move a radiator across a room

robnye

having just had a loft converted to give an extra bedroom, we are now playing changing rooms, ie every bedroom is being redecorated

the last bedroom has a radiator against one wall, which is stopping us from putting anything other than a desk in front of it.
I want to move the radiator across the room so that is under the rear window.

i am a fairly competant diy'er and feel that i can manage to move it by myself. especially as a plumber has quoted me £180 to supply a new rad and fit in new position, I have checked prices and i can save £110 at least

The question is.... i dont have any copper bending or soldering skills, so i want ot keep the price as low as possible

so i was wondering about using push on joints - plastic/copper?

also can i use plastic piping, i have seen in diy shops, and i also saw that the plumbing in the loft (for the cold tank) had grey plastic piping used. Is this ok for heating ?

Any other tips......?

payless

screwfix sell a couple of "push fit" systems that can be used with CH

that said I wanted a radiator replaced and repositioned but I just ordered the radiator from them and then got a plumber to do the rest

alanobrien

I watched a plumber extend our heating into the loft using pex pipe. It was in the conversion cost so i left well alone

Its pretty easy to do, hiding the plastic pipe from the floor was a concern but he finished that last bit in copper so it looked and worked fine.

As regards the pipe, you need to make sure its capable of taking the temperature, and remember it sags when it gets warm but thats not a problem if its under the floor.

Some good info here;

http://www.johnguest.com/linkpages/SPFinstADV.html

rizla01

Hi,

£180.00 sound a bit on the steep side.

If you do it yourself using the methods you speak of you risk de-valueing your home. It'll LOOK amateurish.

I assume the suply comes from under the floorboards and that is where the new supply needs to be run which will mean cutting off and extending the supply. All of this should be under floor and not above the surface level. The two pipes should then emerge neatly at the corresponding positions.

I would never use push-fits under florboards myself even though they claim to be very good. Go and purchase tha radiator and fix it in the pos that you want and lift the floorboards and THEN ask a plumber what he will charge for connecting up.

Shouldn't cost more than £50.00 (Half hour) including materials.

lipidicman

Sounds like good advice to me. Always do the bits that you can, and get help/take advice for the hard stuff!

robnye

i am happy to do the work.

I dont see how it will LOOK ameturish if the pipes are under the floor. I saw the pipework used by the plumber in the loft conversion, looked fine to me....... grey plastic piping......, now hidden behind partitions etc....

already have floor clear of carpet.... I have undertaken copper work before, just dont have the tools, so wanted a simpler option.

I was going to fix the pipes to the joist so as to avoid sagging.

should still use a peice of copper for the uprights to the radiator

the majority of the plumbers costs is due to having to drain down the heating system, so the pipework can be worked on. so yes £180 does sound a lot, considering the new pipework and fitting will take approx 1 hour.

does anyone know how to calculate what size of radiator required... i know it works on room size. but this room has the pipework running across it from the boiler to the emersion tank, so is fairly warm anyway

payless

http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/rads.htm gives a guide to the BTU

---

The plumber who did mine did not drain down the system, just turned off boiler/ pump and bunged the pipe whilst working, the water spillage was very small

IJJoseph

Wouldn't touch pushfit myself but if you have to then go for cuprafit. Also bear in mind that with any push fit fitting you will need to jump am earth bonding lead across the joint.

If you're going to do it yourself then best thing to do is to drain the system down as any water in the pipes will prevent you from making a good joint. Remember to heat the pipe evenly (not just the joint). In fact I tend to avoid putting the flame directly on the joint. I also prefer yorshire (presoldered) fittings to end feed (just a personal preference). Remember to mark the floorboards clearly to indicate the locaqtion of the pipes (the last thing you want to do is put a nail or screw through the thing). Finally when you refill the system remember to add some corrosion inhibitor (My preference is for Fernox but there are others on the market).

robowen

rizla01 wrote:

Hi,

£180.00 sound a bit on the steep side.

Shouldn't cost more than £50.00 (Half hour) including materials.

£50 including materials half an hour

What planet do you come from

The radiator I've just priced up cost £200 alone. :eek:

How can you give such a vague, ridiculous estimate without even knowing the size of the radiator, nor do you know how many and what length of floorboarding to lift.

The run could be through each floor joist. How many floor joists will you be able to cut a noggin into in your half hour then ??

The jobs yours matey !!

rob

robnye

well the costs was £140 to move existing single rad or £40 more to replace it with a new double rad........

2 joists to cut, but the plumber wouldnt know that

rizla01

robowen wrote:

£50 including materials half an hour

What planet do you come from

The radiator I've just priced up cost £200 alone. :eek:

How can you give such a vague, ridiculous estimate without even knowing the size of the radiator, nor do you know how many and what length of floorboarding to lift.

The run could be through each floor joist. How many floor joists will you be able to cut a noggin into in your half hour then ??

The jobs yours matey !!rob

WELL, I COME FROM THE PLANET WHERE PEOPLE MAKE SURE OF THEIR FACTS BEFORE CRITICISING OTHERS!

If you could have been bothered to read my post then you would have spotted the well hidden phrase

Go and purchase tha radiator and fix it in the pos that you want and lift the floorboards.....

.

If you can't be bothered to read what is written then don't bother coming on here making UNINFORMED judgements.