which comes first - pipes or plastering?

[RichardTBear]

hello,
Im in the process of putting in our central heating to our extension and it dawned on me that if I continue with the radiator tails into the bedroom, I'll need to know how far off the wall they'll be before positioning them but at the moment its just breeze blocks - should I have the room plastered first? if so, does it matter that its a temporary floor and can floorboards go down afterwards?

sounds like a daft question but Im a complete novice at this stuff.

thanks for any advice.
Rich

 

[noseall]

my plumber always ask me the thickness of plastering material that will be applied to the wall.

if it is d&d i would reply 25mm-ish.

if it is wet plaster or float and set i would reply 18mm-ish

he then fixes a pair of narrow battens to the wall, either 18 or 25mm thick, exactly the same width and length as the rad brackets and fits the radiator to the un-plastered wall.

he then tests the whole system before removing the rads but leaves the narrow battens or packers in place along with the screws.

i then plaster around the battens.

as the battens mimic the exact size of the bracket, there is no timber visible once the bracket is replaced.

 

[noseall]

another tip.

if you have pipes running along the floor and within the floor screed, make sure that the pipes are coupled to the radiator before you screed them in.

the radiator does not need to be filled, only coupled to the flow and return pipes.

once the screed has set you can remove the rad.

 

[RichardTBear]

thanks noseall thats great - its d&d so 25mm it is

cheers for the quick reply

 

[noseall]

just remember, the plaster needs to be as thick as the most proud objects fitted to the wall.

if you happen to have had say, a broad door casing fitted, then the plaster will need to finish level with this casing. regardless of the 25mm rule.

or, if you have any unusually deep back boxes fitted on the wall, same thing applies.

or if the plumber has fitted any pipe drops down the wall, make provision for these to be covered also.

pipe=15mm, plus a 10mm covering (minimum) of plasterboard, plus skim.