Your thoughts on running radiator pipes along a wall

[jonwade]

Background: having an extension built. Builder installed radiator. Put copper pipes with plastic push fittings across Celotex insulation on floor, to be screeded over.

Had a friend look (a plumber), and he said nnnooooooooooooo. So I am paying him to re-do all the pipe work. I think he said he will send the pipes under the floor - through or under the Celotex - whatever he recommends I am happy with.

But .... my decorator came to look just now and said that I could also have the pipes run around the room above the skirting board. He said that although most people do not like this, they can be painted or boxed in, and if you leave them bare you get the added advantage that they too will help heat the room, rather than heating the ground below insulation!

My thoughts are that my wife will hate this.

What are your thoughts - is this still done much today, or does everything go out of sight?

In our room the route from current pipes to rad will behind furniture most of the way (2 sofa's and bookcase).

Not sure it will look professional though - even if it is far more professionally installed than what I currently have.

What I currently have (look away now if you are easily upset):




Along the back wall is also the mains for outside tap. Decorator also suggested that this could run straight to outside the house and then along the outside wall, rather than going under the living room floor. Thoughts on that too?

 

[Simon F]

welcome to the forum Jon.
if the pipes are to be bedded into the screed they will need lagging to prevent the copper corroding.
insulating unless you want a line of heat!
what is under the insulation, hardcore??

 

[jonwade]

Its a suspended black and beam floor. My plumber said he would normally chase pipes into the wall and feed out behind the rad. But as. Room has already been plastered I think he might want to go across floor base rather than mess up the walls. My decorator said that some poeple run a channel through Celotex which is then covered again before screeding. But my understanding is that whatever you do now under a solid floor must be accessible. I guess going under the floor via a conduit with flexible pipe makes it accessible.

 

[galaxy_plumbing]

solder all joints which go under the floor and insulate against corrosion. dont leave any push fits or compression fittings there, it might start leaking in the future and you will have to break your floor.

you should keep outside pipes run to minimum to avoid freezing.

 

[jonwade]

Thanks. Plumber is going to send the outside tap out the other way so it goes from under kitchen sink straight to drive through the wall.

The radiator pipes will run under the floor (in a channel through the insulation layer above the block and beam) and be all soldered. He is basically tearing out everything the builder put in and starting again - he hates push fittings, likes to "sweat" (I learnt some new jargon today!) as much as possible.

The radiator pipes will then come up the wall behind the radiator in a box of some sorts, so we only see some a little pipe feeding it - like a floating radiator I guess.

He knows his trade and I trust his judgement completely. Hopefully he will do our other work too.

 

[AWheating]

maybe consider a coil of plastic coated copper to remove all fittings and ensure corrosion protection, even put some stitch lagging over it if you want. cutting into or putting under insulation boards should be avoided, best in a duct if possible.

 

[Sag]

Your builder needs a slap!

 

[Centralheatking]

You are all going to have a go now but.

Jeff Howell (Sunday Telegraph) is certain that there is
no chemical reaction between cement and copper. In fact the leaks
under concrete floors is due to the expansion and contraction of
pipework encased in concrete. So a push fit fitting would allow this
to happen.

However we always put our floor pipe work into electrical trunking - the stuff
with the push on top strip. never had a problem this way

centralheatking

 

[Ermintrude]

Must be a heinous chemist. Copper cu is not a sulphate resisting material, that why u get copper sulphate on lots of pipes! Modern cheap blended Opc Cement contains sulphates, chromates and chromium v chlorides calcium carbonate, About 3% moisture content and your off. Also the heat in pipes will help to provide activation energy and increase the rate of reaction. The rate of reaction is slow and requires moisture so heat probably slows it as drives moisture out. Lots of damage comes from thermal expansion, but when u dig out a flimsy green mess it's corrosion

Cement is normally mixed with a filler these days , PFA pulverised flue ash.


Also According to the Portland Cement Association the interaction of copper with both dry and wet concrete should not cause a corrosion concern. However, copper should be protected when it comes in contact with concrete mixtures that contain components high in sulfur, such as cinders and fly-ash, which can create an acid that is highly corrosive to most metals including copper.

A screened soil/pulverized limestone mixture is recommended as a selective backfill for copper tube to help eliminate corrosion concerns.

 

[lame plumber]

I responded to a few of Mr Howells comments on plumbing issues and he never made any replies or comments, seems he knows he is always right, however his tv series a while back was a complete failure, pity he gets to put his name to a papers column