Filling holes around radiators

lovely_trenty

Hi there all,

The radiators in my flat all have large holes in the wall where the pipes enter/exit from the wall.

On windy days this ends up causing quite substantial drafts coming in. This isn't too bad on the internal walls but is pretty noticeable when sitting near an external wall.

From what I have read online, I should use expandable foam to fill these. I'm 90% sure this will work for me, but in all the photos and videos I see online have solid piping they are working with.

However the pipes in my flat look as if they made of plastic with a number of flexible pipes and joints. 

I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to end up with the pipes coming apart once I put the expanding foam in there.

matt_drummer

They won't come apart but I wouldn't really want to seal them with expanding foam.

You may need to service the joints in the future.

Maybe some removeable type foam just to stop the draughts?

Foam sheets, packaging material type foam, look on ebay or similar?

daveaspy

not sure I'd want to foam fill, how about stuffing it with loft insulation type material?

I guess it really needs a bigger hole making and the pipework sorting out so the connectors aren't sticking through the wall, you just want pipe that can then be sealed.

radox2608

I don't think a bit of expanding foam would hurt. So long as you don't go mad. It can always be scraped out - but I admit this would be time-consuming.

However, I think loft insulation might be a better option. Just stuff it in there until all gaps around the pipes are filled.

A friend of mine has a new-ish house which is really well insulated and keeps the heat in really well. I was surprised once when I removed a ceiling light fixture that the builders had even gone so far as to stuff bits of loft insulation around the cable where it comes through the ceiling. I wouldn't have thought it would make much of a difference but maybe this is how you get a really warm house!

Lorian

I wouldn't want to have to repair push fit joints surrounded by expanding foam. Thats a pretty poor finish on the plumbers part there. Bit of sheep's wool insulation would be my choice but I'd use fibreglass loft insulation poked In there if no children to touch it. Even Amazon brown packing would help if you really want to be mse.