Chasing in heating pipes ????

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Hi,

Apologies for the reposted question.

In simple terms I need to run pipework to new radiators on a ground floor flat. The existing floors are concrete.

I do not want to box in pipes in the corner of each room with up and over pipe runs, therefore :-

1. Can you chase copper drops in the wall and plaster over - insulate/protect the pipes?

2. Or, might it be better to chase in some floor channels and either run copper or plastic in the channel and box over?

You guys must have come across this before, I know the advantages of boxing in but they look ugly and there must be a way round it.

I'm only referring to heating flow and rtn's not the H&C's

Thoughts please, Thanks
 
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It's possible to chase the pipework into a masonary wall but the depth of the chase must not exceed 33% of the thickness of the wall/leaf - don't forget the walls are usually there for structural reasons!

Floor chases are possible but again you need to be sure that you don't breach any membranes - you won't know how deep you can chase before you hit a DPM or equivalent.

If it's a flat I would check you have permission to start hacking into structural elements (if you are a leaseholder then there may be restrictions on what you can do to the flat)
 
It's possible to chase the pipework into a masonary wall but the depth of the chase must not exceed 33% of the thickness of the wall/leaf - don't forget the walls are usually there for structural reasons!

Floor chases are possible but again you need to be sure that you don't breach any membranes - you won't know how deep you can chase before you hit a DPM or equivalent.

If it's a flat I would check you have permission to start hacking into structural elements (if you are a leaseholder then there may be restrictions on what you can do to the flat)

How would the pipes be protected if they were in a blockwork wall and plastered over?
 
Central heating pipes don't have to be protected.

However if you are burying in the wall bear in mind the 70c water temperature in the pipes will invariably cause repeated cracking in the plaster/making good. You can fill the cracks but they will reappear.

You need to create some sort of insulation and/or an air gap around the pipe in order to prevent this happening.

This in turn makes the depth of chase more significant.

A deeper skirting is one way round this, we have done this with centre connected radiators (such as the Vogel und Noot T6, which I have in my house) so there are no visible pipes.
 
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However if you are burying in the wall bear in mind the 70c water temperature in the pipes will invariably cause repeated cracking in the plaster/making good. You can fill the cracks but they will reappear.

I believe the CH pipes in my parents' house must be buried like this, but the walls are all papered and I've never seen any cracking. Would paper, e.g. lining paper, normally be sufficient to hide this? Or have they just been lucky?
 
Best option is the floor as its concrete.
There's a few good sawing methods available for hire (Husqvarna K3000 wet or the Hilti DCH300 Dry vac system) or use the services of a specialist contractor.

Then an 18 joule minimum impact breaker with brand new 2" spade and 1" sds max chisels.
Don't faff around with worn blunt chisels!

Pressure test the pipework, insulate with armaflex 13mm wall, then screed over.
Sawing walls weakens them and may induce structural cracking.
 
There are special hollow skirtings available.

Or if you used 10 mm tube you could cut a groove in standard skirting.

Its hard work cutting a channel in a concrete floor!

I wrap tube in the clear plastic bubble wrap to insulate and allow expansion when burying it in a wall.

Tony
 
I wrap tube in the clear plastic bubble wrap to insulate and allow expansion when burying it in a wall.

Tony pray tell what BS does that come under :D
 

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