DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Wife and I have just bought our first house, haven’t moved in and won’t till we’ve finished decorating. As a part of this we’re getting the bathroom, en suite and downstairs WC re-done. At the moment we’ve got (what I call) a standard boiler that’s been in the house since it was built (c1985), just had it serviced and the chap said the boiler itself was working find. My question is if after we get the bathrooms done, a few years down the line, we have to get the boiler replaced (would prob get a combi) what impact could have on my nice new bathroom(s)? Is it possible that tiles and other things would have to be ripped out to get to pipes, l assume at the least taps would need to be replaced as currently we’d be getting low pressure ones.

Suppose what I’m getting at is whether before getting the bathrooms, etc done should I be thinking about upgrading the boiler…and then the knock on of possible pipe/ radiator work?

Course I have thought about asking the guy who did serviced my boiler this, but then the throught of him selling me a boiler and fitting might sway his opinion...

Vin

I always say if you can afford it then get it done while the place is in a state, theres nothing worse than doing your home up then afterwards saying "we should of done that while we had the chance"

I made that mistake and I'll tell you what I'll never make it again, think ahead and get it done now.

Bear in mind if you do get a combi though that you will probably find running 2 showers off it at the same time does not work very well.

It is not necessary to repipe when fitting a combi boiler. The flow will be reversed however seeing as hotwater will now need to go up to the bathroom rather than down to the kitchen but that doesn't affect the pipework in the bathroom - just where the cylinder is now.

acs is right. Running two bathrooms off a combi at the same time is a recipe for domestic disaster. If two peeps are showering at the same time they will both get cold very qickly. But thats by the by. The answer to your question is as above. Don't worry.

Cheers

A combi may be Ok for a single person, or even for a couple, as long as you know where the other person is and what they are doing. However, for a family it is not easy to live with.
While combis are sold as being economical, when heating cold water they do run at full blast, they are always self certified by the manufacturer and as far a I know, no one has done a proper real life check to ascertain their real life performance.
From my experience running a combi for four years and recording its weekly cost, then running the same combi, using an indirect cylinder on the heating circuit resulted in a 20% saving on natural gas, that is cubic metres used, not price.
Mind that each day/month/year has a different set of temperatures and usage has varied slightly.