Posted in January 2009

Out of the eight electric showers we repaired last week, six were Triton showers, one was a New Team electric shower and one was a Mira electric shower. All six of the Triton showers needed replacement solenoids and three of them had internal leaks as well. It is quite often the case that the solenoid fails because water has been dripping onto it from a leaking joint somewhere else within the electric shower. As soon as we have replaced the solenoid and fired up the shower again the leak becomes evident. It is then just a case of repairing the leaking joints.

In the case of the Mira electric shower it was the PCB that had failed. The cost of which was almost the cost of a new shower. We gave the customer the option of just replacing the electric shower all together but he opted to go for the repair. In the end we had to take out almost every component to get the replacement PCB connected.

However with the New Team shower, the customer needed it repaired in a hurry as he had guests staying with him for the weekend. The quickest way to guarantee he would have a working shower was just to fit a like for like replacement electric shower. This only took 45 minutes in the end and the customer was very grateful even.

In fact it is often the case with things like electric showers and taps that the labour cost to repair them sometimes out weighs the replacement cost. Allot of electricians and plumbers therefore will only ever recommend replacing things. It's not that they are trying to rip customers off, they just think it is the most economical solution, because they can be sure at the end of their visit the customer will be left with a working shower that should last a few years before it needs any attention.

Silver Saints is London''s Premier Handyman Service. One of the many specialist tasks we undertake is the repair and replacement of waste disposals.

What is involved?

We will investigate the fault in order to repair your waste disposal.
If a repair is not economical we will recommend that you replace the unit with a like for like model.

To discuss a waste disposal repair or replacement call our knowledgeable and friendly Operations Team on 0207 0999 199 or send an email to fixit@silversaints.co.uk.

How Much?

Initial visit costs £ 40+VAT

If a replacement unit or spare parts are needed we will advise you on the cost of the unit and fitting cost while the handyman is on-site.

Some more common models are available at local plumbers merchants, but we often have to order replacement models for next day delivery.

Let’s do it!

To book a Waste Disposal repair or replacement:
Call our Operations Team on 0207 0999 199 OR Email us: fixit@silversaints.co.uk

Sophisticated search engine users know this so when looking for a specific product they will be very specific in their search terms and almost always find exactly what they are looking almost immediately. The problem is however that there are millions of searchers out there who aren't searching specifically and therefore might not be finding exactly what they are looking for at the best price.

In the past people used directory publications, like the Yellow Pages, to find services they needed. But to find a service they would need to know what category that service would fall under in that specific directory. Many people still search for services in this way. But if they are more specific about searching for the exact service or product they are looking for they will find companies offering exactly what they want.

Here are two examples:

One of our customers used our service recently to unblock her toilet. Once the job was done the handyman asked her how she found Silver Saints. She told him how she had initially searched on Google for a 'plumber'. Of course she got thousands of results so she refined her search to 'London plumber' and called three of the companies she found. They all told her a similar story, it will cost her minimum of £100 for one of their plumbers to come out and investigate her blocked toilet. Unsatisfied with this she refined her search even further to 'unblock toilet London' and found our web page dedicated specifically to our unblocking toilets service for which we charge a fixed price of £70+VAT.

The second example relates to Electric showers. If you ask 10 people who they would call if their electric shower stopped working. Five of them would say a plumber and the other five would say an electrician. But the beauty of Google is that you don't need to think, they will do it for you. If you need an electric shower repaired all you need to do is search for ' electric shower repairs' and you will find numerous companies specialising in electric shower repairs.

Here are a few examples of the types of jobs we specialise in:

- Furniture assembly
- Bath screen installation
- TVS: LCD and Plasma installation
- London plumbing service
- Toilet unblocking
- Sash window repairs
- Sash window draught proofing
- Picture hanging
- Light fitting replacement
- Shower repairs
- Blind installation
- Toilet repairs
- Tile and grout cleaning.

And many many more...

There are practically no home or office maintenance jobs we cant do so why not give our friendly and experienced operations team a call on 0207 0999 199 or visit our london handyman website to book a Silver Saint - London handyman today.

Just last week I received an email from a customer who had Robin in to draught proof her windows. This particular customer was a property developer and had been using a rival handyman service for some time but thought she would give us go as we are one of the few handyman services that offer a draught proofing service.

Robin met her at the property first thing in the morning and proceeded to inspect the windows and the customer decided that she would leave Robin with the keys and leave the property to get on with some other things. This is not a rare occurrence, we are left in properties to work on our own all the time and have absolutely no problem with it. Robin completed the job at the agreed a fixed price, cleaned up after himself and dropped the keys through the post box of the customers home address which was just around the corner. Once he had done this I called the customer to let her know I had emailed her a copy of the invoice for the work done that day and explained this invoice could be paid by card over the phone which she did then and there. Robin had also had a look at some other windows while he was there and I included a cost estimate in the email I had sent with the invoice. The customer could not have been more complimentary about the service she had received and how wonderful she thought Robin was. She even went a step further to email me after the conversation we had had on the phone to say how she thought there was not another handyman company capable of offer more professional and complete service.

Needles to say that this customer will be using us in all of her investment properties from now on.

The most interesting thing about this situation is that I do not feel we did anything out of the ordinary for this customer, we treat all of our customers the same and give the service we ourselves would expect as customers of a service based company.

Why not put us to the test by calling 0207 0999 199 or by visiting our London handyman website. I assure there is no other handyman service in London that offers the same standard of service we do.

The handyman unscrewed the u-bend to inspect it for any sign of a blockage. He found that the whole u-bend and waste pipe were completely blocked with what seemed to be cement. After a quick call to one of the senior handymen the cause of the blockage became clear.

The cement like substance was actually limescale which had been encouraged to grow so aggressively due to the constant presence of uric salts and bacteria found in urine. The tenant had obviously been using the basin as a urinal for some time which had resulted in the u-bend and waste pipe becoming the ideal environment for limescale to build up quickly until the basin waste pipe was solidly blocked.

Once we knew that the problem was limescale we were able to treat it with an acidic solution known as 'Spirit of Salts' which over time will dissolve the limescale. Using this acidic solution combined with 60 minutes of traditional roding we were able to clear the blocked waste pipe. We fitted a new u-bend and instructed the tenant that he should not pee in the sink.

A strange job, but an interesting one among handymen and plumbers who deal with blockages.

One of our motivating beliefs at Silver Saints is that if something is repairable we should be able to repair it. Our handymen have decades of experience between them in almost every trade area, there really aren't many jobs they can't do. If there is a gap in any one of the handyman's know how it doesn't take long for him to pick up the information he needs from one of our other handymen who has the necessary experience in that particular task.

But every once and a while there is a job that pops up that just stumps all of us and it normally has something to do with a new product or an imported technology that we have not seen before. Lately we have seen a big increase in the amount of people asking us to repair faulty uPVC windows. These are fairly new to the UK but have been widely used throughout the rest of Europe for many years because of their sound and insulating properties. They are normally double or triple glazed, have multiple seals and manufactured to fine tolerances. These modern uPVC windows also have ingenious opening and locking mechanisms which make them both very secure and capable of opening in multiple orientations. Any mechanical engineer would tell you that these windows are excellently designed.

The problem is however that we in the UK just aren't used to these windows yet and unfortunately the full set of operating instructions they are supplied with don't seem to be passed on from the installer to the user and so most people are forced to figure out their correct workings by themselves. It's often like watching a baby girl discover that the square shaped toy does not fit into the oval shaped whole. But after a few attempts they discover that the square toy into the square hole fits just fine. However little boys aren't so quick off the ball, they will pick up the square toy, try and insert it into the oval hole and on finding it does not fit will persist until the square toy becomes oval. Unfortunately when this principle of stubborn determination is applied to very heavy finely engineered windows the result is normally the failure of the window mechanism, which in the end results in a window that either does not open or does not close properly.

In the past we have always advised customers with faulty uPVC windows to contact the manufacturers or the company who installed the windows to repair them. This solution however easy to say was becoming a very unsatisfactory response to both the office staff and the handymen, who all like to solve any and all problems that they are presented with, or at least give it a go. So on our latest desperate request from a customer in Battersea we decided it was time to dive in head first to try and repair a triple glazed uPVC window that was not closing properly. We gave the customer a 'no win, no fee' offer, so if we did not fix the window we would not charge her for our time. We set aside a few hours and assigned two handymen to the task, knowing that the window would need to come off the hinges and would be very heavy.

It was clear as soon as the window was taken down that the window had been swung open rapidly, probably blown open by a strong wind, which had completely bent the top hinge by more than 90 degrees. The window was never going to close without us changing the hinge. As a temporary measure we removed the top hinge altogether and secured the window in place.
That same day we called the window manufacturers in Italy and they gave us the contact details of their agents in the UK. The agents promised to send us a replacement hinge in the post and we will return to reinstate the window fully as soon as it arrives.

It's good to know that the next time a customer calls to enquire about the repair of a faulty uPVC window we will be able to offer assistance.

We returned to the property yesterday, armed with 8 pairs of replacement balances and had them all fitted in four hours. The job did need two handymen, due to the shear weight of the windows, but the job could not have gone smoother.

In the end we left a very happy landlord and a relieved flat of tenants who had been complaining about the windows not working since the summer.

It felt good to succeed where five others had failed to even try......now that's Silver Service.