and an improved hot water flow rate at his taps of 15.2 litres / minute. The installation was in a garage and the boiler is flued vertically through the flat roof. The rain stayed off just long enough on Tuesday for us to get the new flashing in placed and all sealed weather tight. We are also going to be looking after all future servicing and maintenance of this boiler.

Boiler Breakdowns

Can we fix it? The answer is yes. Whilst we are mainly installers, boiler breakdowns, servicing and repairs make up a large part of our business too. We pride ourselves on being able to fix any make of boiler unlike many of our competitors. Only this week we fixed a boiler in a commercial premises that two other installers had failed on. One said a new PCB was required costing over £200 just for the part, whilst the other recommended a complete new boiler! It actually turned out to be a small relatively inexpensive component that simply needed replacing.  We keep up to date with all of the new products and technology which is constantly coming out to ensure we are fully conversant in this fast changing sector.
Boiler parts are becoming more and more expensive. Indeed if you bought all the individual parts to build a boiler yourself it would cost you more than buying a complete boiler.
We only use the manufacturer’s genuine parts rather than some of the cheaper universal or copy parts which are becoming more common.
It’s good to see that some of our parts suppliers will now only sell parts to Gas Safe Registered installers. This should go some way to ending some of the botched and dangerous DIY repairs we regularly see on boilers. We are always happy to discuss and advise on any matters relating to boiler repairs and maintenance.

Out With The Old, In With The New

This week’s boiler swap was replacing an old standard efficiency combination boiler, which was about twenty years old, with a poor SEDBUK rating of only ‘G’. This particular appliance was probably around only 62% efficient. The system controls were also not up to standard. We also noted that the gas supply to this boiler was undersized. This will have affected the hot water performance. To make matters worse it had been fitted with the flue terminating too close to an openable window.
We flushed out and chemically cleaned the whole system and removed the old boiler. The former balanced flue hole was bricked up with matching face bricks. The new boiler fitted {pictured above} was an Ideal ‘Espirit’ 35KW model. This is a SEDBUK band ‘A’ rated appliance which is over 90% efficient. It has a hot water flow rate of 14.4 litres / minute which matched the customer’s requirements. The system controls and gas supply were also upgraded.
This customer will now enjoy greater comfort, more hot water and lower fuel bills. The new flue terminates in the correct position too.

Heating Controls

Correct controls on central heating systems are vital. Everyday we see systems with inadequate or incorrect controls which do not conform to the building regulations. Gas and oil which are the main fuels for heating systems are expensive. Incorrect or inadequate controls mean increased fuel bills.
We tend to favour Honeywell controls for all of our installations as their range meets most of our needs. Occasionally we use Drayton or Danfoss controls too.
We are always happy to discuss and advise upon the most suitable and energy efficient ways of controlling your heating and hot water systems. Some energy saving controls attract a reduced rate of VAT and most will pay back your outlay in a short space of time.

Towel Rails

A straight chrome towel rail fitted perfectly in this narrow space in an en suite bathroom, between the doorway and the entrance to the shower cubicle. Space was at a premium and the customers thought they wouldn't be able to fit one in. We can supply and fit a large range of towel rails in straight or curved design and white or chrome finish.

This particular bathroom was stripped out completely. We then replastered the walls and lined the shower area with waterproof tiling board. All service and waste pipes were concealed and walls and floor were fully tiled using waterproof adhesive and sealing with waterproof grout. The tiles were white, broken up with a central border.

The sanitaryware was from Ideal Standard's 'Space' range which we find perfect for small bathrooms. All work was carried out by our own engineers.

Same Some Space

We created a feeling of 'more space' in this lounge by removing the old fire, surround and hearth.

The opening was remodelled to suit this new Valor LFE gas fire with pebbles. This involved bricking up the base of the builders opening and raising the lintel at the top. Some patch plasterwork was also involved. The old gas supply pipe was rerouted and fully concealed.

Gas Fires

We supply and install all manner of gas fires, ranging from basic radiant models for social landlords to the latest state of the art remote control models for discerning homeowners.

We also take care of any associated building work when the opening may need remodelling, surrounds need fitting or flue liners need installing.

There is no need to be sourcing other trades such as bricklayers, plasterers and roofers as we take care of everything.

We can also advise on suitability of chimneys and terminals as not all fires are compatible with all chimneys.

Our suppliers have a wide range of fires and surrounds from leading manufacturers such as Valor, Robinson Willey, Flavel, Baxi & Be Modern.

As Gas Safe Registered installers we can supply and fit all of these products at competitive prices.

Please call us if you would like a brochure or any advice on such matters.

Thinking of Changing Your Boiler?

The highly respected consumer watchdog magazine 'Which' reports that independant heating companies are much more reasonable in price than British Gas. Well I could have told them that a long time ago.
'Which' decided to investigate this matter after many of its readers pointed out the considerably discrepancies between British Gas quotes and those of local independant heating installers who are often near to half the price. Much of British Gas's installation work is given out to sub contractors too........ The picture is the flue of an Ideal 'Isar' HE35 condensing combination boiler. The white plume of flue gas indicates that the appliance is in condensing mode and running at its most efficient. It is one of the many we we have installed. Boiler swaps are one of our specialities. If you are thinking of changing your boiler and have had what you consider a high quote off Britsh Gas or anyone else for that matter then you need to speak to us.

A Very Dangerous Boiler

January 22nd 2009. A CO {Carbon Monoxide} alarm had gone off in a private residence in South Liverpool. It was sited outside of a compartment, on the first floor landing, which housed the central heating boiler. Adjacent to this cupboard were four bedrooms. Directly above it the loft had been converted into a fifth bedroom. All rooms were occupied.
The householder rang Transco to report the incident. Their engineer duly arrived, isolated the boiler and attached a warning notice. He advised the householder to call a C.O.R.G.I. registered gas installer to check the boiler. I received that call at about 10.00pm that evening and arranged to visit the property the following day.
Upon arrival we first looked at the generally installation of the appliance. The boiler was a room sealed model with an extended flue system. The flue rose vertically up into what had previously been the loft. It had originally terminated at roof level. When the loft had been converted the flue had been rerouted beneath the new floor of the loft conversion to terminate horizontally to the rear elevation of the property. This work had been carried out by unregistered installers. The flue terminal was now passing through the timber soffit and touching the plastic gutter. The minimum distance it should have been from the timber soffit was 200mm. The minimum distance it should have been from the plastic gutter was 75mm.
Next we looked to see if there was any service history with the appliance. The householder said it was last serviced three years previously. The service engineer hadn’t noted the incorrectly routed flue and terminal which suggests he wasn’t very thorough. We noticed some staining around the flue hood of the appliance suggesting leakage of combustion products.
We reinstated the gas supply to the boiler, restarted it and carried out an ambient CO test in accordance with British Standard 7967 using our flue gas analyser {pictured above} taking readings from around the compartment area. Within less than two minutes the gas analyser was warning us of high levels of CO in the atmosphere at above 50 ppm {part per million}. These products of combustion were escaping from a perished gasket joint on the flue hood of the boiler, where we had noted staining. This is what had triggered the householders audible CO alarm.
The manufacturers servicing instruction of the appliance clearly stated that 3 gaskets needed to be changed during a service. This hadn’t been done. The price of the gaskets was just £12.00.
Readings taken from the appliance sample point showed it was producing potentially deadly levels of CO of 9874 parts per million {PPM}.
At 6400ppm severe medical symptoms can occur within 1 – 2 minutes and fatal consequences within 15 minutes. At 12800ppm immediate medical symptoms and fatal consequences can occur within 1 – 3 minutes. This appliance was mid way between the two. The industry category would be IMMEDIATELY DANGEROUS.
As well as being very dirty due to lack of regular servicing the appliance had a damaged burner. This coupled with the incorrectly installed flue convinced the householder to replace it with a modern equivalent high efficiency appliance.

Fully Kitted Up

We are currently using some Mercedes 'Vito' vans which we find perfect for the job. We carry all of the common parts and fittings we use which makes more efficient use of our time. I don't like standing in queues in merchants. If the part is on board it means we can complete most maintenance calls in one visit. This means less cost to the customer.
We can also get on a full heating pack comprising of boiler, radiators, controls, tube, or even a full bathroom suite etc. This means no waiting around for deliveries. We find our lettered vans one of the best forms of advertisement too.

Starting Out On The Road To Business

The last three months of my apprenticeship were spent on a placement with an outside contractor, to gain wider experience. The I.C.I. apprenticeship finished at the end of August 1984 and I was kept on by the contractor. However his workload was unpredictable. Worst still so was payment of wages. We parted company by November. Jobs were few and far between at that time unless you "Got on your bike" to London.

I decided to try my hand at starting my own business and quietly 'launched' in December 1984 aged just twenty.

In February 1989 I went into partnership with Jon Mitchell. We rebranded the business as Plannet Plumbing Services and began to expand.

Within a couple of years we had a small fleet of vans on the road and a busy office in Wavertree.