Plumbing Cost For Buckingham Palace

[stevebamford]

Hi all,

Obviously I don't own the Palace but I've just had a quote for £17,000 to fit a full replacement central heating system. Also just had a heart attack re. the above !!!!

Just thought I'd ask a bit of advice on costs... (or does this break every forum rule under the sun)

- Its a 5 bed Victorian semi
- Approx 15 rads (total 100,000 BTU)
- Can reuse existing pipe runs
- Easy routings between floors
- House is empty and uncarpeted so easy to lift
- Includes resiting boiler to loft space

I've done some quick costings

- Boiler £800
- Megaflo Solar Tank - £1400
- Radiators - £1500 (guesstimate)
- Other stuff - £1000 (guesstimate)

Which comes to approx £5K

so they're charging £12K for labour ??

anyone want a job

can anyone let me know a ballpark on this - i was expecting more like £7-£8 K or am i being hopelessly optimistic ?

also - any opinions on whether I leave all the underfloor pipes in place or rip the whole lot out and start from scratch. The old system is 30 years old maybe - with a few later additions

Ta

s

 

[ChrisR]

Having see BG quote £6k for a combi and 7 rads it isn't sooo outrageous. Still damned expensive though. Get 3 quotes!

The old pipes might be ok - I bet the ones exposed to outside air aren't insulated properly though.

 

[JohnD]

How many quotes did you get?

BG is usually the dearest.

 

[stevebamford]

Believe it or not - this wasn't BG (am seeing them on Monday !)

1st guy didn't turn up
2nd guy seemed very competent during visit but never gave me a quote
3rd guy quoted £17K
4th guy didn't turn up
5th guy quoted £12K but was vague about what he was going to do
6th guy didn't turn up
7th guy is BG who are coming on Monday (another heart attack pending)
8th and 9th guys were watching football and couldn't talk to me !

ho hum , I can always burn the floorboards !

 

[JohnD]

maybe wait until the warmer weather, when burst pipes are rare and people lose interest in heating.

Maybe your local plumbers will be less interested in watching the footy then.

Also try to get some recommendations from friends and neighbours.

 

[stevebamford]

2nd and 3rd guys were recommended

 

[fitz1]

are you having solar panels fitted aswell.

 

[GasMan1965]

Ill shave a few grand off that

 

[fitz1]

ill take my time and do a cracking job. can i do it please , can i , can i .

 

[GasMan1965]

We can team up cheaper than that fitz1

 

[corgiman]

How do you know that No 2 didnt quote

did you chase him up. The post down my way is shyte could be the same there

 

[stevebamford]

yeah have chased him a couple of times (said he was waiting for prices from his supplier .....?) its a shame coz he comes highly recommended !

solar panels are an optional addition at a later date - just thought it would be a plan to get the flexibility now by putting in a twin coil cyl

any ideas on a sensible price ?

 

[tonybhoy]

£17K man doesn't want the job £12K man might do it if you don't ask him too many questions and he doesn't get a better job beforehand.

I had similar,in fact lots of similar,140 m2 of monoblock driveway with quite a bit of soil needed be taken away.

Quotes were between £6500 ,£11K and £16000 which worked out at about £140 p/m2 .

Typical cost for suppling and installing monoblock is around the £35 to £45 p/m2 I ended up paying just a shade over £7K.

Point is that £16K man was a b@llshitter.

 

[Agile]

You seem to have asked 10 people to all come and give free quotes on your system

The cost to them of that could be about £200 each so that timewasting could explain £1800 of the price!

To me its criminal to waste peoples time like that.

Thats why I never make free visits to give quotes which are only then used as the basis of a specification and as a baseline price to be bettered.

Instead I ask a few questions and use a simplified form of quoting to give a telephone budgetary price which in your case would come to a little under £10.000 had it been in our local area.

Alternatively I charge for a visit to advise on the options available which the owner can then use as the basis of a specification for local installers to quote on.

Tony

 

[Softus]

can anyone let me know a ballpark on this

The job would cost one million pounds, including all materials and VAT.