Moving radiator in living room - Breeze blocks under floorboards

steve1500

Moved into new house, For some reason, the radiator in the living room, is in the only place a  sofa goes

Looking to move the radiator to the opposite wall. Room is 3,2 m wide

Lifted a couple of floorboards and all the existing pipe work is resting on the concrete floor.

Idea was just to re-route the pipes along the floor to the opposite wall. Trouble is, there  are breeze blocks running down the centre of the room for resting joists

I don't want to lift the centre floorboards  to drill a hole through the breeze block, so the pipework continues to rest on floor 

Already know I can get the pipe work over the top breezeblocks to the other side, but just worried about what support the pipework would need 

Any thoughts

TIA

grumbler

I don't see any problem. How high are the joists above the concrete slab? 
Drilling though breeze  blocks is a very easy job with right tools, but if you want the pipes on the top just fix them to the side of a joist. Not sure how you can do this without lifting the boards if there is no crowling space under them. That said, I don't think that plastic pipes need any support at all. Not sure about copper ones.

FreeBear

grumbler said: That said, I don't think that plastic pipes need any support at all. Not sure about copper ones.

Copper and plastic pipes should be supported at regular intervals to stop them from sagging - If you don't, there is a risk that air locks will form at the high points.

Don't forget to insulate the pipes with good quality thick lagging (not the cheap stuff from Screwfix/Toolstation). As for making holes in breeze blocks - You can do it with a screwdriver if needs be. Although, you'd be better off cutting a notch to lay the (lagged) pipes in. A plasterboard pad saw will make light work of that job.

steve1500

Would need to put in an elbow joint & lift the new pipe by about 6 inches to go over the breeze block !!

stuart45

When people say breeze blocks they could be dense concrete blocks, medium density, soft AAC blocks etc. Real breeze blocks made from coke breeze haven't been produced for many years. 

ThisIsWeird

I don't understand, Steve. You have normal timber floorboards sitting on normal timber joints and immediately under this is a concrete floor? Which has breeze block dwarf supporting walls for the joists? 
How high is the breeze block wall?
Just what is the construction, access and stuff under the boards?

stuart45

ThisIsWeird said:

I don't understand, Steve. You have normal timber floorboards sitting on normal timber joints and immediately under this is a concrete floor? Which has breeze block dwarf supporting walls for the joists? 
How high is the breeze block wall?
Just what is the construction, access and stuff under the boards?

The concrete floor will be the oversite, which is used on more modern timber floors. Possibly just one course of blocks for a sleeper wall. Sleeper walls are usually brick honeycomb bond for ventilation.

ThisIsWeird

Thanks, Stuart. I can't see the problem, then!
Also worth checking the existing pipe layout, Steve, so you don't end up doubling back on yourself.
With a good sleeved insulation, plastic pipe will be perfectly happy sitting on the concrete base - presuming it's dry. Or even cut short pieces of the pipe insulation - 6" long - and place them on the 'ground' at the recommended distances, at right angles, for the pipes to sit on. Optional blobs of Stixall to hold them in place.

FreeBear

stuart45 said:

When people say breeze blocks they could be dense concrete blocks, medium density, soft AAC blocks etc. Real breeze blocks made from coke breeze haven't been produced for many years. 

When someone says "breeze block" to me, I immediately think of AAC blocks (a.k.a. Thermalite type).

stuart45

FreeBear said:

stuart45 said:

When people say breeze blocks they could be dense concrete blocks, medium density, soft AAC blocks etc. Real breeze blocks made from coke breeze haven't been produced for many years. 

When someone says "breeze block" to me, I immediately think of AAC blocks (a.k.a. Thermalite type).

A lot of people not in the trade call any block a breeze block. I've found this when people say they want a breeze block wall built, but usually mean concrete or AAC. My wife still insists every block is a breeze block. Possibly because the majority of blocks used for the inner skins and partition walls built in the early 20th century to more recent years were breeze blocks. They're lighter in weight and darker in colour than concrete blocks.
AAC blocks are often called Thermalites as these were the most commonly used from the 70's on.
Nowadays there are different options to AAC such as Fibolite.