New Boiler - Days 48 and 49

New boiler finally up and running

It was an early start on Monday. The company delivering the extra pipework for the gas line said they would deliver between 7:30 and 9:30, and he showed at 8:15. As I was signing the docket, the first of the Scottish Gas guys showed up. He came in and I showed him the job, along with the written specific instructions the sales guy originally left. I then explained about the gas feed problem and the agreed solution. At this point he said it looked like an easy job and he would get started. His colleague arrived abut 20 minutes later (having phoned to explain he was running late). Once the 2 of them were there one got horsed into extracting the old boiler while the other started to rip out the existing pipework in the loft and airing cupboard. It seems that due to the mess of the original pipework, the guys putting in my bathroom 2 years ago bypassed the storage tanks and fed sink toilet and shower from the main supply. This meant that basically all pipework in the loft could come out, which meant a fast job. Soon the two of them were fitting the new boiler while Ciaran and I had to go out. By the time we got back (well, actually out back and out again) there were 4 guys with associated truck parked outside the house. The Gas guys were joined by an electrician and a brickie. It seems the brickie was late and this held up the others who had to wait for the flue to be fitted and sealed with concrete.
By the end of day 1 the new boiler was in place and wired, though not piped for gas. All the old stuff was out and the new gas line was mostly in place (just the bit that needed to be buried was left as they didn't have the correct tape with them).

The 48 day delay - instead of running the pipe in front of the door can't you just bury it?

Just some of the recycled Copper

Day 2 started with an estimate of being done by 1230. While one finished burying the gas main, the other competed fitting the boiler itself. Once gas was available they did a powerclean of the system and cleaned all their mess away, leaving the rubbish to be collected by a third party.
Everything was signed off by 1300.

As a final shot I was advised to collect the copper waste and sell it to a scrap merchant. Since so much came out of the house it would be worth the effort. So Ciaran and I spent the afternoon going through the bags and picking out the copper, getting just over 32kg (including the hot water tank) and sold it all for just over £4 a kilo.

After being given such a hard time by the company before any work had even taken place,  have to say that the professionalism of the tradesmen present was fantastic. The care they took of their work and of my house was refreshing to see, especially since I got the distinct impression that their management weren't that bothered.