newhome

I also looked at the WB site and they list the plumber my brother has asked to go round as a recommended installer but not the one who has been there already.

I just checked online and there are numerous sites complaining that you can’t leave a poor review. You can only leave a review if you say you recommend them apparently because if not it’s treated as a complaint and not published. Someone said they had the most useless plumber, tried to complain but you have to allow the tradesperson to put it right and they didn’t want them back in the house, so they said they recommended them and gave them a poor score but that wasn’t ever published. It’s just unfortunate that the installer is on holiday really.

My brother phoned him to cancel. He just said he was going to get a second opinion. He didn’t tackle him about the cost or the fee charged and for all we know £1800 could be the going rate for a replacement boiler in Sevenoaks. It was more the fact that the boiler wasn’t that old and it needed replacing and we wanted to be sure she wasn’t being ripped off. The Checkatrade leaflet looks very official with Sevenoaks District Council and Trading Standards printed on it. Thus my mother thinks everyone listed is completely honest and reliable. I looked at how to review a Checkatrade trader however as all the reviews are amazing and essentially if you write a bad review Checkatrade contacts the company to discuss it. Hmm. This guy apparently has no missed appointments and I can’t believe that my mother’s appointment is the only one he has ever missed. The company’s website lists WB as one of the makes they service.

It all looked pretty perfect inside. Just a tiny bit of water, like a few spots, in the bottom of the case that honestly you struggled to even notice. There seemed to be no water damage anywhere so even if the fan and circuit board both need replacing the parts are circa 250 for those. I wouldn’t exactly say it was treated as an emergency. He was a no show on Tuesday and then came Thursday. My mother doesn’t mind waiting a few days to get it replaced. It’s only DHW that she’s without as clearly no CH is needed at present and her neighbour is letting her use a shower. Her boiler is a 28i but she doesn’t think he told her what he was fitting instead. Might have been a straight replacement but we don’t know.

Get on board ?. Poor woman would likely be pushing up daisies waiting for you to finish getting your house to passive levels ?

He’s probably onto the next job already and we haven’t ascertained whether it needs a boiler replacement yet. If it does then I guess it’s not too bad but it seems a bit suspect just now.

Oh and his advert said no callout charge! PMSL!

Thanks all. Plumber said that it was full of water probably from water getting into the flue as ‘we’ve had a lot of rain recently’. Have we? There was a tiny tiny bit of water in it but we struggled to see it TBH. Anyway it was my brother’s friend who fitted it but he’s on holiday so another one of his friend’s is going to look tomorrow. If it needs a new boiler then sobeit but it definitely feels worth getting a second opinion.

I’m at my brother’s at present only half an hour away. He’s thrown a fit and we’re now on our way down there so he can have a look. God knows why she didn’t call this morning after she agreed to have it done.

The way developers get around getting poorly built houses to pass the current tests I doubt it would make a huge difference. These look like balsa wood.

So the plumber let my mother down on Tuesday after we waited in all day but came this morning. Unfortunately I’m not there now. Apparently he looked at it, charged her £80 for the callout and said she needed a new boiler. He can fit one tomorrow if she pays £1800 which she has agreed to. He didn’t tell her what was wrong with it and it’s only about 5 years old. That sounds a bit suspect to me. Is that really the going rate to take a boiler off the wall and replace it, and how come he can suddenly arrive with a new boiler by tomorrow? She says he is on the Checkatrade leaflet so must be ok ?

???? now I can’t unsee that ???

Fence? Hedge? Dummy CCTV camera and private property sign? Large stones or planters apart from the bit where you need vehicular access? It looks like quite a large area there, bigger than a normal drive anyway. Or you may find that once the fencing is down and it looks like a lived in house they may be less inclined to park there anyway.

Er no, I don’t think it’s attention to detail in the DIY sense that he was meaning ?. More a pas de deux ?

I think he must be pining for the old girl ?

And do you have (roof)light yet? ?

Worth putting a camera up that you can access remotely for the times you are not there too. We’d love to see some photos as it goes up if you don’t mind posting them. Lots of experienced self builders here to touch base with and check things that you’re not sure of too. Caravan options range from a cheap tourer to a static. Plenty of threads here on the pros and cons.

Keep the faith! Xmas is coming! ?

Bite the bullet and live on site. The second something goes wrong you will live with the regret that you weren’t there to prevent it. Living on site won’t remove the risk completely but it’s a way of managing it better.

I’m sure most of us do in truth. Maybe you don’t approach things the right way ? ⛓⛓⛓

That looks like an implement of torture!

That’s the baton you never really let go of in truth, you just shared it for a while ?

I paid the useless guy £60 for 1 bath, 1 sink and 1 shower. £1.50 per metre sounds like a steal for someone really good.

I’ve never heard that term before. The partition walls were put up during the frame erection but the same builders were doing all of it so it didn’t matter.

+1. As this is supposed to be your forever home, slipping when you are older and frailer seems like something to avoid TBH.