Boiler quote!

[muckylugs]

Ok had my first quote back last night now i thought this was taking the p**. Would love your opinions if this is a realistic quote and this is what i should expect to pay
First of the plumber was there a matter of minutes and has quoted £1415 to fit a mini c28 now i see this a tad expensive the first site i looked at i could pick up the main bits for £591 i now he would have to buy a few feet of pipe and some fittings and there is a bit of reworking of the original combi pipes to fit the new jig and there would be a charge for the chemicals to flush but £824 difference come on please.

Anyway heres to the next quote

 

[ChrisR]

That's a fairly typical price. British Gas drive the market, bless 'em. Though they do do special offers which slash their prices, £2500 isn't at all unusual for a boiler-swap. Did your man mention "Powerflush" or "flush" at all?

You also, probably, want the job done ASAP. If someone's going to leave himself with very little work so he can move quickly, he's not getting paid while he's sitting at home.

You might compare the price with a rewire of a house. Depends on loads of course but you might get a quote for £2000 - £4000. What do you reckon the wire and bits adds up to? Most of the work will be done by a lad who's just shoving wires about.

 

[oilman]

........... but £824 difference come on please.

Yeah, couldn't agree more. Real rip off. Just a boiler, few feet of pipe and a few fittings, nothing to it. You could do it yourself one Saturday morning. SO WHY DON'T YOU???? I wouldn't do it that cheap. Have it done cheap, why not? After all you don't expect it to last for more than a year or two. No point in doing it properly. Cheep, cheep, cheep...............

 

[PEDANTICVINDICTIVEMAN]

Faaaaaaaaaaaaakinnnnnnnnnnnheeeeelllllllllllllllll dont get me started !!!!!

 

[keego]

& the guy (or girl) who fits it will have to guarentee it for 12 months, thats surely got to put an extra £1.50 on the price at least.

 

[kevplumb]

dont forget GWN

 

[htgeng]

Anyway heres to the next quote

top of the range condensing boiler, change gravity to pumped, new vented cyl = 3.4k+gb. jobs a good un. That was undercutting a local lad using an Ideal by 1.5k too. I dont bother with these ****y little 'grand jobs' where joe schmo is totting up every little piece of kit and thinks 'ooo thats a lot to install a boiler'.

Theres plenty of well paid jobs out there if you use quality gear and convince the customer you are giving them a system to last 15+ years. If someone expects you to install a boiler in one day and then says thats a lot to charge for labour, then I just walk away.

I always remind the customer of the old adage - you get what you pay for.

 

[gastight]

I agree "you get what you for" but there seems to big difference in price for from different installers using same quality boilers on new installation.

A friend of mine recenlty gave quote of about £3900 to install
Valiant system 6XX ( 100,000 BTU bolier)
Vailaint UV cylinder 150L
13 rad system in a large Victorian semi detached house.

He was undercut by another installer by £600 using same gear

I mean the other couldn't have been saving that much by using cheaper TRV's

 

[oilman]

Could be your friend will do most of the work, could be the other guy is using cheap workers. Maybe they're no good, maybe they're apprentices, maybe the guy with the cheap quote is cutting corners, maybe he just works for pocket money

 

[ollski]

Would love your opinions if this is a realistic quote and this is what i should expect to pay

I would say totally unrealistic, but to the installer....not you. No offenece to you but these threads are pointless, get a quote from BG and two other companies who have been recommended by people you know or staff at a plumbers merchant and hey presto...there's your price range. If and when I do installs I pitch a fair price to make it worth my while, If someone wants to come in 600 cheaper go for it, I'll take the maintenance and repair jobs on it instead that will come from a corners cut installation

 

[muckylugs]

Oilman,I would do it myself if it was not for the gas laws i fitted my previous boiler/system myself which has lasted 18 yrs with the only repairs/servicing being to the boiler but got a gas fitted to do the gas side but you cannot get a gas fitter to do this anymore which i understand because they are putting there whole name to the system

 

[softlad1971]

I find most CHEAP jobs are due to people doing a bit on the side and nicking alot of the stuff from their employer during the week.

How can a one man band compete with that.....

 

[DP]

Muckylugs, Why not visit 'be in the que' and get yourself a Ravenheat condensing boiler. Talk to the nice assistant, he will tell you how to fit this excellent boiler. It comes with a clock and flue and am sure you will get change fromm 500 spots. Couple of lengths of plastic pipe and you have a condensing boiler running that saves you even more money.

Dont bother with cleaning the system as when you drain the system water you will be removing the muck to replace with clean water before boiler is fired up. By the way, never mind the Benchmark logbook, Building control or Gas competency as these are just a waste of time.

 

[kevplumb]

oooohhhh
hope that wasn't sarcasm DP

 

[muckylugs]

Dp i understand your sarcasm but if you had read my post correctly i stated that i would not do the job because of the laws.
I totally understand that there should be a law against joe public messing about with gas get it wrong and the consequences could be horrendous!

That said i see no reason why a competent person should not be able to fit the water side of the boiler if he/she feels confident to do so and that a qualified plumber be called in to do the gas side of the fit and only sign that side of the fit off, if the water side of the system leaks then that is down to the diyer and not the plumber.

I am sure you do jobs around your own home like we all do, that you are not trained or qualified to do, but do them because you are confident that you can do the job and to high standard.I am confident to do the water side of the boiler which i have done before 19 yrs ago with no problems since but i know as it stands i would find it extremely difficult to find a plumber to sign it off as he puts his name to the whole of the system,which is fair enough, sounds like a monopoly to me!

Can you tell me what safety issues there are with doing the water side of the boiler, if your honest there are none! I know i could do the water side of the fix in a day and save myself hundreds of pounds whats wrong with that? Diyers change there own car brakes, which is more dangerous a leaking central heating system or over a ton of metal with no brakes?

As for the power flushing this has already been carried for a fraction of the cost a plumber charges and before you get on your high horse again this was done correctly using the correct chemicals and pump and as stated by plumbers in other posts on this site it is a licence to print money!