What a boiler repair visit involves
A repair visit is about tracking down the cause, not just quietening the symptom. A boiler can stop for many reasons: a failed sensor, a frozen or blocked condensate pipe, a seized pump, low system pressure or a problem in the controls rather than the boiler itself. Swapping components on a hunch wastes your money, so we test and trace first and then put right the part that has actually failed.
Breakdowns make up a large share of our work, which means we come across the same faults on lots of different makes and know where to start looking. That experience is what lets us get to the answer without a pile of unnecessary parts on the invoice.
When to call us
Get in touch if any of the following sounds familiar. If the pressure gauge keeps creeping down, our boiler pressure problems guide covers the usual causes, and the boiler not working guide has a wider checklist. Where the boiler seems fine but the house stays cold, try central heating not working.
- The boiler has locked out and pressing reset doesn't hold for long.
- An error code or warning light is showing on the display.
- There's no heating, even though the timer and thermostat are calling for it.
- The heating works but there's no hot water, or the other way round.
- System pressure drops and needs topping up again and again.
- Water is dripping from the boiler, a radiator, a valve or the cylinder.
What to do first, and what we can check by phone
Before ringing, make sure the boiler has power, the fuel supply is on and the programmer hasn't simply been knocked off. Write down any code shown on the display along with the make and model. Please don't take the casing off: work inside a boiler should only be done by a qualified engineer.
When a boiler has gone into lockout, a short conversation is often enough for us to narrow down the likely cause before we set off. That means we turn up with a clearer idea of what's needed and you spend less time waiting for a second trip.
How a repair visit runs
- Diagnosis: we test the boiler and controls to find what has really failed.
- Explanation: you get a plain-English account of the problem, without jargon.
- Price: we tell you the cost of putting it right before any repair work starts.
- Repair: once you're happy, we carry out the work, very often during that same visit.
- Test: we run the heating and hot water and check everything is working before we leave.
Repair or replace?
Our starting point is always to fix what you already have. If your boiler can be repaired economically we will not try to talk you into a new one. Where an older boiler keeps failing, or the repair would cost more than the boiler is worth, we'll explain why a replacement may serve you better over time and leave the decision to you. Our boiler installation page shows how we approach a new boiler, and the boiler repair cost guide explains what tends to affect the price of a fix.
Gas, LPG and oil boilers
Our Gas Safe registered engineers repair gas boilers, and LPG and oil boilers are covered by qualified engineers too, so homes off the mains network aren't left out. Once a boiler is running again, a yearly boiler service is the best way to catch the next problem early.
When we're available
We're contactable Monday to Sunday, 8am to 8pm, including weekends. For urgent jobs in and around Harpenden we aim to attend the same day where our schedule allows, and we're straight with you about timings. If water is pouring from a burst pipe rather than the boiler, head to our emergency plumber page.
Areas we cover
From our Harpenden base we repair boilers in Harpenden, Batford, Kimpton, Redbourn, St Albans, Sandridge, Markyate and Flamstead, plus the surrounding parts of Hertfordshire and the Bedfordshire border. See every location on our areas we cover page.