Tips On Best Way to Tackle This

[GeeTee]

Hi

Not sure this is the best place to put this but I'm thinking you guys will probably have the best idea about how to go about this

Mid terrace (2 up 2 down) property with a Valliant combi shoved right at the back in the usual extension (kitchen and shower room).

Thanks to the CH pipes being run unprotected through the concrete floor of the extension they sprung leaks. The extension is concrete floor with quarry tile the rest has been knocked through into one big room with a rad on the front and back walls, flooring is really nice real wood t + g.

I've run new piping for the back rad behind the kitchen units, through the wall to the rad - no probs. Now I have to pipe up the rad at the far end of the room (front of house) - about 7.5m away. I really can't bring myself to cut the flooring up to do it.

Running round the skirting isn't really possible thanks to chimney breasts on opposing walls and doorways etc.

So my current idea - the rad in the front room upstairs is almost directly above the rad I need to pipe up, so I thought I might be able to take a drop off that. Taking some trim off around the bay window I found a handy hole - but how to go about it? The ceiling downstairs is lath and plaster, upstairs floor is cheapish laminate over floorboards (but not sure which way they run!).

Where the rad lives....

plan to run pipes up next to window then box in and paint to match window surround....

So I guess the question for those who have to annoying jobs like this all the time - what's going to be the least disruptive way to do this? Hack away some ceiling and run a drill up through the boards and laminate above? Rip up the laminate upstairs and hope the boards run the right way so I don't have to take up half the room? Then hope I can find some laminate to colour match and fit where it inevitable broke?

Ta
Graham

 

[JPC]

put some pipe clips on the wall for thew drop...place some pipes in and mark the ceiling for drilling

go upstairs lift the floor in the corner where they will come thru. check no joist in the way.
push a screwdriver/small drill bit thru the ceiling where yu marked the pipes...does it come out in a ok place ?

drill with a 20mm? bit x 2.

go upstairs, plan route to flow and return upstairs.

connect up at both ends. -

 

[numpty1]

run the pipework in 10mm then you should be able to tee in,10mm can be put in a pvc trunking for any surface work upstairs.or you could try these

http://www.encasement.co.uk/?gclid=CKP6j5nfr5MCFRnqXgodbxLNog

 

[ChrisR]

Get yourself a "stud finder", about £15.
Then you can easily find enough nails through the upstairs laminate to tell where the joists are and which way they run.

There are lots of techniques you can mix to get a result - eg:

If you have a short spare piece of the laminate you can remove some and replace a patch without it showing if you're careful and good enough with woodwork - the right tools help.
If you have a small area of floorboards exposed you can make a say 5" hole with a cheap holesaw, or a igsaw, and put the piece back with a batten under it.
If where you want a pipe to go up doesn't align with where you want to go down, you can easily connect with a couple of elbows and a length of pipe on each one - plastic if you like.
If you drill up from below, you can "find" the end of the drill before it goes through the floorboards, with the stud finder (needs two people!). If you just make a hole in the ceiling, you can use a magnetic pick-up tool against the underside of the floorboards, and find that with the stud finder.

If you use 10mm for the drops and the rest is 15mm, it'll be a pig to balance. DOn't forget to put a drain cock or two at the bottom!

 

[GeeTee]

Thanks for the replies and ideas.

I'll be running it in 15mm copper as I have 6 or 7 2m lengths left over from previous jobs - and I have bought a drain off to put in the bottom of the drop

Good idea about the stud detector, I have one knocking around the garage somewhere, I've never found it to be terribly useful - but it may be just about to pay for it's keep

Thanks again - I'll let you know how I get on and maybe post some pics of my amateurish plumbing if it's not too embarassing!

Ta
Graham

 

[TicklyT]

Checking for joists with a stud detector may be easier through the ceiling downstairs than through the laminate and floorboards upstairs.

 

[GeeTee]

Thanks Tickly, I'll try it but as it's a lath ceiling I'm not sure it'll work.

Ta
GT