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hello i'd like to know if the following quote is broadly fair. house is four bed, three reception rooms and two bathroom, kitchen plus utility.

Flush system as per manufacturer’s instructions.

• Protect your home with carpet protector and dust sheets as required.

The works for your system upgrade and radiators is as follows:

• Removal of your existing boiler, tanks and cylinder.

• Supply and installation of a new Worcester combination boiler options are

set out separately below.

• Modifications to pipework to suit the new installation.

• Supply and installation of a Worcester Greenstar system filter.

• Run new gas pipework from the meter to the new boiler.

• Supply and installation of a Worcester Comfort 2 time control.

• Brick up of the existing flue hole to be carried out by us.

• Supply and installation of new standard radiators and valves and 3 x

designer radiators and valves. All pipework to be adjusted and we may

need to alter the pipe sizes for the designer radiators.



Making good to be carried out by customer.



• Removal of debris from site and our engineers will tidy up their area of work

and leave your home as they found it.



Following works our office team will:

• Notify your appliance to the manufacturer for your warranty and to Gas

Safe as per building regulations. You will receive this information in the

post.



Your boiler price and information is set out below.

All prices are inclusive of VAT



YOUR SYSTEM UPGRADE AND RADIATOR ESTIMATE

Boiler


Worcester 440 Highflow floor

standing combination boiler

Worcester system filter


Worcester 42 CDi wall hung

combination boiler

Worcester system filter


Total cost

including

VAT


£7992.00 including VAT


£7608.00 including VAT


sounds a bit expensive i would have expected a whole new heating for that.
 
It’s very difficult to comment without seeing the site that could be a lot of work involved that we don’t know about
 
I can tell you, the 440 high flow is over £2k alone. Designer radiators can really up the price and location can too. Best thing to do is get 3 quotes and compare.
 
another quote came at 6300.
waiting for third.
the more expensive quote is from a firm with office and secretary so overheads are inevitable.
 
what fitments do you have in your bathroom?
eg elec showers?
 
Supply and installation of new standard radiators and valves and 3 xdesigner radiators and valves.

I would be wanting to know specs: make.midel and size.

Making good to be carried out by customer.•
Removal of debris from site and our engineers will tidy up their area of work and leave your home as they found it.

How can they leave home as they find it if you have to make good? Have they explained exactly what you have to do, and what they do?

Finally, you called it a QUOTATION, they called it an ESTIMATE. Are you aware of the difference?



 
no electric showers. showers are off the tanks.

wouldn't want a combi for two bathrooms unless your planning on not running more than one outlet at the same time
 
The price is the price. There is no fair or not. Is a Ferrari fair at 250k?

It is an estimate it is up to you to decide if you want to pay that or not. Maybe go for the cheaper one if you want they may be better they may be worse but at least it's cheaper hey.

This is a reason I want to get out of installs you give someone a price they think you've ripped them off even if you haven't done a thing.
 
wouldn't want a combi for two bathrooms unless your planning on not running more than one outlet at the same time

Tis a good point.

OP: whose idea was a combi? Assuming space and cold water pressure is available, unvented is generally better, IMO.
 
Who is more likely to get it right first time? What reference and recommendations do they have? If I were you I'd ask friends colleagues and family is the know a good local guy.
 
Get at least 3 estimates.

Ask to see/speak to previous customers.

Make a decision.

Don't post on Internet forum 'is this price fair?' . Eyes on beats guestimate, checkmate.
 
Three points:

Clarify that the proposal is a fixed price offer.

A combi (in my view) is a poor choice for a large family home with two bathrooms. A system unvented hot water solution is a preferable solution.

Be wary of “making good decoration et al” for you to undertake - unless you understand the extent of the work involved.

If you have doubts, go elsewhere - there is very little in the document that you have published that is specific to your property - it is a generic proposal that has been edited to include the “designer radiators”, boiler type and price.
 
“Designer” radiator covers from £200. - £2000 so you need to know what you’re getting.

Similarly I recently quoted for a shower enclosure specifying Matki product; they went with a competitor who said “ shower door” as his overall quote was £800 less.
My door was £1ooo, his a cheapo £200 - there’s the difference and they got a shocking job done to boot.

My point is, the devil is in the detail and must be specified - if they don’t want to do that , they are trying to hide something so walk away now.
 
“Designer” radiator covers from £200. - £2000 so you need to know what you’re getting.

Similarly I recently quoted for a shower enclosure specifying Matki product; they went with a competitor who said “ shower door” as his overall quote was £800 less.
My door was £1ooo, his a cheapo £200 - there’s the difference and they got a shocking job done to boot.

My point is, the devil is in the detail and must be specified - if they don’t want to do that , they are trying to hide something so walk away now.

I went out to a job that I quoted for as they wanted a price for a new bathroom. I walked in and their they were nice new radiators. The thing is he told me he wanted column radiators and a nest what he had fitted was softlines and a cheap programmer, I said oh didnt go for the column rads then he said no you were about £300 more expensive, i turned around and said if you told me you wanted softlines and a cheap programmer i would of been £500 cheaper!
 
hello again it would only be the two of us living in the house and Brambles is right when he says it appears like a generic document.

all firms quoting have a recommendation.
 
hello again it would only be the two of us living in the house and Brambles is right when he says it appears like a generic document.

all firms quoting have a recommendation.
Combi is still wrong for two bathrooms
 
Not for 2 people though. Surely the system should be designed for the proposed usage.
I agree with the sentiment but I’m more of a future proofing guy. How do we know the family won’t grow and this venture isn’t suitable. In selling in the future I find more and more buyers are clued in and will be looking to knock money off for the wrong hot water install. Ultimately even if there’s just two of them they won’t be able to have two showers at the same time if in a rush so I would personally say not fit for purpose. I find so many engineers that don’t explain that part
 
I agree with the sentiment but I’m more of a future proofing guy. How do we know the family won’t grow and this venture isn’t suitable. In selling in the future I find more and more buyers are clued in and will be looking to knock money off for the wrong hot water install. Ultimately even if there’s just two of them they won’t be able to have two showers at the same time if in a rush so I would personally say not fit for purpose. I find so many engineers that don’t explain that part

I agree with the future proofing and if you say had a young couple looking to have a family then yes stored water all the way.

Problem is when you have a couple with no intentions of having more people there apart from the odd guest, so for the size of the house you would be looking for say 250-300L cylinder and if they only have quick 5 minute showers daily they may only use 20-30litres tops.

I cant see that the wasted energy to heat and keep heated a cylinder just so if one day they are rushed for time they could have 2 showers at the same time is worth it.

So I'm a big believer in chatting to the customer explaining the pros and cons of both systems and let them choose what they would prefer or would suit there needs better.
 
I always find that they are combi obsessed. Any other option isn’t what they want even if it’s wrong. I’ve told many people that I won’t fit a combi as they won’t be happy with the results.
 
I always find that they are combi obsessed. Any other option isn’t what they want even if it’s wrong. I’ve told many people that I won’t fit a combi as they won’t be happy with the results.

Yes a lot of people are that's why I try and explain the pros and cons then it is up to them to decide.

I've told people who live in a 3 bed 1 bathroom house to keep the unvented that was installed when the house was build 15 years earlier because of the hot water as they were adamant they wanted a combi but after a quick chat and showing what flow rate they would get from a combi they changed their mind.
 
Mark,

For two people a properly installed large combination boiler would work fine - on a personal basis for a large house I would still go the system / unvented route.

To compare quotes, be sure you know exactly what is being installed. Where it is going to go. What pipework is going to be different from the current installation and is it going to be visible. Where is the flu going and again how much is going to be visible. If the boiler / flue is being relocated is the brick / stonework to the exterior wall going to be properly matched? Is the inside wall going to be properly replastered if left visible.

A walk through the house with the person who is physically going to undertake the installation is often very productive (on both sides) - the key for getting a good neat installation is combing through the detail. Particularly, if the boiler is going into an existing fitted kitchen. A large combi is a bulky item and has a lot of pipe work feeding in and out ( and sometimes exposed external filters ) - once installed they don’t quite look the same as the hidden pipework versions shown in the brochures!

Talk through the new control system, where is it going to be placed, is it wireless, is it easy to operate. For a large house with only two occupants, zoning is important - to optimise energy useage. An Evohome type system may be appropriate where each room can be individually zoned.

Talk through your existing heating and hot water system, are you happy with it, any problems you experience, noise, any cool spots, radiators that never seem to do the job properly etc. Now is the time to rectify any issues.

Are you happy with your current cold water pressure and flow? Is it adequate for the proposed large combi? - I do a lot of work in Knutsford, the incoming water pressure there is dreadful!

Ask him / her how long is the installation going to take (how many people).

Most good plumbers want to deliver a quality job that you will be pleased with, to do that they need to know what is important to you. I have a few customers who do not want to see any exposed pipe runs - so for them I always quote with the option for fully concealed pipework, I generally get the work.

Thereafter, you will start to get a better feel on the value of the offers you have received and exactly what you can expect both visually and performance wise from the new system.

Hope this helps
 
Last edited:
i was disappointed with the more expensive quote as the project manager spent two hours measuring up and taking pics but the document i got was thin and very generic.
the property is empty btw if that majes a difference it is being refurbished.
 
Mark

You have an ideal opportunity to get a system installed that suits you and your lifestyle. From your notes, I think that you would benefit from a couple more quotes
 
i was disappointed with the more expensive quote as the project manager spent two hours measuring up and taking pics but the document i got was thin and very generic.
the property is empty btw if that majes a difference it is being refurbished.

A lot of my quotes are very generic as I dobt write everything from scratch every time. If you do quite a few quotes you can soon lose a lot of time writing up everything personally for that customer.

So a lot of mine is supply and fit x boiler and flue
Supply and fit new programmable room thermostat
Supply and fit magnetic filter

And so on.

If they are doing 3/4 quotes a day you have to keep them generic
 
i see your point but we are in our 40s
and this is the forever home so not too fussed about future sale value.
But you will likely be hacked off and embarrassed if you have visitors and you have to say one at a time for the shower even though you have two. That’s what’s daft to me having two showers that you can’t use together. You might as well turn one bathroom into a walk in cupboard or something
 
Nowt wrong with it if it’s properly installed and clean and you’re not putting huge rads on
 

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