Buying issue - boiler

Parchment

I am going to cry. Went to do a final walk through on the house with the estate agent on Friday, turns out the fan oven (built in) isnt working and .... the boiler isnt working. Its a combi gas boiler.

The last service date on it is 2011. It had 0 pressure showing - so it meant no hot water and no heating in the house. From what i gather this means either the boiler is clapped out or has a leak somewhere

We have to be out of our apartment by next Friday and the mortgage is ready to go. I left a message for our solicitor on Friday evening but she had finished by then. She will call me Monday morning.

Any advice for the best course of action? My cousin fits gas boilers and said to get sellers to get the boiler re-pressured to 1.5 bar and leave it for 3 days then check if the pressure is still at 1.5 - if so its ok. If not there is a problem. It will cost 2.5k to replace and fit a new boiler. Would you give the sellers the option of trying to get it fixed or just ask for a reduction in selling price for the gas boiler (as it will need to be replaced at some point - its not the newest) and the oven?

Any advice really appreciated.

Edit - the estate agent said he would call the sellers to let them know.

jimmycrackcorm

Are the contracts all signed now? However sellers might agree to look at it.
Seems strange only finding this out at this point.

Parchment

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Are the contracts all signed now? However sellers might agree to look at it.
Seems strange only finding this out at this point.

Everything signed but our mortgage is still with our solicitor.

we viewed the house twice - first time the heating was on and we just glanced at the boiler. second time was a really nice day so the heating wasnt on and we didnt look at the boiler.

To be honest we dont know a whole lot about that stuff and its kind of a fundamental thing in the house - thats the only reason we are making an issue of it. I think its a reasonable thing to negotiate with them about - just not sure what way to do it.

L1011

It is vastly more likely that you have a minor leak than need the boiler replaced. Open the inlet valve, get it back to pressure, close valve. Use as normal, wait for leaks.

Parchment

L1011 wrote: »

It is vastly more likely that you have a minor leak than need the boiler replaced. Open the inlet valve, get it back to pressure, close valve. Use as normal, wait for leaks.

Yes, my cousin mentioned that it could be that. He advised us to get the sellers to get the boiler re-pressured (is that even a word?!)and leave it for a few days to see if it holds pressure and also check for leaks around rads and the external wall the boiler is fitted on.

I would be delighted if thats what it is but i dont want the onus to be on us by taking the keys and then it becoming our problem if the boiler is actually dead.

ddire33

Had a gas heating system that dropped to near zero for years when off and cold, came up to normal pressure when on, im sure there was something wrong, most likely the pressure vessel, but it worked fine for years. Had it replace with new this year for 1600 all in, just saying might not be as bad as you think.

L1011

All that's required is to let some water in to the system. There is usually a stopcock somewhere in the hot press for this but I have seen some extremely strange setups. You will need to know where this is as even a properly functioning system can lose some pressure.

I seriously doubt that even if you find the boiler is dead that the vendor will do anything - going to be take or leave at this stage. Ditto the integrated oven.

macnug

Wouldn't panic just yet, could be just a pressure issue or something small as others have said. You could pick up a refurbished oven pretty cheap as well that would get you over until finances become better.

Parchment

L1011 wrote: »

All that's required is to let some water in to the system. There is usually a stopcock somewhere in the hot press for this but I have seen some extremely strange setups. You will need to know where this is as even a properly functioning system can lose some pressure.

I seriously doubt that even if you find the boiler is dead that the vendor will do anything - going to be take or leave at this stage. Ditto the integrated oven.

Its a combi boiler so from what we could see in the attic there is a pump beside the water tank that facilitates hot water on demand to the taps/shower. we couldnt find any other controls for the boiler anywhere.

We are not trying to be flaky buyers but they had to have known there was an issue with the boiler and thats not very decent of them to say nothing. i personally wouldnt do that to someone.

Parchment

macnug wrote: »

Wouldn't panic just yet, could be just a pressure issue or something small as others have said. You could pick up a refurbished oven pretty cheap as well that would get you over until finances become better.

Thanks - hopefully thats the case. Finances are tight, its our first house and we just dont want to get landed with a bill for a boiler and an oven....as we just dont have it.

mickmac76

I had the same problem with my boiler when I wasn't there for a few months. I just repressured the system. It's fairly common if the place has been empty for a while.

L1011

Parchment wrote: »

Its a combi boiler so from what we could see in the attic there is a pump beside the water tank that facilitates hot water on demand to the taps/shower. we couldnt find any other controls for the boiler anywhere.

We are not trying to be flaky buyers but they had to have known there was an issue with the boiler and thats not very decent of them to say nothing. i personally wouldnt do that to someone.

It is probably going to be an unlabeled pipe in the hot press with a stopcock on it.

Its possible that the boiler was working perfectly with sufficient pressure until very recently.

I really don't think you're going to achieve anything in terms of repairs/price changes other than the vendor opening the stopcock for a bit. Ask anyway but don't get surprised with nothing.

Parchment

L1011 wrote: »

It is probably going to be an unlabeled pipe in the hot press with a stopcock on it.

Its possible that the boiler was working perfectly with sufficient pressure until very recently.

I really don't think you're going to achieve anything in terms of repairs/price changes other than the vendor opening the stopcock for a bit. Ask anyway but don't get surprised with nothing.

Well i hope it can be as easily resolved as you suggest. We and the Estate Agent looked everywhere for any sort of valve/stopcock related to the boiler and couldnt find it.

Thanks for your dose of harsh reality.

Parchment

mickmac76 wrote: »

I had the same problem with my boiler when I wasn't there for a few months. I just repressured the system. It's fairly common if the place has been empty for a while.

I hope thats the case - it has been empty since November as far as i know. Thanks - that gives me some hope!

macnug

Parchment wrote:

We are not trying to be flaky buyers but they had to have known there was an issue with the boiler and thats not very decent of them to say nothing. i personally wouldnt do that to someone.

I know its bad form alright but these things do happen. Your stuck between a rock and a hard place really, if you insist on the repairs before the sale closes it could drag it on for a few more weeks which you don't have. Any chance the cousin could look at it before the sale closes? You could make a better informed decision then.

L1011

Parchment wrote: »

I hope thats the case - it has been empty since November as far as i know. Thanks - that gives me some hope!

In that case its almost certain that the vendors are completely unaware that it has depressurised.

Parchment

macnug wrote: »

I know its bad form alright but these things do happen. Your stuck between a rock and a hard place really, if you insist on the repairs before the sale closes it could drag it on for a few more weeks which you don't have. Any chance the cousin could look at it before the sale closes? You could make a better informed decision then.

Thats it - its just an awkward place. We didnt want this to happen but it did and i dont want to shaft ourselves by rushing into getting the keys.

My cousin could look at it but he advised repressuring it and then leaving it for 3 days to see how it goes. I dont know if they will agree to do it or not.

boobycharlton

This happens when my combi boiler is off during the summer. There's two taps and a filling loop on the bottom of the boiler which open a valve to allow system to be re-pressurised to 1.5 bar. Takes 30 seconds. If you Google the make and model of boiler you'll find instruction manual and usually YouTube vids of how to do it.