I SHOULD HAVE BEEN A PLUMBER!!!! Cost of first fix

[DaisyBernardMimiTinker]

Help Mumsnetters!

We have just begun our renovation of our first home... very stressful exciting. We have had a few plumbers round to give us a quote for a new CH system. On advice from said plumbers we removed all pipework from the old back boiler along with old radiators and boiler itself. The house is a 3 bed Victorian semi in Derbyshire and is empty.

Please can anyone give me any advice on how much we should be looking to pay for a first phase plumbing fix. This includes laying new pipes, fitting combi boiler, radiator in each room (we are providing all radiators and valves) and leaving cold/hot water outlet in bathrooms.

House is spread over 3 floors, boiler is on lower ground floor with kitchen. Two bathrooms... Family bathroom and separate room with Shower and WC, so not mega work but a reshuffle.

Our quotes are coming in high and none of the plumbers want to break down the labour/ parts costings. This makes me feel instantly worried that we are being ripped off.

We are hoping to be in for Christmas but really can't see it happening unless we find a plumber soon. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you
Xx

How high is high?
My dh is a gas engineer and doesn't know anyone who breaks down labour and parts.

By parts do you mean the fittings like the boiler? Or things like the soil pipes? I've never had labour and "parts" seperate for any trade.

If all of your quotes are high then they're probably about right.

Hello The Gonnagle... I've had 10.5, 7 and 6k... is that about right?

Believeitornot.... To me, it seems really straightforward, give me a rough costing of the parts needed for the job, (pipework, fittings etc) and the day rate (how many days... etc). TBH if the quotes had come in sub 5k I really wouldn't have questioned their pricing but 10.5k... Thats crazy, surely for a new boiler system?!

Oh god maybe i'm delusional... pass the wine... please

Why Combi? Wouldn't recommend one when you have more than one bathroom. Have you the space for an Unvented Cylinder? Much better for your needs along with a System Boiler.

Your quotes do seam high, how many radiators are they quoting for?

Around here (SE) you would be looking at £4.5k for ch with combi in a 3 bed two storey house. Unvented with system boiler about another £1.5k on top.

This is all dependant on size of house of course, need a bit more info I.e no of rads inc in quotations, make /size of boiler quoted, controls etc

Oh yes, plumbers are expensive! Finding that out myself and will suggest my sons get into the trade in the future.

WhatdoIknow31... We've got two baths but technically only one bath just spread over two rooms (first bathroom has a bath, second a shower) anyway, been right through our options and have decided to go for Worcester Bosch big daddy combi boiler (Highflow 550) which has a massive water output.

We are providing all radiators and valves, of which there are ten (maximum) to fit.

House is normal size but because it is on a hill we have a lower ground floor so three floors in total.

Thank you for all of your help X

Op I would expect to pay around £6k-£7k for that work including fitting supplied bathrooms so you are not wrong. The difficulty you will have at this time of year is getting someone to commit to a long term project as it is the busiest time of the year for plumbers with the winter season upon us almost. They can choose your job (at a higher price) or multiple jobs per day at a seasonal rate. It is their market to own so understandable. They may also be pricing the job because they don't want it and so you should choose the plumber you can best work with if you give them the work (this is a really important factor).

My advice at this stage would be to try and get one more quote. Call the largest local plumbing supply centre and ask for a recommendation. Call that firm and tell them who recommended you. It might create the illusion that you are trade rather than retail. If you don't have architectural plans, Draw a plan of where you want the rads, boiler cylinder and the actual sizes of the eventual sanitary ware you want. That way the plumber will find it easier to quote a price. Plumbers will add on a 'woolly tax' if you look like the sort of client who will change their mind three times about the position of something and are just covering themselves which is fair enough!

Think about money and time right now. Are you living at the property? If you are, not only will that add an 'agg' factor for the plumber having to work around you (hence the price) and you'll want to get cracking before having to live with no heating in the colder months. If the property is empty, I'm sure time is money until you can move in so factor in trying to get a plumber to do it for the money you hoped vs two months rent (or whatever) no one having done anything by the time it's November.....

Good luck!

I've never had abreakdown of the cost of parts - I assume that's priced in the labour cost, because they never quite know what they need until they get cracking.

I've just had new Worcester 24ri boiler (not combi) ftted.

Removal and fitting of 10 replacement radiators and valves provided by them, 2 new towel radiators fitted in the bathroom and en-suite (we provided those) a chemical flush and we kept all the original pipework. Gas pipe needed redoing halfway along the house as it was reduced down to 15mm and needed to be 22mm for the new boiler.

It was £4.5k. That was with HelpLink. We are in West Yorkshire. It was 3 days work for 2 chaps plus an apprentice who was several years into his apprenticeship so he was knowledgeable and fast. My mate had new boiler and 7 rads no valves and was charged £2.5k by HelpLink which having seen that price made us go with them too.

HTH

We are just having underfloor heating (wet system) fitted in our open plan kitchen/conservatory (32 sqm). Cost of plumbing work (labour and materials) is £4,200 which was the cheapest of 3 quotes.

Pradaqueen you are spot on, my impression at the minute is that plumbers only want to work on call outs and not a project. Thank you for your advice everyone.

I just told DH your prices and he laughed at 10.5k and said it was absurd. He seemed to think that 6k wasn't massively out of the way, and talked about the three story thing for a while.
He said you need more quotes. HTH.

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