Underfloor heating problem

[cambridgealex]

We are exchanging contracts on our first flat and have discovered the underfloor (waterpowered) heating doesn't work. There are radiators in both bathrooms and a brand new boiler.

The owners are a couple our age and said that they turned off the underfloor heating because it was simply too hot and unnecessary even in winter. And it was only when we asked them to turn it on so we could see it working, that they realised it didn't work. The lady in the flat next door also said her underfloor heating didn't work.

Do we believe them that the radiators are sufficient? (Fwiw it was baking last night when I went round at 7pm, was 13degrees outside)

Or do we make them tear up all the floors and delay the move, also risk the flooring being damaged.

Is there another solution like add radiators to the other rooms?

It's a ground floor flat FYI. If underfloor heating is written in the description and it doesn't work, surely we have some right to now say, look we want it working when we move in or £x off the sale price.

Here's a floor plan if that helps

Click to see full-size image.

[StuartHopkin]

We are exchanging contracts on our first flat and have discovered the underfloor (waterpowered) heating doesn't work. There are radiators in both bathrooms and a brand new boiler.

The owners are a couple our age and said that they turned off the underfloor heating because it was simply too hot and unnecessary even in winter. And it was only when we asked them to turn it on so we could see it working, that they realised it didn't work. The lady in the flat next door also said her underfloor heating didn't work.

Do we believe them that the radiators are sufficient? (Fwiw it was baking last night when I went round at 7pm, was 13degrees outside)

Or do we make them tear up all the floors and delay the move, also risk the flooring being damaged.

Is there another solution like add radiators to the other rooms?

It's a ground floor flat FYI. If underfloor heating is written in the description and it doesn't work, surely we have some right to now say, look we want it working when we move in or £x off the sale price.

Here's a floor plan if that helps

Click to see full-size image.

Assuming you haven't exchanged contracts then yes, I would be saying we want £x of the sale price or you get it fixed.
Getting it fixed would obviously delay things, but to be honest unless you have a rough idea what is wrong how are you going to know what £x is acceptable, and what £x means you should walk away.
The only way you will probably know this is to get someone in, and they might need to rip up the floor to give you a ball park quote on fixing it?

I don't think you should accept the 'it's not needed argument' as when you come to sell the next buyer may well try and get you to fix it or want money off.

[nirvana]

Unless they've installed a really low number of terrible radiators then radiators would be plenty to keep a flat warm. I've had underfloor and not had it and it didn't make a jot of difference to the quality of my life - think I only turned it on once to see what it was like.

Unless it's your dream to have underfloor heating I'd not worry about it, not get it fixed but perfectly legit to ask them to consider how much they would like to take off as a goodwill gesture to compensate. I think you'd have a legit claim post the purchase if something like this was found after you'd completed so pretty reasonable to ask for a fahsand or so off now its been discovered in advance

How hard you want to be about this is entirely personal though in terms of how well the flat fits with your budget, the area you want to live in etc - if it ticks all those boxes I wouldn't be overly concerned about a trivial thing relative to all the other purchase factors.

[ripple11]

Ask them to get a qualified engineer to look at it and give an estimate of what is the problem, and how much it would cost to fix it.
We had water underfloor heating fitted recently in our kitchen extension....you really would not want to pull up flooring and cement etc!
 If it worked before, its maybe a supply /boiler fault.
Re temperature....our underfloor heating is temp controllable.....maybe this one is too?

PS...it is nice in the morning 

[byronkincaid]

Would be nice to have it working in conjunction with the extractor fans as you have no windows. Condensation, damp and mould would be my concern having had to deal with it in my old house.

[StuartHopkin]

Unless they've installed a really low number of terrible radiators then radiators would be plenty to keep a flat warm. I've had underfloor and not had it and it didn't make a jot of difference to the quality of my life - think I only turned it on once to see what it was like.

Unless it's your dream to have underfloor heating I'd not worry about it, not get it fixed but perfectly legit to ask them to consider how much they would like to take off as a goodwill gesture to compensate. I think you'd have a legit claim post the purchase if something like this was found after you'd completed so pretty reasonable to ask for a fahsand or so off now its been discovered in advance

How hard you want to be about this is entirely personal though in terms of how well the flat fits with your budget, the area you want to live in etc - if it ticks all those boxes I wouldn't be overly concerned about a trivial thing relative to all the other purchase factors.

Unless I am mistaken then its tough titties the day after completion!

[Doobs]

Unless they've installed a really low number of terrible radiators then radiators would be plenty to keep a flat warm. I've had underfloor and not had it and it didn't make a jot of difference to the quality of my life - think I only turned it on once to see what it was like.

Unless it's your dream to have underfloor heating I'd not worry about it, not get it fixed but perfectly legit to ask them to consider how much they would like to take off as a goodwill gesture to compensate. I think you'd have a legit claim post the purchase if something like this was found after you'd completed so pretty reasonable to ask for a fahsand or so off now its been discovered in advance

How hard you want to be about this is entirely personal though in terms of how well the flat fits with your budget, the area you want to live in etc - if it ticks all those boxes I wouldn't be overly concerned about a trivial thing relative to all the other purchase factors.

Unless I am mistaken then its tough titties the day after completion!

nah, sure that isn't true, as you can still sue for misrepresentation if somebody has lied?    Sure I have read stuff about people suing because somebody has hidden a dispute with a neighbour.

[Doobs]

Unless they've installed a really low number of terrible radiators then radiators would be plenty to keep a flat warm. I've had underfloor and not had it and it didn't make a jot of difference to the quality of my life - think I only turned it on once to see what it was like.

Unless it's your dream to have underfloor heating I'd not worry about it, not get it fixed but perfectly legit to ask them to consider how much they would like to take off as a goodwill gesture to compensate. I think you'd have a legit claim post the purchase if something like this was found after you'd completed so pretty reasonable to ask for a fahsand or so off now its been discovered in advance

How hard you want to be about this is entirely personal though in terms of how well the flat fits with your budget, the area you want to live in etc - if it ticks all those boxes I wouldn't be overly concerned about a trivial thing relative to all the other purchase factors.

Unless I am mistaken then its tough titties the day after completion!

nah, sure that isn't true, as you can still sue for misrepresentation if somebody has lied?    Sure I have read stuff about people suing because somebody has hidden a dispute with a neighbour.

obv legal disputes are shit, so definitely sort it now.

[EvilPie]

We are exchanging contracts on our first flat and have discovered the underfloor (waterpowered) heating doesn't work. There are radiators in both bathrooms and a brand new boiler.

The owners are a couple our age and said that they turned off the underfloor heating because it was simply too hot and unnecessary even in winter. And it was only when we asked them to turn it on so we could see it working, that they realised it didn't work. The lady in the flat next door also said her underfloor heating didn't work.

Do we believe them that the radiators are sufficient? (Fwiw it was baking last night when I went round at 7pm, was 13degrees outside)

Or do we make them tear up all the floors and delay the move, also risk the flooring being damaged.

Is there another solution like add radiators to the other rooms?

It's a ground floor flat FYI. If underfloor heating is written in the description and it doesn't work, surely we have some right to now say, look we want it working when we move in or £x off the sale price.

Here's a floor plan if that helps

You have every right to say you want something knocked off. Equally they have every right to say they're not going to knock anything off.

All depends how much you want the sale to go through and how much you value the underfloor heating aspect.

What's the EPC rating of the place? If it's A or B then I can buy that it gets too hot when it's on in such a small space. If it's D or E then I'd be very cautious because it's going to get chilly over the next few months.

[Tractor]

There is normally a control box type thing that runs it, we had a similar issue it was the controller.

The most common type of under floor system used is John Guest Speedfit obv it might not be this type.

http://www.johnguest.com/speedfit/products/underfloor-heating/

I would get them to get a heating engineer in to check it out and get a quote for repair.

[RobS]

We are exchanging contracts on our first flat and have discovered the underfloor (waterpowered) heating doesn't work. There are radiators in both bathrooms and a brand new boiler.

The owners are a couple our age and said that they turned off the underfloor heating because it was simply too hot and unnecessary even in winter. And it was only when we asked them to turn it on so we could see it working, that they realised it didn't work. The lady in the flat next door also said her underfloor heating didn't work.

Do we believe them that the radiators are sufficient? (Fwiw it was baking last night when I went round at 7pm, was 13degrees outside)

Or do we make them tear up all the floors and delay the move, also risk the flooring being damaged.

Is there another solution like add radiators to the other rooms?

It's a ground floor flat FYI. If underfloor heating is written in the description and it doesn't work, surely we have some right to now say, look we want it working when we move in or £x off the sale price.

Here's a floor plan if that helps

Click to see full-size image.

Think it's pretty common for underfloor heating to play up. I have a top floor flat with underfloor heating, pretty sure in one of the bedrooms it doesn't work, need to sort it, a friend had similar issue and ended up paying £500 to fix. Usually an issue with the control panel rather than the actual heating element broken.

Your flat being on the ground floor I would insist that they get it fixed, no way would a ground floor flat be warm enough in winter with no heating? Unless you are used to living in an igloo.

Also no chance they haven't realised that their heating wasn't working, demand a discount for them subjecting your ears to that bullshit.

[byronkincaid]

Oh I got that wrong then. Thought it was bathrooms that had the UFH not the rest of the flat.

[4KSuited]

We had electric underfloor heating in the kitchen & conservatory. It packed up in the kitchen and we re-installed a radiator. There's no solution that won't cost £££s and no GTE beyond the warranty that the same won't happen again. I'd never go for it again unless I had wooden or tiled floors that meant that the system was easily accessible.

In your case, Nirvana's point is key. If this place ticks all the other boxes, suggest a reasonable price reduction (£2--3k) and then use the extra money in your budget to install radiators in the other rooms. Maybe not as trendy/sexy, but far more reliable.

Re: post exchange charges. Yes, if something is not as per the spec, then you have a right to claim (often needs to be via small claims court). At least that's the route I went back in the mists of time.

[mikeymike]

if you really want the flat i wouldn't bother haggling - as long as there is no leak in the buried pipework - it will not be expensive to rectify

1. check the manual
2 check actuator heads are fitted correctly
3. check the room stats are fitted

providing all the parts are there - the chances are the plumber did not know how to wire up the control center - happens all the time

you will 9 x 10 need a sparky rather than a plumber to sort it out as the plumbing side is idiot proof

worse case scenario - easy to add extra radiators if needed     

[RED-DOG]

Have you tried turning it off and on again?