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How are my pipes linked up and how can this be tidied up

17 replies

Radders23 · 29/05/2019 07:57

Hi all! Please excuse the bad drawing, but I've tried to illustrate the various pipes on 3 walls in our dining room which used to be the old kitchen in a house we've bought. The walls were all previously plaster board which we've ripped out. There are two radiators. The left one has pipes coming from a hole in the wall and the right one has 3 pipes going down/coming up the floor behind it but I'm not sure how these link up with the radiator.

One pipe is from a t shaped pipe on the right wall, another from the stop cock on the left wall and another going up to the ceiling and to the electric shower in the bathroom. The pipes going to the left radiator t off to that radiator with the other side being buried in the concrete floor, one leaves at an angle that suggests it's going through the doorway to the radiator in the kitchen and the other is angled like it could be one of the two pipes also angled towards it from the right radiator (pipe coming out of left side and pipe from the stop cock).

I want to remove the two radiators and ideally move all piping into the ceiling. I want to have a radiator on the left hand side and plasterboard that wall only (dont want to move stop cock). However I can't understand how the pipes are linked up due to the concrete. Can anyone help?

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Radders23 · 29/05/2019 08:12

Image now attached!!

How are my pipes linked up and how can this be tidied up
OP posts:
PigletJohn · 29/05/2019 09:10

A photograph would help.

Radders23 · 29/05/2019 09:15

I'll upload one later today, although you won't be able to see the pipes hiding behind each other 😀

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Radders23 · 02/06/2019 12:38

Here are some photos

How are my pipes linked up and how can this be tidied up
How are my pipes linked up and how can this be tidied up
How are my pipes linked up and how can this be tidied up
OP posts:
Radders23 · 02/06/2019 12:41

More

How are my pipes linked up and how can this be tidied up
How are my pipes linked up and how can this be tidied up
How are my pipes linked up and how can this be tidied up
OP posts:
Radders23 · 02/06/2019 12:42

The stopcock

How are my pipes linked up and how can this be tidied up
OP posts:
PigletJohn · 02/06/2019 14:07

I have a feeling you may wantto replace some of them.

First, identify what they all are, and write on them, every metre or so. Rub the metal with detergent and a green scourer, and wipe dry, first, then a felt pen or Stabilo marker will work. The reason for marking every metre is that you might, later, misidentify a pipe after glancing at a distant mark.

The central heating pipes you can identify by turning on the heating for a bit. The pipes that heat up before the radiator are CH Flow, and the ones that heat up after the radiator are CH return.

The hot-water pipes will heat up after you run the hot tap.

The mains supply pipe will be the coldest, and will get colder after you run any tap.

The tank fed cold, if any, will get a bit colder after you run a cold tap, but not as cold as the mains.

The gas pipe will be slightly below room temperature, but will not change much.

The pipes from the boiler to the cylinder will be primary flow (heats up first) and primary return (heats slower, and not so hot). They may be big pipes.

Then identify what they are made of, with a magnet and your green scourer. Copper-coloured are copper. Attracted to a magnet are iron (they may be rusty internally). Grey and nom-magnetic are lead (if you have lead pipes on the supply or cold tap, ask your water company to test your drinking water for lead content. They need changing and there might be a subsidy or other assistance.

Have you got a hot-water cylinder? What colour?

PigletJohn · 02/06/2019 14:10

I don't like this one

www.mumsnet.com/uploads/talk/201906/large-651728-20190529-194011.jpg

It looks like it might be a lead waterpipe, and it looks like there might be an electric cable next to it. They are both in an unsatisfactory position, at floorboard level where they are liable to be damaged, even from walking on but especially from a nail or screw. There's probably more, just under that laminate flooring, which is even worse as its out of sight.

PigletJohn · 02/06/2019 14:12

this one has a large old pipe just under the ceiling. It is yellow, which is probably for decoration, although gas pipes are also often yellow.

www.mumsnet.com/uploads/talk/201906/large-751624-20190529-194136.jpg

PigletJohn · 02/06/2019 14:14

I don't know why there is a pipe under the radiator. It looks like a drain-cock, but it is too low to get a bucket under, and I can't see what it connects to. Perhaps there in another pipe under the radiator.

www.mumsnet.com/uploads/talk/201906/large-115903-20190529-194045.jpg

PigletJohn · 02/06/2019 14:17

this radiator was fitted by a buffoon. There isn't room to turn or service the right-hand valve. You cold put a knob on the left-hand valve though.

www.mumsnet.com/uploads/talk/201906/large-297643-20190529-194233.jpg

PigletJohn · 02/06/2019 14:18

I wonder if that's a gas-pipe for a cooker?

www.mumsnet.com/uploads/talk/201906/large-855101-20190529-194122.jpg

PigletJohn · 02/06/2019 14:20

that should certainly be the cold-water supply going up to the loft tank from the main. There should be a Tee off it for the drinking water tap in the sink.

www.mumsnet.com/uploads/talk/201906/large-663669-20190529-194202.jpg

PigletJohn · 02/06/2019 14:20

Where's the boiler?

PigletJohn · 02/06/2019 15:48

The radiator circulation pipes probably come from the airing cupboard (if there is a pump and motorised valve there) or the boiler. it might be straightforward to cut away the old pipework and run new in a convenient position. if you are going to have kitchen units you can run cables behind them (in the "skirting" gap or higher) unless they are ikea. They will not be in the way or unsightly, but you do need all valves and stopcocks to be readily accessible and not concealed. A competent plumber can run water pipes, you don't need a boilerman. Gaspipes do have to be worked and tested by a qualified GasSafe engineer.

it's possible to hide water pipes in plaster or behind board, but this will lead to sadness when you put a screw into one or get a leaking joint.

is the kitchen floor concrete? or wood with a ventilated space underneath?

Radders23 · 07/06/2019 17:18

Hi Piglet John,

Thank you for your posts. I believe the primary flow and return to the boiler in the extension are in the ceiling and I can't see any pipes T-ing off from these in this particular room.

The pipes here www.mumsnet.com/uploads/talk/201906/large-651728-20190529-194011.jpg go into the concrete floor where I can feel some areas are warm to touch. Also there is no wire it's just the fold in the foam underlay that you can see. Where they go into the concrete I can see a puddle of fresher cement where I think they must cross over to supply the radiator on the right. The cement is slightly cracked which is concerning.

I found out that the two pipes coming from the ceiling both go down into the floor and are for the hot and cold tap. Where it goes into the ceiling, the hot pipe goes towards the downstairs bathroom, not sure where it links up with the supply from the hot water tank...

The only one I'm confused about is this one:
www.mumsnet.com/uploads/talk/201906/large-855101-20190529-194122.jpg Its cool to touch and doesnt sound like theres water in there

OP posts:
Radders23 · 07/06/2019 17:36

oh also our hot water tank is an orangey color

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