Floating chipboard floor and ugly radiator pipes

[The Riviera Kid]

Hi folks, quick question. Currently downstairs we have concrete floors with a damp proof membrane, polystyrene blocks on top of the DMP and chipboard on top of that.

The house is approx 20 years old ex-housing association. The heating appears to have been the last thing to be installed as there's loads of instances of bad boxwork for pipes, pipes sticking out of places they shouldn't etc. One such instance is with the radiators which are plumbed in with pipework literally nailed onto the skirting boards.

As the house is somewhat compact, and we have four children, I'm a little loathe to start tearing the whole floor up (I did that with the kitchen - nightmare lol)........

........what I'd like to ask is whether anyone can think of any reason why I can't simply cut 1 - 1.5" channels into the chipboard around the skirting, to allow the pipes to be sunk into the floor. Laminate is currently laid, and the plan would be to simply relay the laminate and overlap the channel slightly by 0.5 - 1.0", thus covering the channel, but leaving enough room for the laminate to expand.

Does this sound reasonable, or is there any reason you can think not to do it?

 

[big-all]

laminate flooring may or may not unclip easily if its clip type and its NOT glued 5 to 10% dammage likley

flooring is only 22mm ish thick

if you cut out a slot and your flooring is unsupported it will flex and may break

the maximum you can remove from a joist top is 1/8th but not near the wall or mid span

9mm cladding is not structural

would you like anymore reasons

 

[The Riviera Kid]

Nah, there's no joists or supporting pieces to cut through. From what I can see it's exactly the same as the attached diagram (just without the underfloor heating pipes that this picture is trying to demonstrate). The whole floor appears to be supported by the polystyrene blocks.

As the laminate around the edge of the floor wouldn't be walked on (who actually walks with their feet right up against the skirting board?), I figured removing 1.5" of the tongue and groove chipboard (turquoise blue on the picture) would probably be okay? We're only talking about a slot maybe 3-4ft long to slot the pipes into, the rest of the chipboard would be left alone and snug under the skirting board.

I mean if there's something obvious I'm missing, feel free to point it out lol

 

[The Riviera Kid]

....and no the laminate (installed by myself last year) isn't of the glued variety so will come up easily.

 

[big-all]

sorry missed the first part off your post

assuming the battons are running length ways can you not unclip the floor back to the first batton remove the screws along the batton/cut to the side off the nail heads
insert pipes in the foam and reinstate chipboard flooring with added batton for cut edge if nessisery

 

[mac391]

I don't see why not, it's not something i would do but if the laminate isn't the old glued type, it should come up ok and your pipes being 15mm should fit into your woodchip ok. If you have more than a 5" skirting you could maybe tuck the pipes behind it, a bit of chopping out required but saves lifting the laminate.
Tricky one but doable !!

Hi folks, quick question. Currently downstairs we have concrete floors with a damp proof membrane, polystyrene blocks on top of the DMP and chipboard on top of that.

The house is approx 20 years old ex-housing association. The heating appears to have been the last thing to be installed as there's loads of instances of bad boxwork for pipes, pipes sticking out of places they shouldn't etc. One such instance is with the radiators which are plumbed in with pipework literally nailed onto the skirting boards.

As the house is somewhat compact, and we have four children, I'm a little loathe to start tearing the whole floor up (I did that with the kitchen - nightmare lol)........

........what I'd like to ask is whether anyone can think of any reason why I can't simply cut 1 - 1.5" channels into the chipboard around the skirting, to allow the pipes to be sunk into the floor. Laminate is currently laid, and the plan would be to simply relay the laminate and overlap the channel slightly by 0.5 - 1.0", thus covering the channel, but leaving enough room for the laminate to expand.

Does this sound reasonable, or is there any reason you can think not to do it?

 

[Barry123]

Hi Folks

If the pipes are simply in a channel within the chipboard will the pipes be so close to the flooring or carpet that the area will be hot, really hot?

I'm doing something similar (I think) but I'm putting 6mm of insulation above the pipes in an attempt to avoid a hot floor. Maybe I'll end up with a warm floor.

Any thoughts guys?

Barry

 

[mointainwalker]

Since radiators run at something like 70 C I would say that the surface will be uncomfortably /unhealthily hot

If you had a chair close to a pipe run or particularly if anyone stood close to it for a while, they would find it very uncomfortable.

Not certain, but can't imagine it would be good for the carpet either.

What kind of 6 mm insulation are you thinking of ?

 

[Barry123]

Hi Mountain Walker

I'm planning to lay 30mm Celotex or Kingspan, route a 15mm slot and pop in 10mm pipe. I'll then fit a 6mm slice of Celotex over the pipe. With 15mm of insulation below the pipe I'm hoping not to loose too much heat into the concrete. And the 6mm above the pipe will reduce the hot floor effect. Above will be 18mm chipboard flooring.

I'd welcome thoughts as to how effective the 15mm below and the 6mm above will be.

Thanks

Barry

 

[ajrobb]

Why not just hide the pipes in the skirting board?

http://www.marley-germany.com/en/pr...g_boards_for_heating_pipes/assembly/index.htm

 

[mointainwalker]

Hmmm, when I roughed out the calcs they seem to show that my previous supposition about hot spots was completely wrong !

Given the size of the pipe and its length, losses seem to be tiny. I started doing the sum but the numbers were in the range of a few Watts per hour, so small enough to be ignored.


In spite of that, you could still wrap the pipe in kitchen foil as that will give an improvement at negligible cost and if you are doing any other work that uses expanding foam, you could save a bit to squirt into the channel which should give better coverage and save you carving 6 mm strips .

 

[Barry123]

Thanks for the link to Marlay skirtingboard pipe covers - that just leaves the run down the wall in each room. Maybe I could join a few of the rooms together - hmmmmm.

Thanks for attempting the calc on my behalf. I like the foam suggestion it would be easier than cutting the insulation into thin slivers.

I'm still at the planning stage so still have ability to change so all of your ideas are greatfully received.

Barry