Hole at bottom of kitchen wall

[Jeff543]

I had the original Central Heating unit removed. Long story short there's a gap at the bottom of the wall in between dining room and kitchen as you can see (photo is from the kitchen side obviously) . I can see a piece of wood in this gap and there is anew radiator now behind the gap on the dining room side. Any tips on how to fill this up without damaging the radiator also?

 

[tell80]

Working from the kitchen:
Simply brick it up with bricks and mortar.
But first remove all the weird gunk or damaged plaster surrounding the hole - cut back the plaster 500mm around the hole.
When the bricks and mortar set up, say, 24 hrs - then make good the plaster.

 

[opps]

Are you able or wiling to temporarily remove the other radiator?

I would be inclined to add some more timber and plasterboard over the hole. As @tell80 says, clean up the area first.

I am not a structural engineer but that hole looks pretty old and doesn't seem to have caused any loading issues over the years.

If you don't want to remove the other rad, just plasterboard the kitchen side for now.

 

[JohnD]

Was it a warm air system?

 

[Jeff543]

Was it a warm air system?

Yes, it didn't last and is now obsolete.

 

[Jeff543]

Are you able or wiling to temporarily remove the other radiator?

No .

 

[Jeff543]

Working from the kitchen:
Simply brick it up with bricks and mortar.
But first remove all the weird gunk or damaged plaster surrounding the hole - cut back the plaster 500mm around the hole.
When the bricks and mortar set up, say, 24 hrs - then make good the plaster.

Thanks, if I do that , down the line the fact that there is heat emanating from the radiator that shouldn't cause issues for the bricks and plaster iI put in? How am i to avoid getting cement or filla on the radiator when I work from the kitchen side, put some thin metal or wood in between as I do the job?

 

[opps]

Thanks, if I do that , down the line the fact that there is heat emanating from the radiator that shouldn't cause issues for the bricks and plaster iI put in? How am i to avoid getting cement or filla on the radiator when I work from the kitchen side, put some thin metal or wood in between as I do the job?

The heat won't be an issue but it might be advisable to turn off the rad whilst the mortar is drying.

You could drape a bin bag over the rad to protect the rear of it.

I still think that plasterboard would be the cheapest and easiest option. All you need to do is cut a bit of timber, which you can glue to the left hand side of the hole. Then beg, borrow, steal a small bit of plasterboard. You may even find some offcuts in a skip or on a building site. You can then "glue" that to the bits of timber, and eventually, just fill over the top of it.

 

[noseall]

No .

Is there room to slot a piece of say foil back insulation behind the rad - to act as a shutter? If you could get it firmly fitted, you could reasonably successfully work backwards from the outside in (pre-render the masonry etc).

 

[Jeff543]

Is there room to slot a piece of say foil back insulation behind the rad - to act as a shutter? If you could get it firmly fitted, you could reasonably successfully work backwards from the outside in (pre-render the masonry etc).

I don't think so.

 

[Jeff543]

Working from the kitchen:
Simply brick it up with bricks and mortar.
But first remove all the weird gunk or damaged plaster surrounding the hole - cut back the plaster 500mm around the hole.
When the bricks and mortar set up, say, 24 hrs - then make good the plaster.

When you say 'brick it up ' you mean like a little wall, one brick cemented on top of another? I don't think there's enough room for the height of 2 house bricks.

 

[noseall]

I don't think so.

Trap/wedge some thin ply there then.

 

[Tigercubrider]

I’d get a small piece of ply/hardboard tall enough to poke up above the radiator.
This would cover the hole.
shove it behind the radiator and pack it with some kind of wedge top and bottom to delineate the wall surface.
This would be removed afterwards.

Then take an off cut of polystyrene and trim it to be a tight fit in the hole, shove it in to contact the ply from the other side

Back fill whatever is left with brick and mortar leaving about 25mm so you could use plaster/filler to make good from the working side.

At some point you could remove the radiator and polystyrene plug and make good from that side whenever.

 

[Louis.]

Just remove the radiator for the time it takes? Gonna end up with a ****ty job behind the radiator

 

[conny]

It's easy telling someone to remove a radiator to get a perfect finish, but bear in mind, a lot of people don't know anything about central heating except it is usually full of water. The thought of taking a radiator off and causing a flood is not one to be dismissed lightly.
If the OP is not confident at doing it then his best option is a board behind the rad, block up from the kitchen side, (by whatever method he deems himself capable of), and then once it's all set and finished, remove the board from behind the rad.
How it looks behind the rad afterwards is a minor issue and may not be that noticeable, especially if there is a shelf over the rad.