probably an hours work and I assume they’re adding extra inhibitor when it’s refilled?

shib – unscrew the thermostatic head (the big plastic bit on top of the metal valve body) – you should see a brass pin sticking up. It might be stuck down (closed), give it a gentle tug with fingers, or if neccesary pliers. then push it up and down a few times. reinstall thermostatic valve head. That will be £69.99 please 🙂

BTW the head will possibly be held on with a ring collar rather than the whole body being unscrewed.

Stoner, you are a gent… Just had a look and it was the collar type you mentioned. Whipped it off, squirt of GT85 and a good wiggle to remove all the green gunk that was holding it down and it works like a good un!

May the karma angels reward you with earthly wealth sir… 🙂

@Stoner you’re a star, have filed that away in the memory banks. That is the type of DIY which is classified as “advanced” for me.

If you have a combi. It’s simple to shut the flow and return valves at the boiler. Relieve the pressure through a bleed nipple and change the towel rail valve. This will involve little to no water loss as long as the valve on the other side of the rad is off.
There is no need to add inhibitor unless you ask him to.
If you asked him to change the valve, that’s what he’ll do.
If you asked him to change the valve and check the chemicals, that’s what he’ll do. And charge you appropriately.
If you have a non pressurised system, he will need to plug the fill pipe and cap the vent at the header tank, then proceed as above, excluding the boiler valves. (There won’t be any)
Now, do you think this knowledge, a trip to your house, an hours work, a replacement towel rail valve and a trip back to where he came from with insurance to cover the possibility of a mishap is worth £70 quid? Because I damn well do.
Edit: of course it could just as easily be a she!

I got your back sbibby1988
It gets my goat too, but I think it’s mainly down to two things. Times are hard and most people have no idea what’s involved.
I forgot to mention collecting the part from the supplier, which may involve an initial site visit to make sure you’re collecting the right one. I usually don’t charge for that.

Plus lots for sbiby and g-s.

Just because someone chooses to get their hands dirty for a living, doesn’t mean their value is any less than a desk jockey.

You’re paying someone for their experience, their knowledge, their overheads and that they too want to put food on the table and a roof for their family.

Jeez, some people eh? 🙄 😈

Edit: my particular favourite is being asked to fix or repair something for someone who proceeds to tell me that it will only take a few minutes! Well, in that case, if it’s that simple, you can do it yourself! 🙂

It is my life’s mission to make my wife understand this about me. Unfortunately we have known one or two tradesmen do a poor job which keeps setting my cause back. Finding good,reliable and high quality tradesmen (women) is well worth the money

What desk jockey do you think gets to charge £70 for 35 minutes work? or £85 for the first 30 minutes? I think they get cross because they are often as well skilled as you if not better and you charge 4 x what they earn – i know there are overheads but folk dont see this do they they just see £70 for 35 mins work

Then they should think about it a bit harder. It should be obvious there’s training, travel, transport, tools, stock etc in the equation.

I fitted a boiler for an 85yr old lady and on installation power flushed the heating system in line with the boiler manufacturers instructions. She has a contract for servicing and repairs with British Gas and when they called a year later to service the boiler, she asked the engineer to have a look at one of the radiators which wasn’t coming on. He tapped it with the handle of his screwdriver and said “Hear that? That’s sludge that is! Your system needs flushing and we can do it for £800”. I called the following day, pulled the pin up on the thermostatic valve and hey presto. Charged her £0.00 and she has since cancelled her British gas policy and gives me a call with any problems. Who says honesty doesn’t pay!