Can anyone advise us?

How long does it take (in man hours) to install and commission a complete new c/h system in a 4 bed house?

Remove old boiler, h/w tank, 4 radiators and pipework.
Install new boiler, h/w tank, 11 radiators and 3 towel rails.

Struggling with conflicting quotes...

tia
D

Hi,

I had mine installed last year, a 3 bedroom house and condensing combi boiler cost was 4100 I later got a quote for the same spec, same boiler etc. 2600 blurry typical if you ask me. Boiler is Worcester Bosch.

Regards

Bob

Sorry time taken to install was 4 days but that wasn't full time working.

Bob

Too many variables involved for anyone to give you an accurate estimate, without actually surveying the job.
Is it lived in or an empty house ? ( it makes a huge difference in time if lived in due to lifting carpets and moving furniture etc)
How many men on the job?
Plastic or copper pipe?
etc etc.

We used to reckon on 3-4 days to do a detached lived in, but that was with 3 skilled men on the job.
We could do an empty terrace easily in a day.
At that time it was all done in copper. And all to a very good standard.

Location is also a big factor when it comes to cost, as is the quality of the install ( you would not believe the standards some so called tradesman are happy with)

Al.





Originally posted by Dave Ashurst
Can anyone advise us?

How long does it take (in man hours) to install and commission a complete new c/h system in a 4 bed house?

Remove old boiler, h/w tank, 4 radiators and pipework.
Install new boiler, h/w tank, 11 radiators and 3 towel rails.

Struggling with conflicting quotes...

tia
D

Thanks Bob.

Must agree, wide ranging quotes are confusing at least.

quote:

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Originally posted by Wadders
Too many variables involved for anyone to give you an accurate estimate, without actually surveying the job.
Is it lived in or an empty house ? ( it makes a huge difference in time if lived in due to lifting carpets and moving furniture etc)
How many men on the job?
Plastic or copper pipe?
etc etc.

We used to reckon on 3-4 days to do a detached lived in, but that was with 3 skilled men on the job.
We could do an empty terrace easily in a day.
At that time it was all done in copper. And all to a very good standard.

Location is also a big factor when it comes to cost, as is the quality of the install ( you would not believe the standards some so called tradesman are happy with)

Al.

---

dave i would seriously consider taking up all floors yourself where needed,notching out all the joists where needed, stripping out and keeping all copper pipe and tanks etc as they have good scrap value, fitting all radiator brackets and hanging rads, and laying all pipe in yourself.
then your plumber will just need to solder all the joints,pipe up rads, and fit and commission boiler.
thats what i did and it cost me under £1.5k including boiler,rads,flue kit and labour

quote:

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Originally posted by daniel mason
dave i would seriously consider taking up all floors yourself where needed,notching out all the joists where needed, stripping out and keeping all copper pipe and tanks etc as they have good scrap value, fitting all radiator brackets and hanging rads, and laying all pipe in yourself.
then your plumber will just need to solder all the joints,pipe up rads, and fit and commission boiler.
thats what i did and it cost me under £1.5k including boiler,rads,flue kit and labour

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If you are going to notch your own joists be careful where you do the notching. Don't wall to fall foul of building regs- part M if I recall correctly.

I took up the boards, notched, did the copper, put up the rads, put the boiler bracket to the wall, installed the flu etc. laid the gas pipe (unsoldered) and Mr Gassafe just soldered up the pipe, hung and commisioned the boiler. Cost £200. And a cup of tea. Nice.

took 3 days to do mine including digging up the concrete floor downstairs so i could hide the pipes. hate boxing in. that was i a house that had no heating or gas. i would say you want another day if your pulling the old stuff out.

quote:

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Originally posted by ashg
took 3 days to do mine including digging up the concrete floor downstairs so i could hide the pipes. hate boxing in. that was i a house that had no heating or gas. i would say you want another day if your pulling the old stuff out.

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There is a good amount of work involved that isnt skilled. My gasman would never stand for letting someone else mount the boiler or fit the flue, but i suppose thats down to each tradesmans opinion. However, a competent diyer can do all the rads and maybe the piping too. Dont forget there is an awful lot that can go wrong if you arent as good as you estimated! You can pressure test the rad piping with compressed air if you want to be cautious.

I got three quotes and went with the most expensive as they seemed the most competent. the work was done in copper and . . . some of the lads where good and some should have been shot. I still worry about the floor and how strong it now is. in future id do all the flooring myself and then let them lay the pipe conduct things up. cost me about 2.5k for a Bosch. this included a new consumer unit.

3 bedroom terraced house


Fitted my own , rads ,boiler (Worcester Bosch combi) , flue and piping + most of the gas feed pipe , Mr Corgi gasman made the final connection and checked and commissioned the rest £300.


Whole lot came to about £1800

Why do it in copper? If you're not comfortable soldering, you can do it yourself in plastic. I use plastic where it's out of sight, and copper where it's visible. It's quicker and easier than copper so therefore cheaper in labour terms. Obviously, if the customer wants copper they can have it but once you point out the cost difference, they usually choose plastic! Risers up to the rads, contents of the airing cupboard and the pipes around the boiler in copper.
Just thinking of a way of saving money by not paying a tradesman to do stuff you can do yourself.

This may make you smile:

27 years ago, I left the RAF with a decent gratuity in my mitts.
We lived in a renovated farmhouse with an attached barn with which, it had always been my intention to 'do something' when I had the money. At 30ftx15ft, it was crying out to me "snooker room."
Re-roofed (diy), re-insulated, timbers treated, re-windowed, re-rendered etc etc, the time came to get quotes for central heating prior to having the floor screeded, (4 rads and pipework to come from existing boiler).
Got a rec' for a respected tradesman from a bloke down the pub. Plumber turns up in current reg, brand spankers van with all the flashy artwork.
We talked about what I wanted and he was insistent that he supply the rads and pipework, otherwise his quote would need to be modified. (escalated). The clincher came when he measured up and said "You'd be better with a bit more width to this barn to house a snooker table. Mine's in a room 24ft x18ft and that's spot on."

He didn't get the job! A local tradesman who was between jobs fitted the pipework and rads for £50. (and a few games of snooker).
With a 1960s juke-box and mini bar, it was fabulous until the novelty wore off, (about 6 months).

Bit of reverse snobbery going on there Bob, Why would you assume you were being ripped off just because the bloke is in a new van and has a bigger snooker room than you.......Priceless! Ever cross your mind it might be he just works hard?

If i go price a job i couldn't care less if its a council house or Buckingham Palace, price stays the same, but it works both ways
i don't expect them to judge me by the van i drive or the size of my house.

Al.




Originally posted by bobinspain
This may make you smile:

27 years ago, I left the RAF with a decent gratuity in my mitts.
We lived in a renovated farmhouse with an attached barn with which, it had always been my intention to 'do something' when I had the money. At 30ftx15ft, it was crying out to me "snooker room."
Re-roofed (diy), re-insulated, timbers treated, re-windowed, re-rendered etc etc, the time came to get quotes for central heating prior to having the floor screeded, (4 rads and pipework to come from existing boiler).
Got a rec' for a respected tradesman from a bloke down the pub. Plumber turns up in current reg, brand spankers van with all the flashy artwork.
We talked about what I wanted and he was insistent that he supply the rads and pipework, otherwise his quote would need to be modified. (escalated). The clincher came when he measured up and said "You'd be better with a bit more width to this barn to house a snooker table. Mine's in a room 24ft x18ft and that's spot on."

He didn't get the job! A local tradesman who was between jobs fitted the pipework and rads for £50. (and a few games of snooker).
With a 1960s juke-box and mini bar, it was fabulous until the novelty wore off, (about 6 months).

Not at all Wadders.
When a tradesman is silly enough to criticize the size of a snooker room by comparing it to his own, and whan he makes it blatantly obvious he's ripping you off on materials, I don't think he deserves to get the job. He didn't someone else did. I was happy, the guy who did the job was happy, the rip-off merchant was the only loser.
It's called 'the way of the world' in Yorkshire. Snobbery, (reverse or otherwise) has nowt to do wi' it.

Mhh... sounds like he had a lucky escape to be honest





Originally posted by bobinspain
Not at all Wadders.
When a tradesman is silly enough to criticize the size of a snooker room by comparing it to his own, and whan he makes it blatantly obvious he's ripping you off on materials, I don't think he deserves to get the job. He didn't someone else did. I was happy, the guy who did the job was happy, the rip-off merchant was the only loser.
It's called 'the way of the world' in Yorkshire. Snobbery, (reverse or otherwise) has nowt to do wi' it.

Depends how good a job you want.

Ive been round a student house where the CH was installed 4inchs below the ceiling and about 6inchs out from the wall, all straight lenghts or soldered fittings, bored straight through the floor from above, run stright down the wall, the whole lot was only supported in about two places in the whole house bar there attachment to the rads, which looked like there where mounted in the dark.

I wouldnt want it in my house, but I bet it was cheap, and went in quick!


Daniel

quote:

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Originally posted by Wadders
Mhh... sounds like he had a lucky escape to be honest


How are things in the plumbing trade Wadders?
Still got the big house in Bessacarr with the attached 24' x 18' snooker room and Ernie Riley table?

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Mr Whippy - 27/8/12 at 11:09 AM

I build houses and for the last 3 (all 6 bedroom ones) have used electric heaters, remote controlled from two stations in the house.

Over 6 years of using these I have had only to change the batterys for the controller twice, that's it no service charges, no breakdowns. Zero heat losses out a flue or through masses of pipes, no leaks or noise. Fantastic system, never looking at any boiler system again, they are just a way of making you spend loads of money.

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Wadders - 27/8/12 at 11:12 AM

Don't have time for snooker Bob, too busy grafting so i can pay my next tax bill, you know the money that funds all the scroungers
who work on the side undercutting my prices...... But hey 'thats the way of the world in Yorkshire'

Al




Originally posted by bobinspain

How are things in the plumbing trade Wadders?
Still got the big house in Bessacarr with the attached 24' x 18' snooker room and Ernie Riley table?

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quote:

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Originally posted by Wadders
Don't have time for snooker Bob, too busy grafting so i can pay my next tax bill, you know the money that funds all the scroungers
who work on the side undercutting my prices...... But hey 'thats the way of the world in Yorkshire'

Al




Al, if you think it's bad in Yorkshire, then you'd do your crust in Spain.

VAT is now 20% and with 25% unemployment, (52% for the 16-24 age range), corners are inevitably cut re' invoicing etc. It's rampant, but then 'needs must when the devil drives' appears to be the motto. I guess we're following the example of Greece.

At least you've got Jess Ennis and the Brownlees.

Bob.

[Edited on 27/8/12 by bobinspain]

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Wadders - 27/8/12 at 12:31 PM

I know what you're saying Bob, seems the whole of the EU is fecked
At least you've got the sunshine .....bank holiday here and it's pissing down again



Al.



Originally posted by bobinspain



Al, if you think it's bad in Yorkshire, then you'd do your crust in Spain.

VAT is now 20% and with 25% unemployment, (52% for the 16-24 age range), corners are inevitably cut re' invoicing etc. It's rampant, but then 'needs must when the devil drives' appears to be the motto. I guess we're following the example of Greece.

At least you've got Jess Ennis and the Brownlees.

Bob.

[Edited on 27/8/12 by bobinspain]

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quote:

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Originally posted by Mr Whippy
I build houses and for the last 3 (all 6 bedroom ones) have used electric heaters, remote controlled from two stations in the house.

Over 6 years of using these I have had only to change the batterys for the controller twice, that's it no service charges, no breakdowns. Zero heat losses out a flue or through masses of pipes, no leaks or noise. Fantastic system, never looking at any boiler system again, they are just a way of making you spend loads of money.

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