Blanking off the radiator for re-decoration.

[scotcruz]

Hi folks,

I'm re-decorating the living room and painting the walls with a lighter color. Looking to paint behind the radiator so wanted to take the radiator off.

Another reason for taking it off is that I am tiling the floor and wanted to drill the holes in tiles rather than cutting triangles arround the radiator pipes which would look horrid.



I was thinking of blanking the copper pipe that's coming out of the floor.. can anyone recommend the accurate fittings I need for this purpose?

Also, can I turn the system on after blanking or is it best to draining the system out and refresh it.

Please advise

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Can you not set your tiles out so that the pipes are on natural joins? Looks like you have 100mm or so to the skirting so if perp joins don't line up you could cut long skinny bits.
Other option is drain the system fully- you'd have to remove the valves to get your drilled tiles over the pipework. Easiest to leave system off, if you want to run it while works are ongoing then here's how;
Set out your tiles exactly around the radiator area.
Drain system (if it's open vent decrud the f & e tank before draining).
Remove rad and valves.
Remove olives from pipes (so you can get the valve backnuts off).
Final measure of the tiles in that area, drill and put in place (if they are large format you need to fix them properly with tile adhesive etc at this stage, if small then not so vital to fix them right now).
Paint the wall behind the rad, as many coats as you want.
Refit the radiator (new olives, wirewool the paint off the pipes if you need to).
Refill system.
Do the rest of the tiling & painting at your leisure

 

[scotcruz]

The tiles run on a sequence from the hall therefore I am unable to position them to suit the radiator pipes.

I have a drain at the lowest point through the garage so draining is not an issue.. I was hoping while I'm redecorating, I could leave the radiators off but still be able to use hot water

 

[Madrab]

Depressurise the system, drain the rad and then open the valves and drain the system until the water stop running. Loosen the bottom nut off the valves and take it off, you'll be left tithe the nut and olive on the pipe. Use the male part of one of these to screw into the nut (hopefully the thread will be the same) and cap the pipe. A single turn of gas PTFE tape around the olive and just nip it up, don't overtighten.

Repressurise the system and check for leaks. Use the system as normal.

 

[scotcruz]

Depressurise the system, drain the rad and then open the valves and drain the system until the water stop running. Loosen the bottom nut off the valves and take it off, you'll be left tithe the nut and olive on the pipe. Use the male part of one of these to screw into the nut (hopefully the thread will be the same) and cap the pipe. A single turn of gas PTFE tape around the olive and just nip it up, don't overtighten.

Repressurise the system and check for leaks. Use the system as normal.

Fab, thank you..

 

[oldbutnotdead]

The tiles run on a sequence from the hall therefore I am unable to position them to suit the radiator pipes.

I have a drain at the lowest point through the garage so draining is not an issue.. I was hoping while I'm redecorating, I could leave the radiators off but still be able to use hot water

Problem with the compression stop end is you'll have a 25mm hole in your tile, not the 15mm needed for the pipe. You can use pushfit stopends (requires cleaning the paint off the pipes) or use compression stopends or just refit the valves (not the radiator) after you've drilled your tiles.

 

[scotcruz]

I've had really bad experience with push fit and since then steered away from them.. I know folk would vouch for push fits and it needs to be fitted well.

You are right about the 25mm, I'd leave it off if I didn't need the hot water while I'm re-decorating so a compromise could be the 25mm hole which is much better than the horrible looking triangle

 

[Madrab]

Once the tile's down then fit pipe collars to hide the larger cut needed for the compression nut. Simples.

 

[CACKATALLTRADES]

Problem with the compression stop end is you'll have a 25mm hole in your tile, not the 15mm needed for the pipe. You can use pushfit stopends (requires cleaning the paint off the pipes) or use compression stopends or just refit the valves (not the radiator) after you've drilled your tiles.

You want a certain amount of clearance around the pipe in any case, so I'm not sure the extra 5mm compared to an ideal 20mm or so or so is really going to matter.
That said, tiling doesn't need to be done all at once so it shouldn't be too hard to time things so you only need the system drained down for a couple of hours.
Obviously the very smallest stopend is a bit of dowel rammed inside (if open vented anyway ) and failing that an end feed solder stopend. By the way, I have compared the diameter of a JG Speedfit stopend with the point-to-point diameter of a standard modern 15mm compression nut and the Speedfit is ~1mm larger. An older chunkier nut is the tiniest bit bigger though.

 

[scotcruz]

I used the compression stop end and M14 diamond hole cutter on the grinder to cut the tiles neatly.. thank you all for the advice

 

[ianmcd]

deleted