Priceing up TIP

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oasis

oasis

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Yeah well bout time i gave sumit bk soooo!

i see some people on here say they never use a labourer as it put the cost up and means less money for them.

truth is if you have a lab you day should be allot easier and less stressfull.

So one thing i do is when ever there are rads to be taken off on a job i allways say that i can do them a quote for them as-well to save dragging in a plumber and having to arrange dates that work for all 3 people.

basically Charge about £25-40 per rad to whip off and hang back after. easy job only a small amount of time.

and i guess you were only ganna end up taking it off anyhow so make sure they no its another job that needs doing so that there is more money to be made with out you looking like a pricey Plasterer :-)

So you could say a rad or 2 is worth a days help from a labourer as it covers the cost making your job easier at no extra effort as im sure like most of you guys usually just take the rads off any how unless a plumber is on the job at the time.

so just shearing something i consider when giving a quote.

now shoot me down.
 
Do you put the rads back on after? Do you always find they leak once they are put back on? I have done it a few times and had to take em back off again and wack ptfe tape on em, so now i put it on regardless now. But i have never charged for taking them off i must be a bloody mug :(
 
i dont often have leaks and end of i have a good cheap plumber on the end of the phone if i need be.
 
as bod said.. ptfe... round the OLIVE.. not the threads...
a lot leak from the stem too, best way if your not upstairs is get a tray, wrap a rag round the pipe and leave the end in the tray, crack the nut and shove it down the 'painted' pipe best you can whilst holding the valve tight down on top..
then do the ptfe trick round the olive and nip it back up, dont nuke em...

soon as i see the rad in the room on the wall the question gets asked 'have you got someone to remove and replace the rad' as though its a standard pre-requisite... then its usually 20 for a combi or 30-40 for a gravity system... (dirt cheap really but it takes litterally minutes to do, specially if you leave the brackets on)
gravities can be a nightmare to bleed up again...

if the bleed valves rounded off you can get a small cold chisel and tap it square on into the square end of the valve, theyre brass and soft.. you can then turn it with a slotted screwdriver ;)

cap off any leaky valves overnight... especially trv's...

watch them trv's in winter oasis... make sure theyre OFF and not on frostguard...
 
If your charging to take rads off - then surely its A MUST to put them back on without leaking.
Took one off a couple of months ago and my Labourer stood on the pipe and twisted it which then pssed out!!! Fcin nightmare. £150 for plumber MATE to put right quicksmart!!!!! >:(
 
never ever do it, the reason is if there is a boiler probelm i dont want the blame, if you have to start bleeding the system down and all that. i explain its better to get a plumber to take them off and never had a problem. they seem to always use the plumber i recommend.
 
I never touch plumbing, to many things can go wrong , you shouldnt drain a rad anyway if its a combi filling the system back up and bleeding the rad dilutes the fernox in the system and kills combi boilers
 
I never touch them, too much CAN go wrong. I tell them my liabilty ins. does'nt cover plumbing and electrics. I give them a number of a plumber. Never had a trouble.
 
you southerners are just scared of a bit of water thats all that is.. ;D

church, wickes started doing a cartridge that screws into the bleed valve to top up the inhibitor if youve had a few rads off on a combi system.. not tried one yet but if it bothers anyone theyre available cos combis can be a c**t to top up being a sealed system and all that..

gravity system just empty a bottle into the header tank..

only one rad and i dont bother..

chances are if theyre all coming off then it wont be you doing it anyway, but if they want you to sort it let the plumber have it and include it in price plus a drink ;)

if the valve looks ancient and crusty its never a straightforward job but if you know what your doing you can quick snatch the valves off and replace em new, if the rads looking dodgy price em a new 'shiny white, grilled, thermally efficient with a trv'...

makes no difference what you do really, only becomes an issue for me when they start grumbling about cost and having to remove rads etc.. or they complain they cant get a plumber there the second youve final trowelled it... every job on its merits.. the choice is with the customer... cant remember the last time i actually skimmed round a rad though..
 
this year ive had 4 jobs where the plumbings gone tits up afterwards......now have a disclaimer in paperwork to say can supply plumber for a charge or take em off yourself or we can do it but no responsibility for any damage to heating system as old systems can block /leak/etc when a rad is removed...old systems are a nightmare.....never had a problem up until this year and had 3 systems go in 4 weeks, was a royal pain in the aris
 
I don't do rads, water leaks, no good!! Tell them to either take em off themselves or go for the plumber. Also plumbers, when they've smashed their way round your house do they plaster patch?? ::)
 
I only remove the rad if im confident their will be no issues, had no problems so far but if it looks old I leave alone and give them a plumbers
 
Thanks all some good info there...I usually charge £60 per rad to take off put back, on the condition its straight forward...doing a plumbing course at the moment though so hope to be able to do it myself soon. Always wondered hoe you get the fernox back into the system...thats a good idea about the valve i'll check them out.
 
i had a bloke this year said he was gonna take his own rads off cos he didnt want to have to pay me for it.. fair enough..
day i was due to go i was completely snowed in... couldnt get the van off the drive let alone out the village..
rang him to kb it for a day to let the gritters do their stuff etc..

'well, its bloody freezing, ive got no heating, no hot water, what am i supposed to do? youve got to come over here and do the job!!'

'errr.... turn the heating on?'

'I cant can I ive drained the whole system down and the boiler wont light??'

'why did you drain the system?'

'to get the rads off'..

'didnt you just turn the valves off and remove the rads then?'

'no, i thought i had to drain the entire sytem'

'are the valves on the pipes?'

'yes'

'well go fill the system back up, bleed off the air and the boiler will fire up'..

'how do i do that?' (how the fck he was gonna do this anyway without me telling him i have yet to figure out)

'under the boiler youll find a filling loop (combi), thats what fills the system, bleed it as you go and set it between 1 and 2 bar'

'the boilers in the garage, ill wait till the snow stops, im not going out there in this!..'

this bloke lived about 8 miles from me, in the middle of nowhere, the council had almost run out of grit and were just doing the a roads... ::)
 
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