Decorating - remove radiators

Lara

Please can you tell me if it is difficult and how I take radiators off for decorating?

I know they have to be drained once off to get the muck out. I don't really want to get a plumber in as I'm not sure if he will charge too much etc.....................but anyway I would really like to be able to do this myself .

I then need to put them back on before new carpets are laid...................going to be busy I know;). OH away atm so I'm going to do it all by myself;).

Thanks for any info.

cheekymole

You can usually just unhook them off their brackets while you decorate behind them which then cuts out all the draining etc

Lara

Thanks that sounds easy enough to me. However they haven't been removed for several years so perhaps I should really drain them?????

cheekymole

If they're not broken, don't fix them!!!

weekendwarrior

Hi Lara,

This may help you a little-

removing a radiator

Lara

weekendwarrior wrote:

Hi Lara,

This may help you a little-

removing a radiator

That's brilliant - thank you! :)

juno

If you're painting, you can get a special roller to do behind them It's thinner and has a long handle.

moneysavingplumber

cheekymole wrote:

You can usually just unhook them off their brackets while you decorate behind them which then cuts out all the draining etc

This is possible but not always. If there's no play in the pipe work (e.g. in screeded floors) you won't have the slack to lift it over the lip on the bracket, and trying may place pipe work under duress. It will also require you to slacken the union nuts which means you will have a little water escaping. You also have to support the weight of the radiator as opposed to letting the pipe work take the weight. The majority of poorly made connections that I find day-to-day tend to be to radiator valves, the last thing you want is one failing on you whilst you have the radiator hanging by the valves, and then possibly showering you with scalding water.

Other points to be wary of if removing radiators:

Is the system pressurised? If so it will need to be topped up, especially if you have a combi boiler.

Do you have a thermostatic valve fitted to it? If you do, some only have a frost setting on them as opposed to a positive 'OFF' position, and for these you will need the purpose made 'decorator' heads that would have been supplied with them. If you simply turn it to the frost setting, it may open when the room temperature drops past 10-5 degrees.