Reply With QuoteNot sure how capable you are but that’s a pretty simple job
Anyone have a rough idea what the cost in London might be to do this job? I've contacted our local Vaillant engineer to see if wants the job but be good to have a ball park figure in mind.
Bit of boring backstory: When we moved to the new house back in Feb we noticed two TRVs didn't work and the radiator in the kitchen never really got, hot just warm.
We ended up having to use the lockshield to shut off the rad in daughter's room because it got too hot. Then we used the lockshields on other rads because we didn't know any better having only had a combi boiler and wireless thermostat in the old house. Needless to say, a couple of lockshields are now prone to slight leaking.
The boiler was serviced in Dec last year and had a new pump fitted and is working fine for hot water, although it does date to 2005.
I just want to prepare the heating for when we start using it, which will be very soon.
Is draining, replacing valves and flushing the way to go?
Last edited by Onelasttime; 7th October 2022 at 17:03.
Not sure how capable you are but that’s a pretty simple job
I thank you for your faith in my heating engineer skills, but I will not be going near it.Originally Posted by lewie
This is a job for someone trained and competent, of which I am neither
It all depends on the size of your house (and heating system But if it's an average 3 bed, I don't think you will get much change from £1K
I think that the cost (and effectiveness) would depend on the age of the radiators (because replacing them might be cheaper than flushing them through and trying to fit new valves to them, in labour cost terms. Perhaps ask the plumber that you get to quote you what they think
Might be best to measure your current radiators and do a rough calculation on it. The average double rad is around £70, the thermostatic valve and lock valve £20 for the pair, to give you a guide
Hope this helps
John
I doubt you’ll get prices like that quoted by a fitter
To answer some questions, it’s a three bed with 7 rads.
The radiator in daughter’s room didn’t respond to the TRV so her room was too hot when the heating was on, hence us turning it off at the lock shield. Not ideal I know.
The heating hasn’t been on since March but hot water has been on twice a day.
Spent 4 years at uni getting an engineering degree, then it took me several years of effort and focus including report and interviews to become a Chartered Engineer.
Who knew with a bit of spannering I could have saved myself 10 years of hard graft.
Whilst the system is drained down it makes sense to replace all the Thermostat radiator valves, this gives the benefit of knowing they're all new and you get the peace of mind that they should function Ok for a good few years. I bit that bullet when moving into my current property a couple of years back and it paid off.
While the waters out and the valves are being swapped get new rads, they will be more effiicient, brighter to look at and the actual rads are not a huge cost. Will get rid of all the sludge in the rads.
For the Valves doing i would think 1k for seven rads another 600/700
If humblebragging was going to solve his problem..................
we could shut the thread down now!
I saw nothing in what I said as humble, and I a fooking brilliant engineer, right. Except when it come to wielding a spanner to repair washing machines and radiators.
I am off to the What Do You Drive Thread to post another Maserati (on monthly payments, leased of course).
The only thing you missed was: "But what do I know? - I've only been doing it for 20yrs"
I just had a boiler service & six new radiators fitted, £900 in the midlands for comparison.
Some of the valves had tiny weeps you could see discolouration in the lock shield caps these didn’t need replacing just the top gland removed & some winds of PTFE tape cured them.
Boiler serviced with full flush of system and new radiator fitted £300. It's wonderful living in rural Lincolnshire where you know the local tradesmen .
A day's rate, similar in concept to the OP's scope.
He's not wrong though. This is why I'm going nowhere near it. And probably why I only drive a 2009 Mazda 6 …
Some useful above, thanks. Good to know I'm not barking up the wrong tree, but maybe need to find a bigger tree, e.g. fit new rads at the same time.
If I get all new rads now, will it be a fairly straightforward job to fit a new boiler next year? Is there any advantage to doing it all at once?
I'm weeping thinking about the cost of all this.
Last edited by Onelasttime; 7th October 2022 at 20:27.
Solving a problem that doesn't exist. Where has OP said rads heat up when heating off?
Exactly. There was no point responding.
Nothing there.
HERE
Especially if you need a chartered engineer of such stature………………
It may not be necessary to fit new radiators. Depends how old they are and what condition they’re in, mine were around 10 years old, we took them off tge walls and cleaned them outside with a hosepipe.
Very little silt came out, if the system has been run with sufficient fernox there will be minimal corrosion so it doesn’t always follow that the rads need replacing. I was prepared to replace mine but realised it was pointless extra expense.
In my case, we sorted out the radiators, had a large extension built, then finally replaced the boiler which was around 15 years old and slightly undersized. It also had a problem with the diverter valve, we couldn’t have hot water without having the heating on but I worked around this for around 9 months by switching all the rad valves off in summer, it worked and the boiler did its job until we replaced it last year, no point spending money on a boiler that was going to get swapped.
Based on experience my advice is to get the rads and valves sorted out then run the boiler till it needs replacing. However, it makes sense to find a local plumber/ heating specialist with a good reputation and listen to his advice.
If you’re talking about a full powerflush then the average price for an independent will likely be around £400-£600. If you don’t have a magnetic system filter you may want to consider adding one, if fitted at the same time as the powerflush then depending on the type of filter, that could be around an extra £150.
Cost to replace the TRVs and lock shields can vary, you could spend £10 on a pair, or £30 a pair for a higher regarded make of valve, then you will have the labour cost to carry out the replacements.
You should be able to get all that done for around a grand, give or take, if all done at once.
If the radiators heat up top to bottom and generally all get nice and hot, with no nuisance lockout of the boiler, I would suggest thinking twice about paying big money for a full powerflush. Pumps can be an issue but you have a new one, hopefully that rules that out.
I’d probably be looking at getting the faulty radiator valves changed, possibly all of them if you’re looking for belt and braces peace of mind. A decent heating ENGINEER should be able to diagnose what’s causing the kitchen rad to not heat properly, this could just be an issue with the TRV or lockshield but shouldn’t be hard to diagnose, but bear in mind it’s impossible to day without seeing it. I would think a rough estimate would be in the £500 ball park for that.
I would definitely get someone trustworthy in to take a look and give you the right advice for you.
And not a plumber/heating engineer?Especially if you need a chartered engineer of such stature………………
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Exactly!
Use a bit of time to research prices and buy the materials yourself, decent savings to be had. Then just pay for the labour
Very helpful. Thank you.
You may be able to get the TRVs working if they have just siezed up. If you remove the TRV head you should see a pin sticking up from the valve body & it's this that needs freeing up. Try increasing amounts of persuasion from pressing it to a gentle tap with a soft faced hammer to see if it moves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFLkgkoAtPI
[QUOTE=johnboy9876;6080210]Exactly!
Use a bit of time to research prices and buy the materials yourself, decent savings to be had. Then just pay for the labour[/QUOTE
A number of lads, my self included wont touch labour only work, you took some profit from my table and you are low priority. This may change round as it suits us when the job,or if the job get a bit slacker.
Also warranty issues can creep in later,
Rads not warm -You
Valves faulty-me
You fitted it wrong,you
I will look but its not free-me
This is an abridged version
Doesnt usually end well.
We have a central heating maintenance contract with British Gas and when we found a sticking rad valve, they came and changed three (2 more found on inspection) and it was included in the contract (new valves supplied by BG). I popped a bottle of Sentinel in the loft tank (quiet word with the engineer) before they refilled the system and all has been well.
I honestly was reading that, and thought you had bunged the engineer a ‘bung’ in the form of a bottle of booze !
But yeah, if you don’t have a dosing pot/connection - that is a good way of getting inhibitor into the system, prior to some draining.
I thought the following info might be useful for some people.
My local plumber/heating engineer has returned the following quote:
• Fit 7 new Drayton TRV4 and lockshield £275
• Powerflush £350
• Supply valves £195
All prices + VAT at 20%
So £984 all in, located in London, and about what we expected.
We'll look at a new boiler next year, but this will set us up and give us more control over the heating at least.
If one isn't included I'd get a magnaclean fitted too at the same time.
Unit is about £90 from Screwfix or OEMs do their own.
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