Ideal Mexico Super CF475 boiler replacement?

[Sam Gangee]

Ideal Mexico Super CF475 boiler replacement?

The 15 year old boiler in my rented house has failed its annual test and been capped so we are relying on the immersion heater. The boiler is floor-standing with an adjacent pump and a copper tank upstairs in the airing cupboard.

The plumber has said the boiler has cracks, is leaking and must be replaced. Also the flue pipe is blocked and must be replaced. However, the boiler is in a downstairs "cupboard" size room and the balanced flue goes up and through the wall, projecting a few inches over next door's driveway.

The plumber says this is illegal so it's impossible to put the new boiler in the same place and he'll have to fit a combi boiler in place of the copper tank upstairs.

Frankly, I like the present arrangement and I don't want the extra disruption of fitting a combi upstairs. Also the landlord isn't happy about the extra cost and I suspect he'll turf me out and sell the house when my 6 month rolling contract expires.

So I'd like to know if it's really impossible simply to replace the existing "heat only" boiler with another? (Sorry I don't have photos but I hope my description is adequate.)

 

[Aquaheat]

Surely you have no choice on the matter and the RGI should be discussing all options and pricing with the landlord?

Am I missing something?

Jon

 

[Sam Gangee]

Thanks for the prompt response. Sorry, I don't know what an RGI is.
The agents are indeed in discussion with the landlord who lives abroad.
In the past, the landlord has always asked what suited me and my family (never direct - via the agents), so I know he's prepared to listen.
BTW I am an engineer myself but not a plumber.

So, back to the question...

 

[Dan Robinson]

the balanced flue goes up

No it isn't.

Frankly, I like the present arrangement and I don't want the extra disruption of fitting a combi upstairs

Buy your own house then. It's up to the landlord.

Sorry I don't have photos but I hope my description is adequate

It's not I'm afraid. But it might be possible to put the boiler above the cylinder.

 

[dilalio]

Why don't you ask the landlord if you can get a couple of other RGIs (Registered Gas Installers) in yourself to advise and provide quotes?

 

[Sam Gangee]

Why don't you ask the landlord if you can get a couple of other RGIs (Registered Gas Installers) in yourself to advise and provide quotes?

Thanks, I'll do that.

 

[Agile]

Those are very solid old boilers and I would be very surprised if it cannot be sorted out by anyone who really wanted to.

There are many RGIs who think that every landlord is going to pay them a high price to fit a new boiler just because they have just turned it off. Even if it was to be renewed most sensible landlords will get three quotes. Except when the landlord is overseas and then sometimes the agent will really screw them in conjunction with work being done in the property.

 

[Sam Gangee]

Thanks, Agile. This is my concern. Last year we had water dripping through the ceiling. The agents sent the landlord two plumber's estimates of around £3000 for complete replacement of the bathroom suite. He eventually found another plumber who regrouted the tiles and replaced the seal around the bath, which fixed the problem for £100 !

I have just emailed this same plumber myself to see if he can come to have a look. My landlord has always been good and I don't want to see him ripped off. I know he's on a pension and the only way he can pay vast sums is to increase my rent - which he hasn't done for 5 years - or sell the house.

 

[Phill Peck]

He's not gonna just sell the house.
He'd still have to replace the boiler to do that.
Replacement boilers are very cheap comparatively with the rest of the ****e we buy/how necessary they are/value of the property

 

[dilalio]

Just to be sure... the 'plumber' who sorted the bathroom, may not be an RGI! Make sure that he is or that he can put you in touch with someone who is - even if he helps out with the install!

 

[gas112]

you cannot flue over someone elses property so guy has told you correctly no matter what you prefer he has to fit to current regs

 

[Phill Peck]

Also Is the OP suggesting the existing flue terminates horizontal over the boundary?
Cf475

 

[Dan Robinson]

He also thinks it's a balanced flue

 

[bernardgreen]

The 15 year old boiler in my rented house

Pity is it only 15 years old. If it was twenty years then your landlord could claim a prescriptive easement existed for the flue to remain as is.

https://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/boiler-flue-facing-our-boundary.455054/page-3

Put simply, if the flue was put there openly, more than 20 years ago, without asking anyone's permission, and nobody has objected to it since, then the neighbour can successfully claim that it he has aquired the right for it to be there, and you can't ask for it to be removed.

An easement is the right to use someone else's property (for example you might have a right of way over a path or garden, or the right for a gutter or flue to intrude into somebody's air space).

A prescriptive easement is an easement gained by regular use, rather than one that has been purchased or granted.

An opinion supported by a solicitor specialist in land and property matters.

 

[Dan Robinson]

It won't remain as is though. It's being converted to a fanned, condensing flue.

That link was a pointless argument as the flue in question was 11 years old at most.