Relocating radiator and extending pipework

[drives]

Hi all,

I’m redoing our kitchen at the moment, and I need to relocate a radiator to accommodate the design.

The main flow and return pipework goes around the perimeter right under both where current radiator is, and where I planned to install the new one. Therefore what I had planned to do was simply re tee off for where I wanted the new radiator to be.

The problem I’ve encountered is that I have just realised that all of my flow and return is stainless steel thus I can’t cut it/redo all the tee offs etc. or not diy at least.

If I were to rerun the existing 15mm pipework that feeds the current radiator, to new radiator location this would be two to three metres more in length, going right across the room.

My questions therefore are, is the above likely to be a problem in terms of flow/efficiency drop offs from a long 15mm run, or is my best option to try and find a plumber who can work with stainless steel pipework and redo the tee offs? I have no idea whether most can or not to be honest. I’m pretty sure it is stainless as it’s a 1970 built house and I understand now that there was a shortage of copper around that time. It definitely doesn’t look like truwell as it does have a very bright shiny silver appearance and there’s no sign of corrosion….

 

[terryplumb]

Does a magnet attract to it ?
Can you see where any copper pipe joins to it and show us a picture of the joint ?

 

[drives]

Does a magnet attract to it ?
Can you see where any copper pipe joins to it and show us a picture of the joint ?

Thanks- I've checked and a magnet doesn't stick to it. I can't see any markings or seams on that section of exposed pipework I took a photo of either. That said, that particular bit is in our living room where a section of floorboard has been cut out for access but I haven't done this yet in the kitchen, where the radiator presently is- I'd imagine it is the same though as the living room so I've added a photo of that.

I can see the main flow and return pipework under the kitchen floor though as I have a big access hole I can poke my head through on the other side of the room...

I will certainly be cutting some floorboards to have a closer look over the next week or so. My other issue is that the tee offs are very close to the floorboards so I imagine if I try and cut the pipe and resolder so close to the existing joins to keep it all under the floorboards I am potentially asking for trouble?

 

[terryplumb]

Probably worth asking a plumber to visit.

 

[drives]

Yeah I was thinking I might have got to that point. The plumbing underfloor in this house has generally troubled me! I’ve debated whether we just need to bite the bullet and repipe before I completely redo all of the flooring downstairs. It does look a bit ropey, plus we have had small leaks before which I managed to (temporarily?) sort with leak sealer. Of course it could have been upstairs but there was no sign of it, thus seemed much more likely it was under the suspended floor somewhere.

That said I have taken up a few more floorboards and I was completely wrong about where the 15mm radiator feeds tee off. They are in fact much closer to where I wanted to relocate it, and the runs are already quite long (in fact I’d be making them a bit shorter).