Boxing in above a boiler…..

[Drago]

@sevenfourate hi, here is my boiler.
As you can see, when I'll get my new kitchen it will be a problem to hide the boiler.
The "hiding" unit will have to be attached to the window frame.
I'm not planning to have any top units, like the one that is there just now.
Maybe they could run a double unit just for the boiler, pipes and switch, who knows.
I'm planning to get the new kitchen done in the summer sometimes, I'll post updates then.
Edit: mind to get it serviced every year, or the guarantee is invalid.

View attachment 760639

Strewth pat, do you really need to keep medical samples next to the boiler?

 

[sevenfourate]

@sevenfourate hi, here is my boiler.
As you can see, when I'll get my new kitchen it will be a problem to hide the boiler.
The "hiding" unit will have to be attached to the window frame.
I'm not planning to have any top units, like the one that is there just now.
Maybe they could run a double unit just for the boiler, pipes and switch, who knows.
I'm planning to get the new kitchen done in the summer sometimes, I'll post updates then.
Edit: mind to get it serviced every year, or the guarantee is invalid.

View attachment 760639

Right. That’s even more ‘tricky’ to cover in nicely with its positioning than mine. Currently at least. I’m sure come new kitchen time (I’m having trouble writing that through all the jealousy 😉) a seamless solution will present itself !! If it doesn’t there’s no help for any of us….. 😁

 

[presta]

Presta - 'If you make stuff that unscrews or unclips easily you don't end up having to redecorate just because you needed maintenance access.'

>40 years in the trade & project managment tell me that I nor my clients want to see screw caps or dirty shadow lines where the boxing meets the wall/ceiling, it looks cr*p. No need to re-decorate if it has to be removed, just cut the paint line in the corners with sharp knife & it'll go back nice & tidy (although you could easily re-caulk the corners & touch up the paint if required). In my picture we'd planned the pipe runs & left the filter on show which kept the boxing to the minimum size.

When the man came to repair my old water heater (a common occurrence) I doubt he would have wanted to prize off panels covering pipes if they were in his way, so I made a cover with two screws that I could remove in under a minute before he arrived, as I also did when I renewed the cartridge in the scale reducer every six months.

I doubt the boiler man would have wanted to crawl into a gap under the worktop between a cupboard and the boiler either, which is why I made the worktop lift off and the cupboard unhook off the wall without the use of any tools at all. When they're in place you can't tell they aren't fixed permanently.

There are two types of tradesmen, those who don't do the job properly, and those who would do the job properly if they didn't have to compete with the other lot.

Jobs tradesmen have done for me:

The gas board kept repeatedly bodging the repair to a jamming gas valve on my water heater. It took 16 years, a new water heater, several explosions, and a threat of legal action to get it repaired correctly.

A contractor walked all over the tiles on the lean to roof whilst fitting fascia and soffit. First he accused me of breaking them, and then he glued them all back together like a jigsaw puzzle using bath sealer. When he broke the landing window I had to stop him re-glazing it with polyfilla. I went up the ladder to repaint it afterwards, and it turned out that he had left all the old putty and glass in the rebate, and just glued the new pane over the top of it all with bath sealer. Then to humour me he had covered the whole lot with a layer of putty. He threw away the bathroom extractor fan vent with the old soffit, and then didn't fit a new one. When I complained that the hose was discharging into the loft he fitted a vent with no flange for the hose, so it was still filling the loft with damp. Next he fitted a louvered one so that all the flaps hang open and let the birds in. Fourth time lucky.

Plumber replaced my water main and threw the spoil back into the trench without compacting it, so it all subsided afterwards. He also left the electrical earth bonding wrongly connected.

After taking my watch back to the jeweller three times because the new battery kept stopping, I decided to make a key and unscrew the back of the watch myself. It turned out that the battery clip had been bent by someone who couldn't be bothered to unscrew it.

Hotpoint fitted washer dryer pump wrongly so that it kept cavitating.

Currys broke my TV trying to remove a circuit board without undoing the necessary screws.

LBS laced a wheel incorrectly.

LBS ruined all the screws on the bike by forcing them into threads choked with paint whilst fitting new frame.

Currys scratched a TV screen whilst they had it for repair.

The latest one was the washing machine repair man who deliberately slashed the windings on the fan motor whilst my back was turned.

 

[stephec]

Strewth pat, do you really need to keep medical samples next to the boiler?

Beat me to it, although I thought she might just only have an outside toilet.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Strewth pat, do you really need to keep medical samples next to the boiler?

Lol those bottles are my homemade apple cider vinegar!

new kitchen time (I’m having trouble writing that through all the jealousy 😉)

Ah, 3 years of overtime to afford it.
In the current economic climate, I fear my budget is not enough, haven't had the courage to get estimates yet!

Jobs tradesmen have done for me:

This is why my flat is still a riot after 16 years of moving in.
Workmen just stress me.

Beat me to it, although I thought she might just only have an outside toilet.

It's the cat's sample for the vet

 

[Fastpedaller]

When the man came to repair my old water heater (a common occurrence) I doubt he would have wanted to prize off panels covering pipes if they were in his way, so I made a cover with two screws that I could remove in under a minute before he arrived, as I also did when I renewed the cartridge in the scale reducer every six months.

I doubt the boiler man would have wanted to crawl into a gap under the worktop between a cupboard and the boiler either, which is why I made the worktop lift off and the cupboard unhook off the wall without the use of any tools at all. When they're in place you can't tell they aren't fixed permanently.

There are two types of tradesmen, those who don't do the job properly, and those who would do the job properly if they didn't have to compete with the other lot.

Jobs tradesmen have done for me:

The gas board kept repeatedly bodging the repair to a jamming gas valve on my water heater. It took 16 years, a new water heater, several explosions, and a threat of legal action to get it repaired correctly.

A contractor walked all over the tiles on the lean to roof whilst fitting fascia and soffit. First he accused me of breaking them, and then he glued them all back together like a jigsaw puzzle using bath sealer. When he broke the landing window I had to stop him re-glazing it with polyfilla. I went up the ladder to repaint it afterwards, and it turned out that he had left all the old putty and glass in the rebate, and just glued the new pane over the top of it all with bath sealer. Then to humour me he had covered the whole lot with a layer of putty. He threw away the bathroom extractor fan vent with the old soffit, and then didn't fit a new one. When I complained that the hose was discharging into the loft he fitted a vent with no flange for the hose, so it was still filling the loft with damp. Next he fitted a louvered one so that all the flaps hang open and let the birds in. Fourth time lucky.

Plumber replaced my water main and threw the spoil back into the trench without compacting it, so it all subsided afterwards. He also left the electrical earth bonding wrongly connected.

After taking my watch back to the jeweller three times because the new battery kept stopping, I decided to make a key and unscrew the back of the watch myself. It turned out that the battery clip had been bent by someone who couldn't be bothered to unscrew it.

Hotpoint fitted washer dryer pump wrongly so that it kept cavitating.

Currys broke my TV trying to remove a circuit board without undoing the necessary screws.

LBS laced a wheel incorrectly.

LBS ruined all the screws on the bike by forcing them into threads choked with paint whilst fitting new frame.

Currys scratched a TV screen whilst they had it for repair.

The latest one was the washing machine repair man who deliberately slashed the windings on the fan motor whilst my back was turned.

I feel your pain. I retired from plumbing (just general, not gas or boilers) last year. I've been horrified over the years by some of the 'professionals' work I've seen. Most irritating is the plywood boxing around pipes nailed in place and then tiled over! 'you won't have to take it off often' just doesn't cut it with me. The isolator valves with the isolator inaccessible because the screw slot faces the wall 10mm away! I don't jest. The toilet cistern glued to the tiled wall with 'no-nails' which took 1.5 hrs and a hacksaw blade held with fingers to remove - it was either that of break the tiles! I can only assume these guys are lazy or want to return in a few years to retile a whole bathroom. I commented about the 'tiles over boxing bodge' on another site and was met with many replies defending the perpetrators on the grounds of appearance - presumably a lot of broken tiles looks neater than a few screw covers! One guy replied in support and said the worst he'd seen was melamine kitchen worktop 'secured' to the base units with 'no-nails' resulting in a full kitchen refit instead of a simple worktop replacement. Rant over, and I'll give the OP my suggestions shortly.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I feel your pain. I retired from plumbing (just general, not gas or boilers) last year. I've been horrified over the years by some of the 'professionals' work I've seen. Most irritating is the plywood boxing around pipes nailed in place and then tiled over! 'you won't have to take it off often' just doesn't cut it with me. The isolator valves with the isolator inaccessible because the screw slot faces the wall 10mm away! I don't jest. The toilet cistern glued to the tiled wall with 'no-nails' which took 1.5 hrs and a hacksaw blade held with fingers to remove - it was either that of break the tiles! I can only assume these guys are lazy or want to return in a few years to retile a whole bathroom. I commented about the 'tiles over boxing bodge' on another site and was met with many replies defending the perpetrators on the grounds of appearance - presumably a lot of broken tiles looks neater than a few screw covers! One guy replied in support and said the worst he'd seen was melamine kitchen worktop 'secured' to the base units with 'no-nails' resulting in a full kitchen refit instead of a simple worktop replacement. Rant over, and I'll give the OP my suggestions shortly.

A sad indictment of many tradesmen of varying disciplines, ime.

Also, not helped by customers who give rave reviews for clearly less than top-notch tradesmen.

We have suffered several bodgers over the years who came with glowing personal recommendations.

I tend to do as much as I can myself these days even though I hate doing these types of jobs. I may take several times longer than a pro' and make false starts as I learn while I go but... whatever I do looks really good and works properly.

I only call a tradesman in if something is obviously really beyond my ability or, increasingly as I age, when the job is too darn heavy.

 

[Fastpedaller]

OP - that's similar to the boiler position at my Daughter's house. The black filter contains a strong magnet to attract and ferrite deposits - I clean (or more descriptively check) ours every year. If the system has inhibitor added there shouldn't be much rust going around. The filter housing unscrews (after isolating the pipe valves) like a car oil filter, and I've seen British Gas experts fit these near the floor so it's impossible to remove the filter! Anyway, back to the solution........
Can you get a wall cabinet that matches your existing ones in style/colour? Some kitchen suppliers can supply a tall wall unit (900mm). The standard way of mounting the cabinets is a joggled plate on either side which is screwed to the wall - there is an adjustable 'hook' on each inside edge of the cabinet which locates on the plate to secure the cabinet in place. There are two of these (one on each side). If you can get a suitable cabinet which will fit around the boiler, remove the back of the cabinet. It may also be necessary to remove part of the cabinet base to allow ventilation. If you can attach the RH bracket to the wall with the left side of the cabinet against the left wall that will allow you to 'hook' the cabinet into position on the RHS - I'm sure it won't be possible to easily attach or easily reach the one on the left. With the cabinet in the correct position (instead of using the LH attachment) fixing screw(s) can be used to attach it to the left wall near the window (may need to shorten the curtain pole?). The cabinet door will give access to the boiler. To hide the outlet pipe and filter/pipes, a light wooden frame with MDF secured to it painted in the wall colour can be placed on top and held by gravity so it's easily removable. If the gap between the existing last cabinet and wall doesn't match an available cabinet width a 'filler' panel can be added either between the existing cabinet and the new one or between the wall and new cabinet (although that will be more difficult to do)

 

[Tail End Charlie]

I feel your pain. I retired from plumbing (just general, not gas or boilers) last year. I've been horrified over the years by some of the 'professionals' work I've seen. Most irritating is the plywood boxing around pipes nailed in place and then tiled over! 'you won't have to take it off often' just doesn't cut it with me. The isolator valves with the isolator inaccessible because the screw slot faces the wall 10mm away! I don't jest. The toilet cistern glued to the tiled wall with 'no-nails' which took 1.5 hrs and a hacksaw blade held with fingers to remove - it was either that of break the tiles! I can only assume these guys are lazy or want to return in a few years to retile a whole bathroom. I commented about the 'tiles over boxing bodge' on another site and was met with many replies defending the perpetrators on the grounds of appearance - presumably a lot of broken tiles looks neater than a few screw covers! One guy replied in support and said the worst he'd seen was melamine kitchen worktop 'secured' to the base units with 'no-nails' resulting in a full kitchen refit instead of a simple worktop replacement. Rant over, and I'll give the OP my suggestions shortly.

Similarly I had to access the macerator in our house after we had moved in. It was behind a tiled section. I looked at it and thought "now where would I have put a cover?" and took out the grout along those lines. Phew, it was exactly there. When I replaced it I made the cover easily removable with screw covers hiding the screws.

 

[Fastpedaller]

Similarly I had to access the macerator in our house after we had moved in. It was behind a tiled section. I looked at it and thought "now where would I have put a cover?" and took out the grout along those lines. Phew, it was exactly there. When I replaced it I made the cover easily removable with screw covers hiding the screws.

I've used a magnet to find where screws are hidden.

 

[sevenfourate]

To give this thread some finality…..

Before:

Now:

You wouldn’t want to make a centre-piece out of it. But it’s taken the rough edges off at least……

 

[wiggydiggy]

To give this thread some finality…..

Before:

View attachment 764869

Now:

View attachment 764870

You wouldn’t want to make a centre-piece out of it. But it’s taken the rough edges off at least……

Cute, your Boiler has a little hat 🎩

 

[Adam4868]

Well done....next job get that Artex ceiling skimmed 😁

 

[sevenfourate]

Well done....next job get that Artex ceiling skimmed 😁

Really ? Don't tell me........it's now a little bit 1970's. Like me.......

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Really ? Don't tell me........it's now a little bit 1970's. Like me.......

The two of us, we have the same boiler ... and the same ceilings
I'm not getting my ceilings skimmed, they have lovely patterns, I like them as they are.
On the by, someone must have had great plastering skills to make such ornate patterns on a ceiling, not to mention sore arms