Guide price for re-installing radiators

river_kwai

I have seen a house with radiators removed. All that's left for the radiators are the copper pipes which are clearly being sawn in order for the radiators to be removed. (Questions: is this the correct way to remove the radiators? If the copper pipes connecting the radiators are being cut by sawing, would re-installing radiators be a problem?)

For re-installing the radiators, I am thinking to get the central heating plumbers to do it, but I don't know whether sawing the copper pipes connecting the radiators would make the re-installation much difficult? I have counted and there are 12 radiators in the house, the big radiators in the master bedroom and lounge, some medium ones in the 2nd bedroom and kitchen, and the rest are small ones (based on the fitting marks left on the walls).

Anyone care to help me to estimate how much much would it cost to supply and fit all the radiators. (Would it be cheaper if I get al the radiators from Wickes and get a plumber to install it?) As I said, my main concern is whether the sawn copper pipes would be a problem. I have some photographs taken and can send to anyone if they need to look at the photos.

Mrtickle_3

Did the previous owners take the floor boards too? :rotfl:

I'm by no means a plumbing expert but this does sound like a pretty expensive job. If the pipes are too short to install the radiator they can be cut back a bit more then either have a new bit of pipe soldered on or a compresion joint + extension piece. Radiators will be expensive and it sounds like there will be a fair few man hours spent installing them - if you really like the house get some plumbers to give you quotes.

N

river_kwai

Mrtickle wrote:

Did the previous owners take the floor boards too?

It still puzzles me as to who would have stripped a house like that???

Mrtickle wrote:

If the pipes are too short to install the radiator they can be cut back a bit more then either have a new bit of pipe soldered on or a compresion joint + extension piece.

Yes, that's what I thought, using push-fit joints or solder joints, but I think we need some input from someone who knows a bit more.

skintchick

On average, decent rads cost £200 each, so you're looking at £2,400 without installation costs.

It is cheaper to do them all together, although painful, because they have to drain the system down each time they do it, and that takes time, and time costs money - LOTS of it if it's a plumber/Corgi engineer.

And it will probably take a few days to do all that work.

My feeling? Prohibitively expensive unless you can get the price down considerably (assumption:you are buying a house).

alanobrien

skintchick wrote:

On average, decent rads cost £200 each, so you're looking at £2,400 without installation costs.

:eek: What are they solid gold ? I recently bought 5 decent rads including 3 largish ones from screwfix for about £270 in total.

Its amazing what people will do though. I mean why cut the pipes when all that was needed was to unscrew the valves ?? Wierd.

If the rads were high on the wall you may get away with lowering them on to the cut pipes, if not then extending the pipes or dropping the valves using rad valve tail extensions are the most likely fixes.

Either way it will be a few day work for a plumber.
note also the plumber does not have to be corgi registered to work on the wet side of the system.

robv_3

Normally costs around 200->250 quid a rad to supply and fit with pipe work, floor lifting etc so a lot less (150???) to just supply and fit rads. The pipes being cut with a saw will not be a issue unless they are very short.

If the rads have been removed I would be surprised if nothing else has been remove or broken. Expect to pay for a new central heating system and take it as a bonus if you do not need it.

Rhino666

This sounds like a house repossession scenario where the previous owner took the radiators out of spite - surprised they didn't remove the boiler ? Removing radiators generally involves unscrewing the valves, thus avoiding damage to the pipework. Assuming the exisiting pipework is long enough for a plumber to solder to, the job will not be prohibitively expensive. I would guess that £1400 - £1600 should cover rads + fitting but if floorboards need lifting or the existing pipework/boiler is unusable this figure could double or triple.

Do you know why the radiators were taken ?

Patsmaboy

http://www.harrisonmccarthy.co.uk/heating.php

check this site, cheap systems and rads, give you an idea what to pay for parts at least.

bobbywomble

to get round the sawn pipes is dead simple
all you do is
clean up the existing sawn copper pipe with some wire wool
then theres a clever little thing called a presoldered sleeve is a little tube about an inch long that is a fraction of an inch larger than the pipe this slips over the pipe one end and a new pipe is inserted in the other end and cut to size
the sleeve is then heated up with a blow torch the solder in the sleeve melts and sticks all the pipes and sleeve together with a watertight seal
this is done to every pipe and should take a good plumber about 5 mins each pipe
for rads check out "plumb centre" they are nationwide ive always found them very usefull and helpfully staff that know the trade
chances are your plumber would use them anyway
to get a quote measure the distance between the two pipes that have been cut
decide weather you need a double or single thickness rads go by the size of the room,thermostatic valves up stairs open valves down stairs will same you a fortune
add the cost of the valves and washers needed
you will find that the rads will not be the exact size of the gap between your pipes this is ok because spacers can be bought to compensate

hope it helps
:j

robv_3

bobbywomble wrote:

....a presoldered sleeve is a little tube about an inch long that is a fraction of an inch larger than the pipe this slips over the pipe one end and a new pipe is inserted in the other end and cut to size
the sleeve is then heated up with a blow torch the solder in the sleeve melts and sticks all the pipes and sleeve together.....

:rotfl: :rotfl:

Solder Ring Straight Coupler (20p each or 1.50 per 10)
End Feed Straight Coupler (15p each or 2.00 per 25)

Will need to apply your own solder with the end feeds