Good to know
The questions people ask before they ring.
Honest answers to what customers round Marlow most want to know before booking a plumber or heating engineer. Anything not covered here? Just ask — it's a small firm, so you'll get a real answer.
Q.Are you Gas Safe registered?
Yes — gas work at Jericos is carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer. That isn't a marketing line, it's the law: nobody else may legally work on your boiler, gas appliances or flues. Every registered engineer carries a Gas Safe ID card, so please ask to see it when we arrive and check the back, which lists exactly what that engineer is qualified for. You can also check any registration yourself on the Gas Safe Register website.
Q.Who will actually turn up at my house?
Almost certainly Jerrard — the name customers use in review after review — often working alongside Boris. We're a small firm rather than a rota of subcontractors, which is why the same names keep coming up. One customer put it plainly: "Both Jerry and Boris are polite, professional and hard working chaps who offer good customer service."
Q.How much will it cost?
There's no price list here, because no two jobs are the same — the same boiler swap can be a morning or two days depending on what's behind the cupboard. We give free, no-obligation quotations: describe the job or let us come and look, and you'll get a price for your job with the assumptions spelled out.
Q.Do you do more than boilers?
Yes, and it's most of what we do. Gas and electric boilers, central heating, hot water cylinders, heating controls, everyday plumbing, gas work, air source heat pumps, solar thermal, landlord work, and first and second fix for new builds and renovations. If it carries water, gas or heat around a house, it's in scope.
Q.Is it worth repairing my boiler or replacing it?
It depends on three things: the age of the boiler, whether the part is still made, and how tired the rest of the system is. As a rough rule, a repair costing a decent fraction of a new boiler, on an appliance already well into its teens, is usually money you'd rather put towards a replacement. We'll give you the honest version for your boiler — including the option of doing nothing yet.
Q.How often should a boiler be serviced?
Once a year is the standard advice, and most manufacturers make an annual service a condition of keeping their warranty valid. A service is also when small things get caught early — a sooting burner, a weeping joint, a pump that's starting to grumble — which is a great deal cheaper than a breakdown in February.
Q.Can you look after an unvented cylinder like a Megaflo?
Yes. Unvented cylinders are a big part of what we fit and service round here — the tundish, the expansion vessel, the pressure reducing valve and the temperature and pressure relief all need checking annually, and the water in this part of the Thames Valley is hard enough that scale is a real factor. We also fit loft-fed and vented systems where that's the sensible answer for the house.
Q.Are air source heat pumps actually worth it here?
Sometimes, and we'll tell you honestly when the answer is no. A heat pump works beautifully in a house whose heat loss, radiators and cylinder have been thought about, and disappointingly in one where they haven't. We'd rather talk you through what your house would need — insulation, emitter sizes, cylinder coil, where the unit goes — than sell you a box and leave.
Q.Do you work with landlords and letting agents?
We do, and it's something we actively want more of. In our own words: we want to help landlords and letting agents, and we want to make their life easier. One point of contact, work booked around tenants, and the gas side handled by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
Q.What areas do you cover?
Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and South Oxfordshire, from our base in Marlow — so Marlow, Bourne End, High Wycombe, Beaconsfield, Maidenhead, Windsor, Henley-on-Thames, Amersham, Slough, Wallingford and the villages between them. If you're just outside that, ring and ask rather than guess.
Q.When can I get hold of you, and how do I get a price?
Ring 01628 901902, the mobile on 07453 576672, freephone 0800 8600068, or email help@jericos.co.uk. We're a small firm rather than a call centre, so rather than publish hours we can't always keep to: if we're on a job, leave a message or send a WhatsApp with a photo and one of us will come back to you. Quotations are free and there's no obligation.
Still got a question?
Ring the office, email, or send a photo on WhatsApp — you'll get a straight answer rather than a call-centre script.