Any Plumbers out there - Can I do this myself?

mark101

I’m thinking about changing my dad’s radiators by myself and was going to ask the experts out there as to how difficult it would be. I have no clue as to what I need to do but as a bonus I am good at general DIY me thinks.

The radiators at the moment are single styled and I want to make them double styled they are in the 2 reception rooms, 2 bedrooms and hallway. Bathroom is okay.

Problem is they are just not heating up especially the downstairs lot ( I wasn't about when the boiler was changed). The boiler and pump was changed recently so its not that.

What about de-sludging is this something I can do myself once all the radiators are out? Just to make sure there is no crap inside the system.

Any tips?
Can I do it myself?
Where can I get the equipment cheap?
How much would a plumber do it for?

Thanks for you comments/help

tru

We've recently changed our boiler, when the plumber turned everything on after he'd finished, there was air in the system so we bled the radiators and they heated up properly. We changed 2 radiators ourselves last year, it's easy but fiddly (well, we thought it was fiddly anyway ;D)
There's at least 1 plumber who posts on this site, best to wait for him to reply, although we bought a DIY book and followed the instructions from that. Collin's Complete DIY Manual, it's got everying in it, really useful ;D

cathy_3

if theyre warm at the bottom and cold at the top they need bleeding

its not hard at all to change the rads

just make sure none of the sludge leaks onto the carpet youll never get it out

and make sure you have turned off the water and turned the valves to close on the rads

PeteM

Also, you'll find that if the original rads are a few years old, there'll be a small difference in size.

The difference may only be a small amount, but some times enough to mean that the pipe work will need to be extended in order to install the new ones.

Always remember to support the "other end" of a joint when loosening or tightening, as you don't want to break the seal on the part of the work that is to remain.

As mentioned earlier, empty as much of the water from the rad into a bowl before removing from the room.
A bowl is better because using a bucket would mean having to lift the rad higher.

The last bit will turn black (oil like), and it's best if you have someone else to help carry the rad out - hold a rag over both openings to prevent any surprises!

MisterT2

Yep - watch out for the size difference. However I managed to get a small adaptor a long time ago from homebase - went between the valve and the radiator. This is very handy if its difficult to move the pipes.

I have used freeze packs very successfully. Also, I have seen the gas board put a bung in the overflow tank in the loft. This causes an airlock that saves you draining the whole system down.

I particularly like the radiators from screwfix - the ones with the grill on top and covers down the sides. Never shopped around though.

plumb1_2

Hi Mark,if you still want any help pm me and i will answer any ? you feel you are not sure about.I have not posted an answer as systems are not generic,as advice would be general
yours plumb1[it does what is says on the toolbox ;D]

DAC_3

Mark, You may want to think about "TRVs", thermostatic radiator valves. They ensure the room is at the temp you want and therefore don't over heat the room (saving money!!! as you may not always need the performance of a double radiator). It's a bit more tricky than just changing the rad but if you are ok with a spanner and you know what to do with the tank bungs, its not too bad. I'm sure plumb 1 will talk you through it.

Tim_L

Main thing with this is not to get too ambitious in terms of the amount you take on at one time. Do one radiator a time, and take your time - never force fit fittings (if they go on skew-wiff they may leak), and don't over tighten or you can shear pipes. Get or borrow a decent set of tools - pipecutters, proper sized wrenches - and make sure you have some boss white (love that smell), PTFE tape and so on.

As has been mentioned, the main problem comes when the radiator is a slightly different size or you mount the new one at a different height (upstairs is often easier here as there should be a little vertical play in the pipes as they come through the floorboards, but otherwise careful dead reckoning comes into play. You can often adjust pipes with a horizontal run below the radiator by cutting and/or inserting a joint, but bear in mind you can't solder wet pipe, and CH systems can dribble for ages. A good solution here is one of the freezing systems you can buy (I think screwfix do one) or rent. Or cheat and use a compression fitting - they're not all that obvious underneath the radiator.

You do need to bleed the system carefully - otherwise you're in for banshee wailing or worse!- and it's worth flushing the system through a couple of times then adding corrosion retardent.

A very good general purpose plumbing tip is to get a small pack of good quality disposable nappies. These are tremendously absorbent and useful for mopping up when you remove the old radiators, which will inevitably leak somewhere (the classic thing here is that you slightly tilt the radiation when removing it from the room and it leaks horrid black gunk all over the carpet - stuff some kind of bung into the holes to avoid this). Always have an old towel to hand to - one thing you can rarely avoid when plumbing is getting soggy at some point, so may as well be prepared!

System

Sounds like they might just need re-balancing, I would suggest you should first turn off all the upstairs rads, this will force the water through all the downstairs rads, you can then see if they throwout adequate heat for the rooms. The point is if the single rad doesn't heat up now then installing a double rad won't make any difference.

Once you've got the downstairs rads working turn on the upstairs rads only enough to get them hot, this does take some time but should cure your problem.

If you need further info let me know

Yoffer

lenny3_2

Have a look at the chat forum on WWW.Screwfix.co.uk,lot's of tips & pretty cheap flush & inhibitor which i would recommend if your draining down the system to do the job.