Jul 06
Travis Perkins is about to become the largest plumbing and heating business in the UK after agreeing to buy the BSS Group for £557.6 million.
“Our respective businesses are complementary and we look forward to working with BSS’s customers, suppliers and employees,” said Robert Walker, chairman of Travis Perkins.
But job losses are feared as Builders’ merchants Travis Perkins, which also own Wickes, will want to cut costs by more than £25 million.
The deal is subject to shareholder approval, although Travis Perkins said it had already received undertakings of support from around 35% of BSS investors.
May 17
For a long while DIY Doctor has been trying to combat the effects of Cowboy Builders in our industry. We have published articles on Cowboy Builders and how the country loses millions of pounds because the majority of tradespeople in this country do not have any form of insurance to protect their customers.
We have now joined forces with Quotatis who will not allow tradespeople to join their data-base without the relevant insurances. They are also thoroughly vetted and references are followed up to ensure you only receive free quotes from the best of the bunch.
Click into any of our project pages or look at our Find a Tradesman page to be sure to beat the cowboys.
Apr 06
The Boiler Scrappage Scheme was announced on December 9 after much campaigning across the UK. It launched in January.
By the middle of March, a little over 35,000 vouchers had been redeemed of the 125,000 sent out by the Energy Saving Trust.
The scheme, which entitled the home owner to claim £400 from the cost of a new energy efficient boiler when replacing an old G rated boiler, has now closed to new applicants and holders of original vouchers must complete their installation and claim their money within 12 weeks of the voucher issue.
Many people applied for the voucher thinking they could simply DIY and claim £400 off the cost of the boiler. Others thought they would get the £400 before the boiler was installed and use it to pay the heating engineer. The fact that the boiler has to be installed by a fully qualified engineer, who then has to verify the claim, explains why there are many more voucher applicants than monies claimed.
DIY is forbidden in anything to do with gas installation of any kind and attempting to fit boilers without the necessary qualifications and experience can be suicide. Our own project page
http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/gas_safety.htm gives more information on the dangers and regulations involved with Gas fitting.
Feb 22
I have just had the section of the mains water pipe replaced that runs from the street to the front door as old stop cock at the entrance to the house had burst. That situation took a week to finally get someone round to do it. In that time I had clamped the leak to reduce the flow from the burst and I had to adjust the water pressure from the mains street stop cock to allow some water in to the network, not to much as water was still was flowing in to the house but enough to supply next door as they are on the same supply as me. My house is supplied with mains first and then splits in the kitchen to feed theirs.
Since this has been fixed the hot water runs ok for a few seconds and then slowly drops in pressure until it is a bit more than a dribble.
The cold water pressure is fine.
As far as I can work out we have an indirect boiler system.
Can anyone think what might be going on.
Thanks
Feb 15
Can anyone shed any light as to why, with a boiler that’s been serviced and is working perfectly, I lose my hot water when the weather gets really cold (like today) ? It’s a Gloworm Flexicom (not a combi). The Central heating works less well too (a combination of underfloor and radiators) – but does still get warm. The water however, is really cold!
Jan 07
I have a ground floor flat with a combi boiler which is in working condition. Recently our hot tap on the bath is cooler than the other taps in house (basin & kitchen sink), I have tried to increase the boiler water temperature has not worked, it increases the other 2 taps but only slightly for the bath to a tepid temperature. Is there any way to fix it without the expense of a plumber. Thanks
Jun 25
Radiator
Todays most popular project was Central Heating – Draining Down:
Gives instructions and advice on draining your central heating system when you need to flush the system or if you need to change a radiator.
These are some of the comments we have received:
User Comment:
Thanks very much, you have saved me a packet.
User Comment:
I have a old servo warm pipe system, with an new micron boiler, water is not getting hot, although system on for 6 hours. So I am going to drain & clean system as you suggested, I only have 5 rads, just a bit wary of getting air locks in whilst refilling system, many thanks.
User Comment:
Clear and concise.
User Comment:
Saved me the cost of a plumber, keep up the good work.
User Comment:
Clarified a couple of bits of info – cheers.
Jun 24
My Mum has Sime Friendly E boiler, all working well until switshed over from winter to summer setting. Now no hot water, ‘demand’ light does not light up when hot tap opened. Pressure o.k. Is this an internal electrics fault??? Any help appreciated.
Jun 23
Some wc flushing systems are remotely operated by pneumatic control . Geberit one of the manufacturers of this type of system uses a pvc tube 2 metres long. I would like to know what is the maximum length this tube can be extended to. Unfortunately, their agents in the UK don’t have any info on this. Help please.
