Owning your own home

Fairly sure that the regs also need to be considered as well as manufacturer's specs.

IIRC required clearance under the regulations is 700mm.

Ah yes, true. Find competent person.

For professional installers, sure.

Consumers be like - will it still work, will it not kill me in my sleep? Ok fine.

That said boxing it in will make it a ballache to service and replace for little practical benefit.

A plumber I just used came out to a report of a leaking shower, spent ten minutes umming and aahing, couldn't spot a makers name so said he'd go off to check. 2 minutes after he'd left 120 quid bill on the cc.

Given no invoice or agreement I'm going to charge back and see what they try and justify.

That approach might be an issue when you come to sell...

Also the 700mm is specified so it can be serviced properly, so if enough space isn't left you could have servicing issues.

That approach might be an issue when you come to sell...

Agree it’s generally good to avoid weird shit as much as possible as a principle but plenty of places sell just fine with loads of non compliant shit. A residential surveyor is highly unlikely to pick up on the specifics around an install - they’ll just say ‘it might be fucked and it might kill you ’ or words to that effect, no matter what they see.

Agree completely that boxing it in when it wasn’t installed with that in mind is likely to be problematic when it comes to the annual inspection (and if you are really unlucky the plumber might condemn it if a really shitty job has been done).

That 700mm figure doesn't look right at all, or maybe just applies to underneath the boiler.

A quick google shows that most require 50mm clearance to the sides/front for airflow and maybe ~250mm above.

Ours is boxed in, but the panels are easily removed for servicing (the same company that installed it in the existing boxed in area are happy to service it like this). This is how most boxing in of boilers tends to be done.

I mean seems pretty shady practice, going to check something and then not coming back and charging. Loads of companies are cowboys though.

Well, it's more that he was very vague about when, "about a week" I think were his words.

My suspicion is he was thinking more about his parking and didn't want to hang around long enough to check anything.

This likely could be put down to poor communication but without an invoice or discussion about costs I'm calling it poor customer service at best.

I mean it could be the call out fee as I know a ton of companies down there do it, so potentially that. If it was me coming to check your shower, that im guessing its leaking inside Id have told you new shower. Lot of them now aren't really serviceable and if they are the parts are nearly the same cost as buying a full new unit its bonkers.

any mortgage advisor recommendations or advice on what to do?

or has anyone used vouchedfor or unbiased ?

We’ve been using Independent James as recommended by someone on here.
He’s great and very patient

I use Chancery Mortgage Services. Can’t fault them, used for mortgage and two re-mortgages. Andrew is a diamond.

Making a meal of the garden continued this weekend with the installation of a ‘pontoon’ to get from the house to the deck. Because the pebble garden Mrs shepz saw on a lifestyle blog is fucking excruciating and awkward to traverse. Dug out and set a frame to take the Siberian larch boards. One day there Will be. Shed in the back right corner to escape to.

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Thanks for the all the replies about boiler boxing. Apparently, an exposed boiler is a no-no when it comes to selling a house in this country. And it is kind of ugly, I admit. I might get a quote from a carpenter to see how much it would be for an elegant solution, as that whole corner of the kitchen is a bit of a mess.

New and old. I’m doing as much as I can Oliver!

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The rug guy never responded when I tried about a month ago 🤷🏻‍♂️

You got any Lambrini?

Ha, last year I had never even heard of Lambrini, but now I drive one!

stuart.moore@robertsterling.com Has been great for me on two purchases and remortgage.

Weird, I'll get in touch. Think it's been a tough time over there this year.

Thanks for the suggestions all! Kicking off this process.

The thing underneath was constructed after the boiler was installed... it's screwed from a maintenance perspective anyway as that boiler really wants better ventilation underneath it (unless that shelf under it is deceiving and is in fact a big hole.

Boilers need air, lots of it, especially underneath (for most designs).

Servicing needs the ability to remove the case (usually screws at the bottom and top, but sometimes at the sides).

Servicing also needs the ability to remove most of the fascia and bottom.

Whatever you do: Give it a lot of space underneath it, and around it so that an engineer can get it, and a lot of air that it can draw upon (if you fully box it put in a grill vent so it can pull in air).

If you can come up with a design that does that... then a standard wardrobe or living room cabinet make will be good for this. MDF is fine, a basic shaker outline or something to make it look good. Store your hoover and ironing board in there (because they're tall and you can't really fit shelves, etc without eating into the space an engineer will need to service it).

Is there a thread where I can ask about appliances? I don't have a Which? subscription but I'm about to order a washing machine, tumble dryer and a fridge freezer. Are Samsung any good?

Thinking under £1.5k for the three, this is not a 40k kitchen ;)

I'd say the Kitchen Appliances thread is the one you want
https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/359297/?offset=25#comment15814319
(I do have a which subscription if it's something specific you're after.)