pneumonia - feeling rough

Nice to hear from you, wintersday.
I'm glad we helped a bit when you felt so alone, and I blooming hope Vince hasn't charged you for the time wasted (however pleasant he was)

The main thing is that you're feeling better now, long may it continue!

Unfortunately what I thought was a leak, was not a leak! We are leaving things till the weather warms up. I am confident topping up the water pressure so can get the heating on. Had a docs appt this week and saw a locum who told me she had never worked there before and was only there for the day and what could she do for me. I found this very strange as I had been asked by the medical centre to go in for a face to face appointment. My x-ray is clear and my chest sounds alright. Have to have another blood test in 6 weeks so now concentrating on eating better and getting my strength back. Thanks again everyone for your support, it was very much appreciated - best wishes.

Back left of the closed radiator makes me think that is is only a loose joint and the pressure caused water to spray onto the wall. You could do a test yourself. Put ch on and go and look with a torch. It would only take a fine mist to cause the damp spot

If it is that then it is only a very simple job and floorboards will not need to be removed

Buxtons installed that radiator and that is the one that is leaking and causing so much anxiety. They do not deserve your trust

Wintersday, go onto facebook now and briefly tell them about your very cold house your age etc, you do not need to tell them anything about Vince and what has gone on. Just say that you have found a leak in the airing cupboard and the ch pressure has been dropped time and time again since whatever day and that you have had no heating for days

Best to keep silent about what has gone on before. It does seem that this leak is the problem and all it will take is a local good-hearted plumber to help and maybe also someone local who will help to lift boards etc to clear a way for the plumber to get in. You would get immediate help in my area. Try it and remember, not to say too much

Meantime clear the cupboard, ready

Hmmm...I am less than impressed with 'Vince'.
Not helpful, sorry, I do hope that he gets things sorted for you on Monday.

Good Afternoon, I continue to feel better but dont quite feel my usual self. Vince said he would be here yesterday. In the meantime I couldnt find my pack of cotton wool so was looking where all my toiletries live which is on the floor that used to be where my hot water tank lived in the airing cupboard. (Buxtons installed a small radiator at the bottom of the airing cupboard as losing the hot water tank would make my towels/bedding not get aired.) I got everything out and moved the stuff into the spare room. I then saw a water mark on the wallpaper at the back to the left of the radiator!! I lifted the carpet in that corner and I could see it is damp!!!! My goodness me I thought, I have found the leak, blimey, I cant believe it!!!!! So I text Vince about 11.30am on Friday and tell him this. He did not reply or phone me so I rang the office before they closed for the weekend. I told Rachel that Vince had said he would come today, she said they are very busy with all the cold weather, she would try and contact Vince and get him to ring me. He rang me about 5.30pm. He says have you found a leak, I tell him I have, I tell him I am so excited and he says, I dont get excited these days, been in the job too long. He almost seems to put down the info that I say I have found a leak, telling me there could be more than one leak. I feel disappointed. Vince mentioned also about struggling to get help for getting carpets etc up and then I suggested my husband could help him but nothing came of that. I honestly dont think he is going to have to go under any floorboards now. When Vince put the sealant into the system, he wanted all the rads open and the heating on till bedtime so the sealant could travel, get warm and do its job. We spoke about the small rad in the airing cupboard. I said it wasnt open and he said if it is normally closed down, he wasnt too bothered about it so it stayed closed. I cant help but think that if he had opened up that rad and the sealant would have travelled round, it could have sealed this leak. I originally phoned 2 other plumbers, one didnt start back till the Mon and on the Mon the other plumber rang me and he had been away on holiday, his name is Craig. He recently replaced some pipework for me and also replaced the stop cock. He was highly recommended and I trusted him 110% as I do Buxtons. Craig is winding down now and semi retired so he doesnt want big jobs. I am sure if I asked him, he would soon be round and could get the leak sorted BUT I am in a bit of a pickle about doing that, I am invested in Buxtons now and find myself in an awkward position. In a way I feel like I could say to Buxtons, am cancelling you and seeing as am no further forward, dont bother sending me a bill, but I cant say that either. I also think that I am not at the top of the list because I can get my heating on and maybe elderly or young families havent got any heating at all so they may be taking priority but no one has said anything like that. Vince says he will be here on Mon after 11am. He has a new tap to fit to do with the filling loop and hopefully he will sort the leak that I have found. I am 99.9% sure that I have found the leak. x

my thoughts too, I hope house insurance is covering this.

Vince might appear to be reliable but is working too slowly and spinning the job He could have worked out if it was water or ch by doing pressure testing. Seeing how it is likely to be ch, he could have isolated radiator by radiator and seen the pressure drop between 2 points. Then carpet up, visual to see the leak happening and fixed

No matter how nice he is wintersday, he is not your friend

There are standard layouts between radiators

I'm starting to think they seem to be dragging their heels, too.

I would certainly want to know at least a rough estimate on the cost of all the visits, etc, so far.

I think you are being rather too patient with Vince and co.
They know your situation being ill and alone and the weather is very cold.
And they haven't even reassured you that they won't charge for all these extra visits.

Local plumbers here wouldn't leave you like that.
What did your insurance company suggest

wintersday, walk around and slowly shine a torch all around your ground floor ceilings, you might be able to see a spot of damp, which might look like a slightly discoloured patch or spot. It will save money if you can find it, be very methodical as you won`t know where the pipes are running.

My water pressure was down a bit, which naturally happens as there is always air in the water. I had to raise it and did it slowly

It seems you've a lot of waiting around to do, wintersday

I hope tomorrow brings some answers, and hopefully resolutions to your problems.

You've been incredibly patient, but then what can you do other than wait.

I am feeling a lot better thanks, but am not going out and friends continue to shop. Got docs appt on Tues following up the blood tests. Doc text to say still hasnt had a report back from the chest xray but keeps checking for it. Vince works for a company. I rang them today and said I was concerned about the price etc. Karen said that because Vince hasnt totally resolved the situation, he hasnt put in any work sheets yet so she couldnt say the price. All being well Vince is coming tomorrow to look under the floorboards and hopefully locate the leak and make good.

wintersday

I do hope Vince is not charging you for all of his input, because it's really been going on for a long time, now, with Still no resolution in sight.

How are you feeling in yourself?

I hope you are beginning to feel a bit better - and managing to keep warm! It sounds like the plumber needs you to run some hot water ( a baths worth) to find out if the pressure leak is in the water heating system. You don’t have to actually get in the bath it if you don’t feel up to it. Leaving hot water in the bath for a while will heat the bathroom up a bit.

wintersday, the slight increase in pressure is ok. It is just the water expanding as it is heated, it takes up more space and so the pressure will rise and it should rise a bit. That is a good test, eliminate that then he will know that the problem will be in the ch system. It might be as simple as a slightly useless valve in the boiler itself

Not what you need is it. If you don’t want to have a bath as it’s too cold, you could just run the bath and not go in it if you know what I mean.
Could you get hold of a couple of fan heaters to warm your place up? They can make a difference quite quickly.
I hope you’re feeling a bit better today. xx

Husband took me for blood test and Vince called this afternoon. He has isolated the water from the heating. I cannot have the heating on. Vince has set the water pressure at 1.5/1.6 bar. I am to have a bath tomorrow, if the water pressure stays the same, then I am to have a bath on Wed. But if by tomorrow morning the pressure has dropped, I am not to have a bath and let the office know. I assume this is a way of trying to find out if the fault lies with the boiler or there is a leak in the pipework somewhere. Not looking forward to having a bath in a cold bathroom though. But what has worried me this afternoon is that the pressure has gone up to 1.6/1.7 bar and Vince never mentioned that could happen! I sent him a text and am hoping he will let me know about that. To be honest I am really really fed up now, not fed up of Vince as I know it is a difficult one and a matter of elimination.

Just writing to say I wrote a msg and it woulnt come up, see if this does.

YouTube is your friend 😊. Easy visual instructions.

Bleeding radiators is another cause of pressure drop, so yes we should all know how to increase the pressure to 1.5. Once the pressure is normal, pressure should not drop unless there is a fault. It is worth everyone keeping an eye on this, low pressure can cause ch to stop working.

There are unscrupulous plumbers out there, having a `pretend` fiddle and all they really do is increase the pressure and charge a lot. The plumber who installed my boiler told me this and showed me what to do. Treat it like an obvious adjustment point, it is in plain sight

We are on tenterhooks wintersday, hoping so much that your reliable Vince can help you out today

I wouldn't know what to do, but I think I need to find out, just in case.
Let's hope Vince gets to the bottom of why it keeps happening, tomorrow wintersday .
You shouldn't have to keep doing it.

This thread was in my mind, when I heard the boiler making rumbling noises. I checked the pressure, it was indeed down. Sorted in minutes. after I got a stool to read the gague. DH was oblivious I had done it.

Well done!

Yay, I have topped up the water pressure and had the heating on about 7pm and it should stay on for 4 hours until the water pressure drops. That will do me to have heat until about 11pm. I have been cosy in the living room most of the day with the gas fire on so I am happy at that. It is surprising what you can do when you have to. I do usually try but just lately I seem to have lost my confidence. Will be interesting to see how Vince gets on tomorrow and I hope it all gets sorted x

You only need to turn a knob below the boiler. Just move one that looks as though it is on a water supply, turn it a bit and you will hear the water come in, if you don`t hear that rush of water, then reverse what you did and try another knob. Sometimes you need to turn 2 knobs but you will see that they are on the same length of pipework

You can do it. There is only one water supply and it is forward, visible and accessible to anyone. Sometimes it is two short copper lengths connected with a braided plastic pipe