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CRT Ruling on Lockside Cottages


Tim Lewis

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This lock cottage is a good example of the 'over-the-top' anti-intruder defences I often notice at lock cottages. Army style razor wire on the top of the 6ft high garden brick wall in this case! 

 

This apparent need for serious security measures at otherwise quaint looking lockside locations always puts me right off ever buying one. 

 

Are lock cottages a particular target of passing ne'er-do-wells? 

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10 hours ago, MtB said:

Bloody hell, I wouldn't want to be the one called out to service or fix the boiler in that loft! 

😁 Only you would look at that pic and their first thought isn't 'hell, that colour's a bit bright' but instead it's 'jeezus, the boiler flue comes out of the loft, tricky'

 

To be honest, I quite like the colour, but maybe a bit too Greek for an English lock cottage.

 

3 minutes ago, MtB said:

This lock cottage is a good example of the 'over-the-top' anti-intruder defences I often notice at lock cottages. Army style razor wire on the top of the 6ft high garden brick wall in this case! 

 

This apparent need for serious security measures at otherwise quaint looking lockside locations always puts me right off ever buying one. 

 

Are lock cottages a particular target of passing ne'er-do-wells? 

Don't know where this is but the road, big building at the back and graffiti on the lock gate suggest it isn't some tranquil rural location

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13 minutes ago, MtB said:

This lock cottage is a good example of the 'over-the-top' anti-intruder defences I often notice at lock cottages. Army style razor wire on the top of the 6ft high garden brick wall in this case! 

 

This apparent need for serious security measures at otherwise quaint looking lockside locations always puts me right off ever buying one. 

 

Are lock cottages a particular target of passing ne'er-do-wells? 

I think this is Brum and I think this is in a not exactly salubrious area, I remember thinking nice place horrible area, wouldn't want to live there

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8 minutes ago, MtB said:

On often sees similar is some really nice locations too though...

Dunno but I've seem similar before this is likely a massive generalization but peeps who move from city living to a place in the country all seem keen to bung up electric gates and massive solid fences, in effect isolating themselves from the outside world.

 

Theres 2 near me, 1 who admitted they are scared to be alone in the house at night and the other who did the electric gate thing

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58 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

 

Are lock cottages a particular target of passing ne'er-do-wells? 

The current, very sad, state of the  cottage at Grant's Lock suggests so, yes.

Edited by Athy
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3 minutes ago, David Schweizer said:

 

Is there a problem having the central heating boiler in the loft?

 

Yes: 

 

1) First reason is FROST. A loft insulated to current standards will be almost as cold as outside. This means the boiler and all the associated heating pipework in the loft is at risk of frost damage. In addition, if it's a condensing boiler, then the condensate drain is at particular risk of freezing (his leads to the boiler stopping working when you need it most). Frost protection systems for boilers in cold spaces tend to be unreliable and hard to control, and sometimes seem to cause nuisance firing of the boiler puzzling the user greatly.

 

2) The user control panel on the boiler is not accessible to the user unless they pull the ladder down and go up into the loft. In particular the user cannot see the pressure gauge on the front so will not know if the system is losing pressure. Also, to adjust the temperature controls, the user has to go into the loft. And to see if there are any error messages showing should the boiler stop working. 

 

3) It is not good for boilers to be operated in extremes of temperature. A well insulated loft can fall below freezing in winter and rise as high as 40 degrees C on a hot summer's day. Boiler manuals do not generally specify a maximum ambient operating temperature but the temperature of a loft on a hot summer day seems intuitively too high to me.

 

 

So those are the technical reasons! Now the more personal ones 😉

 

 

4) It's a HORRIBLE environment in which to work on a boiler. Everything in most lofts is dirty and dusty, including the boiler and the floor in front of it (if there is one at all) where I have to sit. Not conducive to good workmanship. 

 

5) What floor there is, tends to be a tiny cramped area in front of the boiler surrounded by piles of junk and gloom. No space at all to unpack the toolbox and spread the contents out.

 

6) The workspace is surrounded by open joists and loft insulation ready to swallow up any little screws or tools dropped. 

 

7) The fibreglass dust cannot be good for my lungs.

 

😎 The boiler is usually a wall-mounted model  designed for installation at about head height for ease of maintenance. but when installed in a loft they are usually at about knee height. A pig to work on when all the bits you need to get at are close to the (dirty) floor.

 

9) Lighting. Even if there IS any, it is usually a bare 60w bulb swinging with a baleful glow leaving the inside/underneath of the boiler where the work needs to be done still in semi-darkness.

 

10) Most lofts are the same temperature as outside. Freezing cold in winter and boiling hot in summer. Not pleasant to work in.

 

11) Ever tried lugging a 25kG toolbox and a vacuum cleaner with extension lead up a ladder and through a 24" square hole? Then back down again?

 

 

 

So, these are all the reasons I can think of for now 😄 You'll probably understand now why I generally decline to work on boilers in loft spaces...

 

And I'll probably think of some more reasons later😉

 

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46 minutes ago, David Schweizer said:

 

Is there a problem having the central heating boiler in the loft?

 

A couple of houses on our estate had combis fitted in the loft to replace std. boilers with hot water storage tanks. The guy that fit them recommended they be fit there supposedly on the basis the hot water would take less time to reach the upstairs taps. The std. boilers were in the integral garage.

 

He is now retired and no longer servicing boilers or fitting them. They now struggle to find anybody who will service them in the new location because they are difficult to access.

 

Our combi. was fitted in the same location as the one it replaced, in the integral garage.

Edited by The Happy Nomad
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3 hours ago, MtB said:

 

 

Lemme guess.... you just had a boiler fitted in your loft??!!

 

Well yes, about five years ago, but none of the problems you list seem to apply. My loft is large, well ventilated, floored over, and kept clean and tidy, it already housed my collection of old woodworking planes (and other tools), and a model railway layout, so the ambient temperature and elecrtricity supply requirements have already been accomodated. There is good lighting from two 6ft flourescent tube lights, and there is plenty of space around the boiler which can be worked on at head height, All the pipes are insulated, and the condensed water from the boiler is directed straight into the internal soil pipe. Whilst the loft can get a bit warm in the summer, I have never experienced below freezing temperatures in the winter (there is a thermomter in the loft), and if it is particularly cold outside, I can switch on a small convector heater, from the airing cupboard to warm it up a bit. I also keep a Henry Vacuum Cleaner in the loft, so no problem lugging one of those up the ladder. I did discuss all the potential issues that might arise from having the boiler in the loft with the central heating engineer, and together, we made sure that none of the problems you have highlighted might occur.

 

I guess I could rig up a block and tackle to lift the heating engineer's toolbox into the loft once a year, but that does seem a bit OTT.🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by David Schweizer
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10 minutes ago, Dyertribe said:

So does it also figure that boilers shouldn’t be placed in garages?

 

Most of my objections to loft installation only apply to a far lesser degree if at all, in garages. 

 

They still tend to have piles of junk underneath them which makes it difficult to get close. Sometimes so much that there is NOWHERE to put any tools down at the end of the pathway to the boiler cleared by the customer! *

 

 

* I remember one arrogant arse in Sonning who called me out to fix his busted boiler. It was on the wall at the far end of his garage, which was filled with carp to a depth of about 5ft all over. He pointed out the boiler at the far end, which could just about be seen over the top of the piles of junk and he asked ME how I planned to get to it. 

 

I would imagine it remains busted to this day. 

 

 

Edited by MtB
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9 minutes ago, Dyertribe said:

So does it also figure that boilers shouldn’t be placed in garages?

 

Not sure why that follows?

 

Ours is in an integral garage, and is in the same spot as the one that was installed when the house was built in 1994.

 

Its never been an issue in all those years with either of them.

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