Old radiator pipes

[Laurenp81]

Ripping out our old kitchen and find pipes behind the cabinet. When heating is on the pipes get hot but need them removed completely due to new kitchen configuration and need for fridge to go where they are. Is this a big job? Or an easy fix?

Surely that depends where they are going to / from. If water flows onward to every radiator in the building or every hot water tap, rerouting will be necessary. How much that costs depends on the rest of the layout of your house.

If they are a separate loop just to heat the kitchen, capping them off should be easy and relatively inexpensive.

Basically, this is a ‘how long is a piece of string’ question.

Looks like where a radiator used to be. If it still gets hot then it might be part of a heating circuit loop that leads to the next radiator - if so then if you cut them off and cap them at ground level then a) your hot water system to your boiler will all drain out and b) you won't have any heating on that loop. It might be that was an lone radiator with only pipework to/from the boiler possibly but even then you ought to remove it fully.

Basically, you should get a heating plumber in to check it and ensure it is sorted before you do the kitchen.

There was previously a radiator there. Is that a concrete floor? Strange to have pipes going directly down if so. But it so then the concrete will need chasing out to repipe it out of sight.

I don’t know didn’t even know this existed until we pulled the cabinets out but there is currently no radiator in the kitchen so I suspect there was one there once! It is a concrete floor. Thank you for your helpful response, I just didn’t know what I was looking at started to spiral… Will get onto a plumber

Is there no radiator at all in the kitchen? It must be freezing.

If I were you and you're putting a cabinet there (unless a huge fridge), then can you use those pipes to put a radiator elsewhere, or, fit a Hydronic Plinth heater.

Seems a shame to waste the fact its piped up to your central heating.

https://www.plumbworld.co.uk/myson-kickspace-800-hydronic-plinth-heater-with-grille-1302-1261279?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI15Gqoc6JiQMVMZRQBh0TDAkgEAAYASAAEgL_wfD_BwE

I’ve lived here ten years and no heat in the kitchen has never been an issue and never thought about getting one. It is a fridge freezer that is meant to be going there. I’m sure there’s a solution the plumber will come up with - just frustrating

Yeah it's mad you never knew it was there and you're lucky you never had a little leak there as any plumbers visiting would probably never have found it if you never knew it was there. I bet you wondered why the cupboard in from of that was always a little warm. I trust it wasn't your chocolate cupboard LOL.

Plumber will need to keep the central heating "loop" so to speak so will likely have to dig up a channel in the concrete to sink it into. You'll want it soldered rather than with compression fittings.

chocolate goes in the fridge thankfully lol!

Thank you so much. I’m happy for the floor to be dug up as that’s being sorted as part of the kitchen refit.

jusy glad we started stripping out now and found it early to get it sorted!

As there's that long horizontal pipe connecting the two ends, to my limited plumbing knowledge that would suggest it is needed to complete the circuit so radiators after that can get hot water. If it wasn't the logical thing would just be to cap off the vertical pipes.

To check this you could turn the heating on. If you feel the vertical pipes see which gets hot first to see which is the inlet side. Either borrow a knob from another radiator or use some pliers and screw down the inlet valve side (try to remember how many turns to return to same position after). If radiators later in circuit don't heat up, then it'll be more complicated and will need to keep some sort of pipe in place. If all works okay still then can probably get rid of it!

Thats a well thought out bodge….just put a piece of pipe between the valves and fit the kitchen on top of it 🤣

You can just dig around them , cap them off under the floor , the rest of the heating will work just fine. Its no different to just shutting the valves off and not using a radiator,the water will just flow round the rest of the system.

It might be a really old one pipe system. If it were a 2 pipe system they wouldnt have bothered with the copper, they'd have just closed the lockshields.

Place was rented before I bought it so the landlords probably did less than the bare minimum! They’ve tiled on tiles on tiles on tiles - not joking

Can I just ask, do you think that the pipes could be shortened so they’ll sit with the plinth underneath the cabinet? They are currently ridiculously tall

They could be shortened, but I would check how they fit on the circuit and if you can take them out. If you have pipes and develop a leak it would be a massive pita. Whatever you do make sure it’s either out or just a straight welded on pipe which you tested with heating on before you obstruct it.

Thank you. I’ll be on to a plumber tomorrow morning.

Yes you can shorten them , cut them lower and solder a cap end on them and that would work fine, but if you say the fridge is going there then they might be in the way still ?

People do odd things when bodging things up , it could be that the valves are seized open so they just stuck a bit of pipe in , cheaper and easier than replacing the valve.

Never underestimate the mind of a bodger …….🤣

Sorted that problem, going integrated now so if the pipes are shortened then can sit under the cabinet within the plinth. I’ll be glad when this is all over 😭