New central heating installed, hide radiator pipes

[bricksmasher]

Hi all

Refurbing an entire house as I speak and first thing we have done is electric first fix and now the central heating system (changed back boiler to combi and added new radistors)

New radiator on the living room, pipes came down as the boiler is on the middle floor.whats the best way to makes these pipes slightly more attractive than they are currently, I'm assuming my only options are to box them in or paint, but I'm a DIY novice so thought I'd ask on here before assuming.

Also the 2nd picture shows a gas pipe running from the downstairs gas meter through the living room wall, am I allowed to box this in, or not as.its a gas pipe

Thanks
Mark

 

[muggles]

You haven't posted any pictures...

 

[bricksmasher]

Ah not sure why I thought I posted them

 

[Madrab]

The CH pipes could have been buried in the wall? Only alternative really is to box in with talon box section or paint I would think.

The gas pipe could be boxed in too but would need ventilation. I would be looking to see why that couldn't have been run differently though.

 

[dhutch]

We used 10mm roll copper chased into the plaster.

 

[FiremanT]

Generally, IMO&E, the boxing in is invariably worse looking than the pipes. But why are the pipes running down the middle of the wall?.

 

[FiremanT]

The gas pipe could be boxed in too but would need ventilation.

Not neccessarily

 

[bricksmasher]

Thanks for the feedback, plumber is coming out on Wednesday anyway as his staff left some old pipework in which I was told would be removed

That and I asked them not to hang all the rads as plasterer wants to do a lot of our walls, do I'll ask him my options then too and see what he's willing to do and the cost is rather get them chased into the wall ideally of can be done properly

Thanks again

 

[FiremanT]

Thanks for the feedback, plumber is coming out on Wednesday anyway as his staff left some old pipework in which I was told would be removed

That and I asked them not to hang all the rads as plasterer wants to do a lot of our walls, do I'll ask him my options then too and see what he's willing to do and the cost is rather get them chased into the wall ideally of can be done properly

Thanks again

Will be interesting to know what happens. Just a note of caution, it is NOT standard practice to chase into wall, in fact it is something of a rarity - so dont go in with gun blazing . The expansion will tend to crack the plaster. New builds tend to be so, but that is because plastic is often used under dry lining. In those cases, the visible sections are generally dreadful.

Your ppiework, as far as I can see, is okay. I would wonder about the positioning, and you would normally have 3 clips on the rad drops - I am guessing thse pipesare a bit springy. And possibly a clip on the gas pipe, but the length is a bit difficult to determine.

 

[wwwebber]

Defo not necessary to chase in. We left all of our pipework exposed, used decorative brass pipe clips and left the copper to patina nicely all on its own. Looks great with our styling.

 

[Madrab]

Certainly not necessary to have them chased in but aesthetically it is the only way to remove them from sight if that's what is wanted.

Have been asked to do that a number of times when the required finished look is not to have the pipe drops showing and then used chrome on the runs to the rad valves.
As long as the brick work is deep enough to take the pipes and cover plates are installed correctly and a flexible filler used then shouldn't have any issues with expansion cracking the plaster, just make sure they are confident with what they are doing and guarantee the finish.

 

[Madrab]

Not neccessarily

If that section of gas pipe is being sealed into a box section then when would it not be vented? I would hazard a guess that the boxing section would end up being large enough and it's not really conducive to being sleeved along its entire length.

I think it's a moot point anyway because having another look at that pic suggests there is no sleeving at either point where is passes through the wall or ceiling, if there are voids.

 

[FiremanT]

You only need to vent over a certain duct volume (0.01M3) (?) By fitting rails immediately either side of the tube, plus one in the corner, then clad right across, you will be well within.

 

[Madrab]

You only need to vent over a certain duct volume (0.01M3) (?) By fitting rails immediately either side of the tube, plus one in the corner, then clad right across, you will be well within.

Yup, that's a fair point, It could be made that small, not sure how it would look though. I was looking at it from the point of boxing the corner section which may look a bit better.

I wouldn't want it there in the first place TBH.

 

[Mottie]

I have a similar situation in one of our upstairs bedrooms. We had pipes running up to the loft and a previous owner had just boxed them in. Couldn’t you do similar in the corner of your room to get the pipes from upstairs to under the floor then just come up to the radiator? The gas pipe could go in the same box maybe?