Search results

Thanks! I'll post again if there are any notable developments. I'm hoping to get this job done for about £2000, but in the end, maybe that just won't happen.

Yes, I do believe that what appears to be their hourly rate is too much. As I have said, I have no idea about any aspect of their overheads, but I would imagine that anyone running a business properly would ensure that their overheads are accounted for, and dictate an hourly rate that doesn't...

Yes, I agree with you on the additional items, so that was an estimate, but I did add up the main bits mentioned, then allowed that odd £88 for bits and pieces. There is a finite number of pipes involved with this job, plus one electrical wire, so I can't see that there's much scope for...

Thanks for all the latest replies everyone! I was surprised to see so many pages! I do take the point made about the engineer's overheads, but I think that these can only be so much before it becomes adding on extras for the sake of it. I was worried that I had done the company an...

Thanks for the latest replies. I did look the unit up online and saw it for £1068 including VAT, which is where I got the £1100 from. I was just guessing with the other items, but the point I was trying to make was the labour charge seemed excessive. Yes, I appreciate that there are...

I didn't know that. Thanks for letting me know. I have been thinking about that quote and they must be charging a hell of a lot for labour, unless I'm terribly mistaken. Allowing £1100 for the boiler and an extra £150 for the other bits (all minus VAT), that makes the labour charge...

Okay, thanks. I thought around £2000 would be enough. :) I'll get some more quotes. EDIT: Okay, noted, regarding the Building Control etc. They are a reputable company, so I presume everything would be done correctly.

I thought about £1000 for the boiler (having looked online), plus another £1000 at the most for fitting. I have no idea what is a realistic price though!

We have got a combi boiler in the kitchen that needs replacing, and our usual boiler maintenance company have quoted us to install a new boiler. We asked for a Vaillant boiler (having read extensively online about the best makes, and asked around), and this will be fitted in place of our...

Thank you for your reply! I do understand all that but I may still get a plasterer in to do it properly! I might have a go and if it comes out okay all well and good; if not then at least I can watch him and learn something! Thanks again :)

I have a section of ceiling that needs replacing due to a previous damp problem and was wondering how to go about blending the new plaster into the old plastered part of the original ceiling. Where the new bare plasterboard meets the edge of the existing plastered ceiling, on the existing...

That's just what the other small patches look like that I mentioned were on the other chimney breast. They have no colour, but they look oily.

I was hoping to work straight onto the bare bricks (or maybe treated bare bricks) with the plasterboard after I've got all the old plaster off, but if it needs a coat of something with additive in it then that's not the end of the world. :)

Okay :) I've been thinking about the sitting room wall (the one with hardboard over the lost plaster). If I dot and dab that wall and fit plasterboard, are the adhesive dots likely to act as a bridge and transfer the salt contamination dampness through to the new plasterboard? The...

I've no idea really. I can't really see anything that looks like salt on the plasterboard itself, either from inside the loft or on the painted ceiling surface. In the kitchen there is an enclosed meter cupboard that uses the chimney breast as one of its sides and there is evidence of some...

Peekay, I might be wrong here but I think the salts can also be created as a consequence of burning fossil fuels. I presume it gets into the brickwork and works its way through. I might be wrong there though. I previously presumed the salt contamination came from the sand used in the...

Blimey, I didn't think of that! Strangely enough we have another problem with the chimney breast in the sitting room (which also affects the wall in the room behind the chimney) and that is what I thought salt contamination looked like - a few shiny patches that appear on the walls...

This might be a bit boring, but if you've got a few minutes to spare you might be able to throw some light onto my damp ceiling mystery! This all concerns a late-1950s bungalow: I have a strange problem with the ceiling around an old boiler chimney in the kitchen, which has been playing its...

Okay, all noted, thanks. :) The room actually exists now and is part of the original house design (dormer bungalow upstairs bedroom). The purlins are hidden from view in the front bedroom due to the stud walls being installed just inside them, so they're only visible from the 'outboard'...

Thanks for your reply :) I wonder how people fit dormer windows to these types of roofs. The beam is well and truly in the way for things like that.