Hi guys and girls, I am tiling my bathroom as my first project. I am on with tiling the floor and i need to no how to/wats the best way to tile around the radiator pipes. I have removed the radiator but the valves are still connected so just drilling a hole won't work (I don't think). A friend of mine had someone to tile his bathroom and did a rubbish job on his floor by cutting out a small square out behind the pipe.

So wats the best way?

Cheers

Drilling out is always the neatest, if you can't do that then drill out where your pipe will be on the tile and notch from the back to the hole, save this piece fix the tile inn place and use the insert, not the best job, another way is to drill the hole larger so that it goes over the valve and use chrome caps to cover the hole.

If you're confident then the best finish will be to drain down the central heating system, remove the valves and drill 2 holes for the flow and return pipes.

IF you notch the hole out of the back as mention above but do it at an angle, a bit like this \0/ (but with the hole at the front) When ou slide the piece forward it woll close the gap on either side of the cut. This is how its done on wood flooring and i use the same method in certain situations.

sometimes you get lucky and hit a grout line but usually drain down if it's a combi or plug the expansion tank to create a vacuum if it's a gravity system

Just to let you know a 40mm socket will let you slip the tile over a rad valve



Which can be capped off



My personal recommendation though is to bite the bullet and drain the system and get a neat finish



2 x 16mm holes are perfect for rad pipes @ 15mm each.
But you have to do the donkey work and drain down.....



Not ready to drain down? A 30mm will go over a rad pipe fitted with a
polypipe plastic cap. Once the tile is set and grouted then you have to
be FAST to whip the cap off, and the valve on. It can be done...

But put a towel down and dont wear your fav T-Shirt