Replacing boiler system and microbore

[TwittleBee]

Anyone able to give me approx timescales and costs for replacing a 30yr old boiler system with a new combi and replacing all the microbore?
(Small 3 bed semi, 1 bathroom)

We are getting proper quotes too but want to have a good idea of what to expect.

Thank you

No idea, but following as I want to do the same

My mum and dad had theirs changed a few yrs ago and it took 2 heating engineers 2 full days.

I think you need to summon @PigletJohn he'll know

Your old microbore pipes are probably tacked to the top of the skirting boards, which was quick and cheap.

The new pipework will preferably be put under the floor, which takes longer and is more disruptive.

Plumbers are not skilled carpenters or carpetlayers.

You mention changing to a combi. This is suitable for a small home, or one with a single person. How many occupantsm, bathrooms and shower rooms do you have?

Have you tested the incoming water flow, in litres per minute, yet?

How old is the house?

A photo of your stopcock, showing the incoming pipe, and a description of its diameter and material, would be informative.

Thank you so much @PigletJohn I actually haven't a clue what a stopclock is but i did Google and the attached photos are closest thing I can match to what Google Images was showing me?

I also have attached the state of the pipes, they're all like that.

We are at the start of renovating an early 60s house so very much need all the carpets replaced anyway.

A stopcock is the thing underneath where the kitchen sink used to be, controlling the supply from the incoming watermain. It has a T handle and is a unique shape. You have to know where it is so you can quickly turn off the water when you have a burst pipe or leak.

There is probably another where the front gate used to be, often buried or paved over by some numbskull

Unique shape:
www.screwfix.com/c/heating-plumbing/stopcocks/cat831690#category=cat831690&constructionmaterialplumbing=brass__steel___plastic&sort_by=-price

Ah I think this is it?

No, that's the gas cock. Observe that it is fitted to the gas pipe next to the gas meter. You turn it off when your house catches fire.

Well at least I am learning some new things here I suppose! Thank you so much

I think I've found it now, in another cupboard

Yes, that's it. The pipe coming up from the floor is probably copper and measures about 15mm. Test it with a magnet and scrape a bit of paint off to check.

A half-inch pipe is rather small and may give a poor flow. Fill a bucket at the kitchen cold tap (and the garden tap if you have one), time it, calculate litres per minute.

How far is it from the valve to the roadside pavement? Have you got a water meter?

Well we have received 3 quotes, all come in at £9-£10k, just in case anyone else was wondering.

Just to pin it down a bit. Does that include new radiators? What about running the new pipes under the floors/in the walls?
Will the replacement pipes be copper?
On my roaming of RightMove, I’ve seen some horrendous radiator placements, you may want to reconsider positioning or height/style of some rads as you’re going to so much trouble.

Doesn't include the cost of the new radiators but does include replacing all piping and the installation of new radiators.

Tbh we will just have to leave it, bit unknown if we will be able to afford this house when it comes to having to remortgage in April anyway.

@hannahcolobus I might be wrong but I have been on MN a very long time and I believe PigletJohn is or was a plumber. I watch PlumberParts on YouTube and they feature some horror pipework never mind botching up repairs in walls etc. Yes some plumbers are amazing, same with all skilled labour, doesn't mean you will get one who cares about their work. This is why YouTube showing plumber's workmanship and attitude gets them jobs.

OP thanks for updating with the quote, good to know the cost of these things.

@hannahcolobus I agree that it did sound like PJ was being very judgemental and I agree there are some amazing skilled people out there. Sadly the cowboys are the ones who get all the attention. I am not even in the plumbing or heating trade and I still watch videos on installations especially the ones that use the pressure fit clampy things rather than soldering.

As I have your ear have costs gone up in terms of copper and parts etc over the last year? I have just had a quote for an unvented cylinder to replace my gravity fed system and my mate had the exact same job done 6 months ago by the same company and yet my quote is a hell of a lot more. No massive difference in tank size, hers 150, mine 210 so I can't see where the extra cost has come from. As someone who has no skin in the game can you think of a reason?

We have a detached stone cottage and have just replaced the copper pipework and 11 radiators. Because stone walls we have had all the pipework in copper surface mounted with brass no push fit, and the radiators are Stelrad mostly over sized K3 so that we can run the system at a lower temperature. This cost £7k, so a bit less than OP quotes. The boiler/s have not yet been fitted, but we have a pellet stove £6,5k and log burner boiler £3.5k to connect to a heat bank and also a thermal solar panel and the installation and all the materials will be another £6k I think. This is to replace a seventies oil boiler and radiators. So about 23k in total perhaps.

Ours is a fairly big 1920s house (3 and 1/2 bed det, three adults). I loathe gas boilers, and combis especially, * but the one here seems to cope. It even runs a direct (i.e. not electric) shower perfectly well when the heating is on, and can cope fine with a bath (unlike some other gas combis I have known where the bath got cold as I was running it, the hot water was so slow). It's main flaw is that not having a tank, it can take a while for hot water to get to the taps, but it's a long and eccentric run from the boiler to most of them, to be fair.

*(I've mostly had oil before - in my experience, oil boilers last forever - we replaced one because it was less efficient than a modern one, but it must have been well over 40 years old, probably closer to 50, and was still working fine, gas are built down to a price, are often unreliable, and if they last more than 6-7 years you're doing better than most people I know. I'm a bit edgy about ours as it is over that age already, we just keep it carefully serviced and hope the next ridiculously expensive and frail part that breaks is replaceable.)