Boiler packed up? You'll get me, not a call centre.
Boilers, leaks, combi installs, bathrooms and landlord gas certificates across Bath and about 12 miles round. Gas Safe registered, number 587412. Monday to Friday 8 till 5, and emergencies seven days.
Kev Doyle. Working in and around Bath since 2012.
Registration, reviews and cover
- Gas Safe587412 Check it on the Gas Safe Register before I turn up.
- 4.8from 58 Google reviews
- 2012working around Bath since
- £2mpublic liability cover, certificate on request
- 12 milesaround Bath, my working radius
What I do
Five kinds of job. Most weeks it's mainly boilers.
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Boiler servicing and repair
A yearly service is what Gas Safe Register recommends, and most boiler makers want one written into the Benchmark log or the warranty goes. A service means the casing off, combustion checked with a flue gas analyser and the log filled in. Repairs are the boiler that won't fire, the pressure that keeps dropping, the condensate pipe that froze overnight.
- Combustion tested at the flue with an analyser
- Benchmark service record filled in, so the warranty stays valid
- Frozen condensate pipe: the usual cold-snap lockout
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Combi boiler installs
It starts with a survey: where the boiler goes, where the flue comes out, the gas pipe size and your mains pressure and flow. That last one decides whether a combi suits the house at all. Then the old boiler comes out, the system gets cleaned, the new one goes on and gets commissioned, and I notify building regs through Gas Safe so the compliance certificate comes to you by post.
- Mains pressure and flow measured before I recommend a combi
- Room-by-room temperature control, which building regs require when a boiler is replaced
- Building Regulations Compliance Certificate posted to you after notification
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Leaks and burst pipes
Water through the ceiling, a weeping joint under the sink, a pipe split in a cold snap. Turn the water off at the stopcock if you can, then ring. Emergencies are covered seven days a week.
- Emergencies: 7 days
- Smell gas instead? Ring the National Gas Emergency Service first: 0800 111 999
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Bathroom installs
Most of a bathroom job is the bit you never see once it's finished: stripping out, new supply and waste pipes under the floor and inside the walls, boarding and tanking round the shower. Tiling and the new suite come last. On a typical bathroom that's one to two weeks of work, depending on the room and how long things take to dry.
- Pipework first-fixed under floors and inside walls before any boarding goes up
- Shower and bath areas waterproofed (tanked) before tiling
- Leak test at second fix, before the job is signed off
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Landlord gas safety certificates
Every gas appliance, fitting and flue you provide checked once a year, and the record (the CP12) handed over. Your tenants need a copy within 28 days of the check. Book up to two months early and you keep the original renewal date, so there's no reason to leave it to the last week.
- Due within 12 months of the last check
- Copy to existing tenants within 28 days, new tenants before they move in
- Missing the check is a criminal offence for the landlord
The part of a boiler swap nobody photographs
Everyone looks at the new boiler. The day is mostly spent on what's behind it. Draining the system down, getting the old one off the wall, then flushing years of black sludge out of the pipes and radiators so it doesn't go straight into the new heat exchanger. Then the condensate pipe, the flue, maybe a bigger gas pipe. None of that shows when the cupboard door's shut. All of it decides how long the boiler lasts.
- Drain down and old boiler off typically half a day
- Flush or powerflush to clear sludge a few hours to most of a day
- Pipework, flue and condensate run half a day to a day
Halfway through, and finished
Two of these three are the messy middle of a job. That's most of the work.
Oldfield Park, January
Frost on every wall in the street and a boiler that's locked itself out because the condensate pipe froze solid where it runs down the outside. Kettle of warm water, a few minutes, and the heating's back on before the kids are up. Not much of a job. Probably the most thanked one of the week.
What customers say
“Came out on Christmas Eve for a dead boiler and didn't charge us a fortune for it.”
Questions people ring with
I can smell gas. Do I ring you?
Not first. Ring the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 straight away — it's free and open 24 hours. Open the windows, don't touch light switches or anything with a flame, and turn the gas off at the meter if it's safe to. Once they've made it safe, ring me to fix the fault.
How do I know you're actually Gas Safe?
Ask to see my Gas Safe ID card. The front has my photo and licence number, the back lists the gas work I'm qualified to do. The business registration number is 587412 and you can check it on the Gas Safe Register website before I turn up. You should do that with anyone who touches your boiler.
Does my boiler really need a service every year?
Gas Safe Register recommends a yearly safety check and service, and most manufacturers need it recorded in the Benchmark log to keep the warranty valid. Miss a year and you may find the warranty's gone when you need it.
Will a combi give us enough hot water?
It depends on your mains pressure and flow, because a combi heats water as you use it. Two showers at once is where they struggle. That's why I measure your water at the survey before recommending one — if a combi isn't right for the house, I'll say so.
Will I get the building regs paperwork for a new boiler?
Yes. As a Gas Safe registered installer I notify the boiler through the register, normally within 30 days, and a Building Regulations Compliance Certificate comes to you by post. Keep it somewhere safe — solicitors ask for it when you sell.
My tenant's gas certificate is about to run out. What now?
Get it booked. The check has to be done within 12 months of the last one, and missing it is a criminal offence. Booking up to two months early keeps the original renewal date, so you lose nothing by doing it sooner.
I live in a listed house in Bath. Can I have a new boiler flue?
Often, yes. But a new external flue or a pipe run through historic fabric on a listed building can need listed building consent first, and plenty of central Bath is listed or in the conservation area. Check with the council before anyone drills through anything.
Could I have a carbon monoxide problem and not know?
Yes. CO has no smell and no colour. Headaches, dizziness, feeling sick, tiredness and breathlessness that ease off when you leave the house are the signs. An audible CO alarm and a yearly check are the protection.
Worth knowing before you ring
It's just me. No office, no second engineer to send. Routine work — services, installs, bathrooms — is Monday to Friday, 8 till 5, and I don't book it at weekends. The weekend is kept for emergencies. And if I'm halfway under a floor when you ring, I may not pick up first time; ring the other number or leave a message.
Where I work
Bath and about 12 miles around it: Bath, Larkhall, Combe Down, Odd Down, Weston, Widcombe, Oldfield Park, Bathwick, Batheaston, Bathford, Bathampton, Box, Corsham, Bradford on Avon, Freshford, Limpley Stoke, Monkton Combe, Peasedown St John, Radstock, Midsomer Norton, Paulton, Timsbury, Keynsham, Saltford, Marshfield, Trowbridge.
Ring either number
- Hours
- Mon–Fri 8am–5pm, emergencies 7 days
- kev@riversideplumbing.example
- Area
- Bath and about 12 miles around it
Routine work is weekdays, 8 till 5. Weekends are for emergencies only.
Smell gas? Ring the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 before you ring me.