Central heating refit

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I've recently bought a 1960's bungalow which is in need of some serious refurbishment - electrics inadequate (1 socket per room), central heating pipes leaking in the concrete floor, leaking copper waste pipes etc etc etc.

I'm planning on abandoning the existing central heating system, and reinstalling from scratch with a new gas boiler and resized radiators etc.

Question is, what's going to be the easiest method of installing? So far I've thought of 3 ways of doing it. 1. run everything in the roof, and chase down the walls to bring down the pipes to individual rads. 2. run everything in the floor, in which case everything will need to be chased into the floor. 3. install some additional 15 or 20mm insulation slabs over the concrete floor, then run the pipework through this under a new chipboard/ply floor.

I'm not keen on the chasing options, as I'd like the various joints in the pipework to be accessible (also the water regs aren't keen on pipes being buried in walls or floors). I like the idea of the false floor option, as it gives me some additional insulation in the floor, and everything can be made fairly accessible. Anyone ever done anything similar? If so, do you bang your head regularly on the tops of doorways? Is it feasible?

Advice, thoughts etc etc very much appreciated.
 
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Have you thought about whats adjacent to all the areas you want to reach?

for example:

Is there a hall cupboard and/or airing cupboard attached to any of the rooms? you could run the pipes inside the cupboard(s) from the loft and then through the walls into the rooms.

is there a "soil stack" box in the bathroom (or kitchen - sometimes) which you can pinch some space in or enlarge?

under the bath, boxed in behind the toilet, behind kitchen cupboards, boxed in in the corner of rooms, all useful unused space which can be used to conceal pipes.

do you have an attached garage?

Horizontal runs can be concealed behind skirting boards padded out to say 20mm top and bottom (or what about those fancy skirting boards which double up as radiators?)

I would try to hide the pipes rather than chasing out or fitting a false floor.

Also don't forget about underflloor heating.

Hope this helps
All these suggestions could be used to help you re-wire as well!
 
To be honest, and chaps feel free to ol'corgiman an idiot if you disagree :LOL: , this its a tall order to give any coherent advice on a job like this via a forum mate.

Just use comman sense and think the job through before putting any pipes anywhere
 
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corgiman is right in that giving advice is difficult here, (but I'd ignore the comment about doing it the cheapest way :D )

Thoughts that I've mulled over if I was to start from scratch is to get the benefit from a condensing boiler, you need to have the return temperature to the boiler around 50 to 55 deg C or less. To get a low return temperature, underfloor heating is handy as it has to run at a low temp. for comfort.

I'd always try to install anything so I can get at it for maintenance. and I'd fit a strainer or two to prevent crud getting round the system. For drain cocks don't use the aboninable things that almost everybody fits, those things with the 45 deg angled spout and the shaft that always has water leaking round it when its open. There is a much better 1/4 turn type which doesn't have a washer to stick on its seat.

Do you like baths? take care with combi boilers if you do.

Just a few thoughts
 
sound advice from the oilman there

as for the cheapest way is there any other in our fair and luvverly trade :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:
 

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