radiator pipes

[mike s]

I need to remove a radiator to tile the floor , ive removed them leaving the valves in place before but never just the copper pipe sticking up from the floor , if i shut off rad at each end drain then remove the valves.
will i still have to drain the whole central heating system?
It's a groung floor radiator so wont all the water in the system all just flow to the lowest point Ie this radiator.
thanks in advance

[whitebeam]

Why remove the rad if your tiling the floor

[grumpygrouter]

Why remove the rad if your tiling the floor

so he can slip the drilled tiles over the pipes instead of slotting them?

[whitebeam]

I would'nt want to be draining a heating just so I can cut a couple of holes

[grumpygrouter]

I would'nt want to be draining a heating just so I can cut a couple of holes

I always give the customer the choice Whitebeam. Slotting is ok if it is hidden well but some people prefer to have the rad removed to get a nicer finish. I have had both types of customer!

[nickj]

I always give the choice and price for it but yes if you want to remove those valves then the system has to be drained down. Drop me a PM if you need some advice on how to do it.

[whitebeam]

I always give the customer the choice Whitebeam. Slotting is ok if it is hidden well but some people prefer to have the rad removed to get a nicer finish. I have had both types of customer!

I would be getting a heating engineer to do that grumps

[365drills]

Removing the radiator inlet valves from the copper pipe WILL cause the entire system to drain down via your pipework.

The usual way to fix tiles is to cut slots.

If slots look ugly or the customer doesnt want them then you will have to drain down. You might be lucky and find the system can be isolated into zones but even so you will be looking to lose water.

I just bit the bullet, drained the system down, fixed the tiles then let the plumbers get on with rebooting the central heating system.

You cant even freeze the pipes because once you freeze them the cooling jacket gets in the way of slipping the tile over the pipe.

[grumpygrouter]

I would be getting a heating engineer to do that grumps

Me too Whitebeam, I don't do it myself. I am considering doing a basic course at Chase though to teach me how.

[mike s]

thank's for the reply's and confirmation guy's .
It's a nice ornamental rad in a hallway the pipes sit about 6" from the wall so i really wanted to drill them, i've got some drills from 365 and aint used em yet.
i think i'll leave the rad alone and cut the tile and patch it,i doubt the customer wants to drain the system.

[GazTech]

Cutting in around pipework can be ok if cut neatly...

[365drills]

Yes in the BFKMX the 40mm will allow a rad pipe and fitting to slip through with room to spare.

The downside is that the 40mm hole looks a bit swamped.

The easy solution is a standard cover plate at 45mm.



Shown is a 15mm rad pipe being capped off with a 45mm plate. Hole underneath can be 40mm to fit through a standard rad pipe at 15mm fitted to a rad valve.

But I'd be tempted to use GazTech's standard method if you do not have an ultra fussy customer. There are projects where the extra effort is required (mainly ultra-modern contemporary) when minimilist fittings are required. Perhaps not in this case.






I just did this little article:


Tile drills for radiator pipes with our kit - By Richard Hazell of 365-Drills

1) Drill a 40mm hole into the tile.



2) Slip radiator pipe WITH the valve over the hole



3) Seat tile down onto grout and press in place



4) The Hole at 40mm looks too big for the pipe.



Slip a pipe cover over to cap off for a perfect result

[grumpygrouter]

Yes in the BFKMX the 40mm will allow a rad pipe and fitting to slip through with room to spare.

The downside is that the 40mm hole looks a bit swamped.

The easy solution is a standard cover plate at 45mm.



Shown is a 15mm rad pipe being capped off with a 45mm plate. Hole underneath can be 40mm to fit through a standard rad pipe at 15mm fitted to a rad valve.

But I'd be tempted to use GazTech's standard method if you do not have an ultra fussy customer. There are projects where the extra effort is required (mainly ultra-modern contemporary) when minimilist fittings are required. Perhaps not in this case.






I just did this little article:


Tile drills for radiator pipes with our kit - By Richard Hazell of 365-Drills

1) Drill a 40mm hole into the tile.



2) Slip radiator pipe WITH the valve over the hole



3) Seat tile down onto grout and press in place



4) The Hole at 40mm looks too big for the pipe.



Slip a pipe cover over to cap off for a perfect result

Adhesive might be a better bet Richard

[365drills]

Ha!!! I'm an idiot. Yes Adhesive (not grout!)



PS: The chrome coverplates are from Screwfix as well as Wicks and other plumbing outlets. They actually SNAP in half to fit. No need to remove the valve from the rad pipe

[sweaty sock]

i would avoid at all costs draining a whole system for tiling especially if a gravity fed system _ too many things can go wrong - leave that for heating engineers and pass on cost if customer wants it -

[Fekin]

I normally do what Gaz has shown, though I like the caps that Richard mentioned.

[whitebeam]

Spoke to a heating engineer today and he said he will charge £100 for draining the system and filling again just so a round hole can be put in the tile

[grumpygrouter]

Spoke to a heating engineer today and he said he will charge £100 for draining the system and filling again just so a round hole can be put in the tile

i won't be getting him to service my boiler then

[whitebeam]

i won't be getting him to service my boiler then

This guy has so much work you would'nt believe and he used to teach at a college in Luton

[dgilesy]

Hi all,
If you have a combi boiler then there wont be much water in your system when you shut off the rads. You can get a female fitting thats screw over your valves so that you can connect a hose and drain it into the garden or outside. Then when your sone fill the boiler back to about 1 bar (using the filling loop usually located under the boiler.) If you have a conventional system then you would need to either shut off the water supply to your header tank or tie up the ball valve to stop the system refilling. Then once your finsished and every connection is done you let then ball valve down and bleed the system. Both of these can have problem though and you may get air locks. Unless you really really wants a very tight cut I go with cutting a bigger hole and using a cover.

[Mark B]

Even if you use the slot cutting method you could still drill the hole first as it would give a much neater finish around the pipe.

As mentioned, the problem with draining down the system is that you're never quite sure what's going to happen (or not!) when you fill it back up again - air locks, sludge blockages etc.

Mark

[365drills]

If you do drill holes stick with the 1x40mm from the BFKMX.

Heres why:

We performed a little test ourselves to MINIMISE the hole (and therefore the amount of tile we needed to remove) but found cutting two smaller holes at 30mm made very little difference.

Results:



To the left you can see we removed enough tile to slip the valve through. 2 x 30mm holes were cut so that the hole was an elliptical shape.

On the right you can see the amount of tile saved (shaded in black) when a 40mm crown was placed on top.

As you can tell from that shaded black area the decrease in hole size is so insignificant as to make that particular technique overcomplicated.

Our advice for boring a hole with the simple purpose of bringing through a standard radiator valve on a floor tile is to stick with size 40mm and cap-off with a 45mm cover plate.

The additional benefit is that if the cover plate is lost or broken later then at least the workmanship is neat and tidy with a single hole.

[LM Ceramics]

id cut around them like the one in gaz is pic doesnt look to bad for the sake of having to get in a heating engineer just for a couple of cuts seems pointless i doubt much of the customers around preston would pay for that alot of them are tight