Central heating pipework

spirit

The house I am going to buy has got the pipes on the walls rather than hidden.

What options do I have if I don't want them showing and boxing them in will just look like i've boxed the pipes in IYKWIM.

gas4you

You could chase out the walls and re-pipe using 10mm plastic pipe, then re-plaster.

Pipes should really be put in conduit to protect them and stop new plaster cracking with expansion and heat from pipes.

spirit

Oh good, I'm glad they can be hidden. thanks :T

rockin_plumber

Normally is I am dropping pipes from above to radiators below, as more often than not the rads are positioned under a window, I try to keep them behind the curtains so you see the minimum of pipework.

Burying pipes in walls IMO is really not good practice

boliston

Why not embrace rather than hide those exposed pipes and take a leaf out of Richard Rogers' book...:D

diable

I'd rerun the pipes under the floorboards, but if you have concrete floors then that may be a problem.

olias

Whatever you choose, it will be expensive and disruptive.

Chasing out - dust, noise, re decorating in every room

Under floorboards - furniture stored, carpets up, floorboards up, carpets to re lay.

Better to do it before you move in IMO

Olias

27col

When I built my current house I chased out the walls to install microbore ch pipes, which all ran from ceiling to floor, I installed the pipes in rectangular plastic trunking with a cap on it. The trunking is only just under the surface of the plaster skim. It has been installed for 33 years and no problems at all. When I did it originally, I thought that the skim over the capping might crack, but, much to my surprise it never has. Of course, this was all done during the first fixing stage. It would be a very disruptive process to convert existing surface pipe work. But if it was done as part of other work in the house I would think it to be quite viable.

phill99

Boxing in can be effective if it is done properly eg. good quality timber work with a plaster board cover and then skimmed off. If you have covinjg, endure the coving is reset around the top of the 'boxing in' so that the whole thing looks like part of the original build

ronaldmacdonald

This is the MSE way. Paint the pipes the same colour as the surrounding paintwork , besides you have ready made easy access to the pipework. You deffo do not want anything burying in a concrete floor.