Embedding heating pipes in wall

[wazzag]

Hi,

I've moved into an ex-council house where the CH plumbing has all been surfice mounted. If I were to channel out the walls, embed the pipes in them and cover with bonding and plaster would there be any problems?

Cheers,

Warren

 

[Alfredo]

Eventually you will in my experience. Surface piping is unsightly, but its great bonus is that you can get at it if/when it leaks. I've lost count of the flats we've had to repipe after the originals set into concrete flooring have rotted away. Using plastic coated pipe will help a lot, and wrap any exposed copper jointing. You could possibly repipe in plastic pipe in a conduit. You pays yer money ands takes yer chances on this one.

Alfredo

 

[croydoncorgi]

Unless walls are damp and/or concrete, you're less likely / unlikely to get corrosion on copper pipes in walls than in floors. But walls have the risks of existing buried electricals and nails being driven in later.....

 

[wazzag]

Thanks for the response, much appreciated!

So i've decided that i'm going to embed plastic piping (it's only a 2m stretch) with copper 90 degree compression joints in the wall.

So will it be ok if I cover the pipes with directly plaster bonding?

When you say wrap copper (in my case the compresson joints) pipes, do I need to and if so what do I wrap them in?

Cheers,

Warren

 

[chrishutt]

I would not use compression joints for buried pipework. If you use microbore pipe (8mm or 10mm) you can bend it to avoid fittings altogether and even run it through a flexible sleeve than can be set in cement or plaster. Otherwise use soldered fittings with copper pipe and wrap well with tape.

 

[wazzag]

Thanks, what tape should be used?

 

[wazzag]

anyone?

 

[Kes]

Hi,

For pipe protection I would recommend Sylglas or similar tape (I don't know what the generic name is for this tape). I would wrap both pipes in a spiral manner with a 50 pc overlap so that the tape is double thickness.

There are two downsides. The tape, and the gunge on it, is exceedingly sticky and will go everywhere and on everything and everyone you touch. The more problematic is that the grease on the tape can bleed through a thin coat of plaster. You could try wrapping the wrapped tape with some plastic film before plastering. Something like thick cling film. I know you can't buy thick cling film, thus something like.

Rgds.

 

[wazzag]

Excellent, thanks!