New central heating pipes ticking under plastered boards

[swebb99]

Hi there some advice needed about pipes and ticking. When the heating is warming up and cooling down the clicking takes place, it's fairly loud and frankly will drive me to despair.

I'm having a kitchen extension built and it has now been plastered but I'm getting a fair amount of ticking coming from the location of two central heating pipes that run down the new wall. The pipes comes from the boiler above the boarded ceiling, they are mostly plastic on that run, they then connect to copper just before turning 90 degrees downwards between the wall and plaster board which has now been plastered. At the bottom it bends again and goes through a pipe under the floor.

I complained to the builders about the ticking and after some persuasion they said they would take a look. When I got home they had cut away about 3ft of the plaster from the bottom of the wall around the two 15mm pipes. Now the clicking has got a little better but is in no way fixed.

What I am surprised about is that the pipes run between two bits of boarding and there is a 3-4" gap between them down the wall allowing the pipes to be run down, but there appears to have been no wrapping or anything put around the pipes, they just appear to have had some rough plaster put around/over them down the gap and finally a top layer to smooth off the wall. The pipes as they go in to the floor are wrapped and i seem to remember when I first saw the pipes fitted they were wrapped where they ran down the wall.

Is this normal, wouldn't this restrict any expansion of the pipes, is there a risk of the strip of plaster just cracking and coming off long term. I notice a strip of wall where the pipes run down getting very warm.

Any thoughts would be welcome. Oh and no I don't have OCD, a few friends have commented it seems loud also

Thanks

 

[denso13]

The pipes should have been chased into the wall and wrapped or sleeved before plastering. As it is the pipes are almost on the surface and the plaster will crack with expansion of the copper.

 

[Madrab]

Yup +1, any pipes behind a wall should ideally be chased into the block .... wrapped .... clipped and then, depending on where in the wall it is, covered with a plate to avoid puncturing in the future.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I agree. Anything which restricts their free movement, will cause them to stick, then suddenly release as they expand with heat. The sudden release is the ticks and creaks you will certainly hear. Get them to do the job properly and explain to them what a proper job is.

 

[swebb99]

Thanks for the responses fellas

So I guess now I need to have a fairly strong word with the builder and ask for the section of plaster covering the pipes to be removed top to bottom. The pipes removed, the blocks cut, new pipe work soldered and put in the cuts, wrapped, clipped in and covered correctly. I'm expecting a fair bit of push back but at the end of the day it should have been done correctly in the first place.

Cheers

 

[swebb99]

After a bit of a chat the builder who had a chat with the plumber they are going to remove the pipe in the wall which feeds the downstairs central heating and they are going to route it from the boiler along the surface of the kitchen wall (so to the left of the pic) and in to the pipes in the ground. That kitchen wall will have all the units against it so the pipes won't be visible.

The builder seems sure the existing pipes wouldn't give issues but I just wasn't confident so said I needed it changing. The solution isn't ideal but I feel happier with it than what I currently have and it will result in much less chopping around than chasing in to the wall and still having the pipe run down it.

I also like the idea because I can possibly get to the pipes in future and also make sure they have a nice bit of insulation around them.

 

[durhamplumber]

The builder seems sure the existing pipes wouldn't give issues

They already were !!

 

[Madrab]

Never be afraid to ask for what you want. Any decent trader shouldn't have an issue with it, as long as it's reasonable.

They would always have caused you issues, especially over time.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Never be afraid to ask for what you want. Any decent trader shouldn't have an issue with it, as long as it's reasonable.

They would always have caused you issues, especially over time.

Absolutely no excuse, especially when they are doing a number of similar homes like this. Aside from the constant ticking, the plaster would soon crack and break away due to the epandsion and contraction.