DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

hi everyone my radiators get warm at the bottom and the top but stay cold in the middle i wast just wandering if it needs power flushing or wud i be able to flush the system myself by removing all the rads and flushing out with water and then flush out the pipewprk intil it runs clear any advise wud be much appreciated thanx

We had our system "power flushed" in April last year when a new boiler was to be installed. The rads this winter are like yours - cold in the middle. We moved a couple of rads and also put in new rads when we did building works AFTER the so-called "power-flush" was carried out by the boiler installation company. The builders reported that the rads were full of black sludge. The ones they moved or replaced get hot all over. I have repeatedly tried to get the boiler installation company to come back to fix the problem, but have been fobbed off for 5 weeks. Today they tell me if the rads are 10 years old, or more, power-flushing wont clean them out. I was here all the time the boiler and new plumbing was installed and I do not recall a large power flushing machine in operation. Now that company tells me the only way to clean the rads is to remove them one by one and clean them out with a hose pipe. We have 20 rads! I hear the "ker-ching" of the cash register pinging in my ear, as in our household we do not have the strength or the skills to do the job. I hope you have better luck with your system than we have.

hi nickers thanx for the reply sorry to hear you had so much trouble i find it digusting when youve paid to have a job done and it dosent work and the people who did it refuse to come back to it. they shud at least try to rectify the problem thats wats so good about this site you can get expert advise from the kind people who share there time to help people like us who are vunerable to being ripped off

[quote="nickers"]We had our system "power flushed" in April last year when a new boiler was to be installed. The rads this winter are like yours - cold in the middle. We moved a couple of rads and also put in new rads when we did building works AFTER the so-called "power-flush" was carried out by the boiler installation company. The builders reported that the rads were full of black sludge. The ones they moved or replaced get hot all over. I have repeatedly tried to get the boiler installation company to come back to fix the problem, but have been fobbed off for 5 weeks. Today they tell me if the rads are 10 years old, or more, power-flushing wont clean them out. I was here all the time the boiler and new plumbing was installed and I do not recall a large power flushing machine in operation. Now that company tells me the only way to clean the rads is to remove them one by one and clean them out with a hose pipe. We have 20 rads! I hear the "ker-ching" of the cash register pinging in my ear, as in our household we do not have the strength or the skills to do the job. I hope you have better luck with your system than we have.[/quote]
I have looked at your quote. From what I read, you have paid for goods and services, value of which you have not received.
If I was in your shoes, I would contact Stephen Rhodes, of the BBCThreeCounties Consumer Program, either through their website: www.BBC.co.uk/threecounties, or contact the show direct on: o8459455555 between 11:00 and 14:00, Mon-Fri.
It doesn't matter if you are in his catchment area or not. If anyone can help get you the Justice you deserve it's Stephen.
His email address is, stephen.rhodes@bbc.co.uk.
I hope this is helpful and you are successful in getting what you paid for.