A new boiler?

I'm still feeling I'm rushing around catching up on things.

This morning the plumber comes to service our central heating boiler & gas fire. We're contemplating having an extension to our kitchen in the new year. Among other things we want to level off the floor levels between the kitchen & the laundry room, so getting rid of some steps. As I slowly deteriorate in my mobility skills, this would make life a lot easier for me. The only thing is it would mean raising the laundry room floor & the central heating boiler with it. So it is I ask Norm, the plumber, whether our ancient boiler would survive the move. No. However, he does suggest I should have a word with Warmfront. As I am disabled, in receipt of the appropriate benefits, I should be able to get a new boiler from them free.

After Norm goes, I give them a ring. I know that they will not replace the existing boiler for a more efficient one until it irrevocably breaks down. I explain the situation to them. Yes. In those circumstances, when the work is essentially to improve access & in the process the boiler breaks down, then they would pay the first £2700 towards a new boiler. Norm reckoned a new one should cost in the area of £2500, so, with a bit of luck, that bit of the extension won't add to the overall cost. Now we just have to raise the other thousands for the rest of the work! And at a time when our savings have gone down due to the recession & "credit crunch", and it's not so easy to borrow money! Oh, hum! One thing's for certain we're not having any work done until the spring & a bit of warmth. This is no time to have exterior walls knocked down, a kitchen out of commission so no hot food, & no central heating.

Who knows, by then, the credit crunch will be over. The finance markets will be once more stable. Banks will be lending. Or maybe some fairy godmother will have come & waved her magic wand & our problems will be solved.