How hard is it change a radiator yourself?

[User181019]

So I've been trying to get our ancient and ugly radiators replaced for ages. They work but they are just ugly and have been in place for years. I'd like to replace two medium ones in the hallway, one very small one on the stair landing and one bigger one in the hallway. I'll replace with the same size and make sure the pipes stay in the same place. No floorboards to prise etc. We are in London. I don't know what the labour cost would be as we are being ghosted by plumbers who don't return with a quote! Not even the guy we've used a couple of times now for other jobs and recommended to others. The last one seemed interested. Asking me to WhatsApp pics of all the rads to be replaced. Read the messages then just stopped responding :(

Since the pandemic, where we are trades people are doing a roaring trade. We've found it really hard to get good people in to do "smaller" jobs. E.g. tiling the hearths, replacing broken fences. Jobs too time consuming for us : both work full time with kids - and DH never gets round to doing stuff so paying someone saves a lot of arguments and gets things done. I assumed replacing radiators would be at least half a day's work but I'm thinking now maybe it's too small a job compared to much bigger jobs out there.

I've seen guides on B&Q suggesting it's easy to swap out rads for new ones. Is it really that straightforward? Or how much did you pay for labour only and whereabouts are you?

It’s quite hard my friend. Not the actual radiators myself (although it would be hard to keep them the same size - radiators have got more efficient so if you get one the same size you might overheat the room) but you have to drain the entire house etc before you remove, re pressure etc. sorry.

It’s nowhere near as simple as you think it is, and it’s probably a day or more. The pipes won’t be able to stay iIn the same place, you’ll need new valves and fittings, you have to drain the system and then re fill plus inhibitor.
if you’re talking to plumbers like you think it’s going to be simple - half a day and just a few £ then they’re not going to get back to you.
what is your price expectation?

If your radiators are old the pipes are going to be old and may not connect to new radiators. I live in a council house and the only heating in the kitchen was a fan heater which is too expensive to put on. So I got someone to install a small radiator in the kitchen he went off the pipes what where already in the kitchen from where a radiator used to be. Then he had to do some thing with the pressure the boiler and it was done took a hour.

It's not an easy job especially if your current radiators are old as it could mean replacing (or at least moving) the pipes as well as draining the entire system to prevent leaks or water damage.

I'd expect it to take a good couple of days if not more, and it wouldn't be cheap. I certainly wouldn't risk doing it yourself.

I had all my radiators changed last year and it was a huge job. It took two men a full day. The radiators were very heavy and as pp said the whole system needs to be drained. Two of our radiators leaked somewhat when the water went back on due to faulty fittings. There is no way someone who didn't know what they were doing could manage it.

Dh has changed 3 of ours so far, 3 more to go. He hates it, it's hard because as others have said the whole system needs draining. He's not a plumber but with the help of YouTube videos has managed to do it

DH and I managed to change three of ours mid-covid but it was a fucking nightmare. The whole system had to be drained, old radiators don't just pop off like Lego like they always do in the "how to" videos, despite all our best efforts we got sludgy radiator water on the carpet... But it is doable, assuming nothing goes wrong that you don't have the knowledge, skill or equipment to fix.

Personally I wouldn't do it again unless I had absolutely no other choice.

There is no point trying to get a plumber for a non essential job this time of year. Wait til everyone's broken boilers are dealt with, and try in the spring.

Thanks everyone.

@Palmasailor I was expecting between £850-£1k for labour because of where we are. I don't tell the plumbers what I expect to pay. I've simply asked for a quote to replace X radiators and provided pics. I was thinking the lack of interest meant that our job was "small" compared to the hundreds of thousands being spent on kitchen extensions and larger renovation projects where we are (sadly, not us). When we had our hearths retiled, we did get turned down by two traders who said it wasn't worth it for them (not big enough a job but not straightforward either as concrete needed removing). Similarly, we couldn't get our entire fence replaced last year as they said it wasn't a big enough job but "maybe" if they had a day free between other jobs but they couldn't tell us when. I do get it. It doesn't make sense to take a small job if you can get a much bigger one.

I really do not want to mess up this job by attempting ourselves unless it's straightforward. @MonsteraMama well done you! If DH and I attempted it, we would probably get there in the end but end on the brink of divorce!!

I will keep calling plumbers. Perhaps change our approach as we are only calling those with lots of good reviews and I suspect they are already not short of bigger jobs.

It’s good advice to wait and try and get a plumber in warmer weather. Right now they are fire fighting with broken boilers and heating systems!

Look I’m a builder and it’s less than that - possibly plus VAT.

I think you must be giving the Vibe that you’re expecting it cheap which is why they’re not getting back to you.

Id change your approach to asking them how long they think and not stipulating that you think they’ll go in “like for like without lifting floorboards”.

you have to remember that you don’t know what’s happening under the floor and any moron in the past could have done anything which comes to lite when you disturb pipe.

its absolute maximum 2 day, but probably one day at £3-500 a day plus incidental parts.

We have 8 radiators to be changed and have had one quote so far of £1,352 (£1,000 labour, £127 parts, and £225 VAT). That firm has a labour rate of £400 a day so they've allowed 2.5 days for one guy. We've bought all the rads and TRVs. We have another chap coming out over the weekend so will see what he says.

They are very expensive this time of year, can you limp along until the spring ?

my DH has changed radiators, it’s a sod todo you have to completely drain the system and then add inhibitors etc every time do you do this, then bleed for airlocks etc. if you need to change or replace pipes you need special equipment todo this and to ensure it’s water tight.

DH is good at this sort of thing and over the years has bought all the tools to make it easier, but even then the air is blue.

when we moved and needed two radiators adding into the conservatory (something he did in the old house), he decided to get someone in this time. It was money well spent in my opinion.

I would suggest you wait until the spring, and try to get as much done in one go as you can.

Not hard if you keep the radiators the same size but time consuming. Def a specialist job if you need pipework moved (unpess you are very handy woth a soldering gun!).

You can get a free quote from British Gas for radiator replacement. They might be more expensive than other contractors but it would give you a baseline to gauge other quotes by.

As for your smaller jobs, try getting an odd job man, there are a lot of retired men out there who like doing these small jobs to top up pensions.

I got an amazing gentleman via fb, he’s done lots of little things for me, as well as work with DH to do bigger jobs including changing fence panels laying paving slabs laying wooden flooring. All things at one time DH would have done on his own, but he’s older now and two hands make the work lighter.

I think you need to focus on a really skilled handyman, pay him or her well and look after him. There virtually isn't a job my uncle couldn't put his hand to.

Even better, line up a ton of jobs and give the person a week or two's work.

Get yourself a handyman. Line up a load of jobs. Make sure they know you are on hand to help, ie lifting radiators and fence panels into place. Give them a week or twos work. Look after them.

It's a relatively easy job for a competent DIY person, as mentioned chances are you'll need to change the pipework, but it's not rocket science!

Best done in the summer :-)

I work for a plumber and gas engineer.

As others have said it's not a straightforward job.

I would say your main issue is the timing of this job. Right now we are rushed off our feet with heating system repairs. We've had our first cold spells and people are putting on their heating for the first time. We're dealing with all the heating systems that haven't come on or aren't working properly.

It's a question of priorities. An elderly person with no heating or hot water is always going to be scheduled before a cosmetic radiator change.

If you'd asked for this work to be done in the summer I'm absolutely certain you'd have more interested tradespeople.

Like others have said you're unlikely to get anyone to do this job during the winter as it isn't a priority. Get it booked in for the spring/summer.

Unless you are a trained plumber/heating engineer, don't try it yourself.

Friend of mine tried this, having assisted a plumber on occasions and thought they knew what they were doing. Household woke up to water running down the walls from the upstairs rad .... Just don't.

I don't think this is that hard and have done it successfully myself. In terms of the job it is probably one of the more easy things to do - its certainly not regulated like working on gas or some aspects of electric.

Some points :

There are a ton of videos on youtube showing how to do this, watch them first.

Never attempt a DIY plumbing job on CH in the middle of winter. Best time is April/May IMO. That way if you do damage you do not need to get it fixed until Sept/October, so plenty of time and should be easier to get someone to come out and help you if you need it at this time of year.

Radiators are heavy. Not just to carry, but to install on walls. You need to be able to lift them on. You also need to make sure the brackets are up to taking the weight of the new ones if you have say swapped singles for doubles, especially if they are mounted on stud walls.

DIY means you have time to do stuff that you otherwise wouldn't, like painting the wall behind.

It's fairly easy to swap one out without draining the system. See the vids. All you need to do is isolate the radiator with the two valves.

Learn how to disable your heating loop refill (if you have one). That way if you do end up damaging a connection you can always stop the leak.

Support the pipework as you tighten and untighten the joints and watch carefully how to make good joints. I wouldn't do a job myself extending pipework unless it is plastic pipe (that is easy).

Finally if you are going to get plumbers in make sure you try to give them a full days work rather than 1/2 a day as they are far more likely to be receptive to that as travelling to and from a place wastes a lot of time. If you try to get say three radiators replaced that is probably only 1/2 a day for someone competent (but does depend on the nature of the job, like whether you need new brackets and pipe extensions or not), but 6 I would say is normally a full days work.

I forgot to add the caveat that yes, it is possible to cause water damage if you do not fit correctly, so that is something to be aware of.

OTOH, I think it is always a good idea to know how to disable your heating loop fill (in the same way you should always know how to turn your cold water supply off), because if your heating loop ever has a leak you will know how to stop it in the future.

Hi OP, I know it's not what you asked but I'm in London too and I know what a nightmare it is to get decent tradesmen. I can recommend a couple if you like - I'm in SW London. PM me if you're interested 😊