Central heat pipes - lie on surface of wall (boxes in)

[Bluefargo]

I had a small 3 bed semi and would like to do lots of work to it. However before skimming/ insulating internally and doing wooden floors I think I need to get my CH pipes sorted. It’s oil central heating and the pipes have been run along the walls to the rads. They are boxed in but I think it looks awful.

I will be changing the oil for gas CH but how much of a job will it be to change the piping so it is encased in Floor / walls?

Presumably there is no point doing floors or walls until this is done?

If anyone knows anything about this or has done this type of work I’d appreciate it!

if you gouge a chase in a wall, you have weakened it and encouraged it to crack. Bricks are only about four inches thick and you might remove or crack half of it, perhaps make a crack through the entire depth.

You can take up wooden floors quite easily (insulate all underfloor pipes) and only need to run a couple of pipes between floors, typically through the kitchen ceiling above the boiler, but can be in a boxed-in duct in a corner.

We have a flat that was built in 1906 and the heating system was installed external to the walls. Since we were doing a complete overhaul (wiring and plumbing) we got the builders to drill a channel for the private heating pipes that belonged to just our property. The heating pipes going up our wall to the other flats upstairs couldn't be modified. In that case we removed the (big unsightly, covered in brown stickyback plastic) box and painted them the same colour as the wall to blend in.

The channelling work was dirty, noisy and created a lot of rubble. Whole walls had to be reskimmed and painted BUT it was one of the first jobs. We kept about half the radiators as they were in good working order and replaced the others. One is a towel rail and another is a real feature in the sittingroom. In fact the radiators are the least trouble- you can fix anything you like onto the inlet and outlet pipes... With a qualified plumber's approval, obviously!

Thanks so much for the input - I can live with a duct from gas boiler to upper floors however the floor on the ground floor is concrete - is it possible to put a channel in that for the heating throughout the ground floor?

Pigletjohn thanks for the input re putting a channel in the wall. I will avoid that based on what you’ve advised.

Loving the fact that it’s christmas, I can’t sleep, and the legendary Piglet John is up answering queries about chasing in pipework

Yes happy Christmas all!! I had forgotten about xmas for a moment in my obsession for Home improvements!

"ground floor is concrete - is it possible to put a channel in that for the heating throughout the ground floor?"

No.

Unless it is an old house and the concrete is just a thin layer over soil, which needs breaking up and relaying anyway.

We looked into doing similar but it just wasn't going to be worth the cost and upheaval.

Our boiler is downstairs but pipework runs up to first floor within a cupboard and then drops back down to ground floor level in a couple of places. Our drops were mostly in the corner of rooms so they have been boxed in at 45 degrees and plastered and really unobtrusive, then at floor level they're boxed in at skirting height, with the skirting sitting in front of and level with the boxing.

if you run the pipes at skirting level, you can chase away the plaster, from the height of the skirting, and screw battens to the wall, one at the top of the skirting, and one an inch above the floor. This will give you anywhere from half an inch to an inch of extra space, and the skirting can be lightly tacked to the battens with small screws so it can easily be removed without damage if necessary.

The plaster can be neatly filled to the battens before redecorating. The boxing in of pipes or cables should not be undetectable, or people will drill or nail through it into the pipes.

(if it is an external wall, you should insulate the pipes)

Thanks pigletjohn!! Great advice and good to know what’s possible / not possible