Any advice regarding cast iron radiators?

[benmc]

I purchased 6 for the house from these people http://salvagedoctor.com/

Very happy and they look great. They also appear to push out a lot of heat.

Mine are bolted to the wall using these - http://salvagedoctor.com/uploads/images/Gallery/Radiator-Accessories/DSCF0404.JPG

Ben

 

[Tom]

Bolting to the floor is a good idea. Thanks, Phil. Fortunately, I have photos showing all the pipes and cables below the floor so I can be sure I'm not going to damage anything

 

[robgil]

drilling cast iron might not be easy.

 

[Tom]

Good point. Maybe I should have another look around for ones with feet that I could have straps made to go over them and fasten the straps to the floor. I definitely don't want to bolt them to the wall because I want floor length curtains. As someone said on here before, if you have floor length curtains in front of a radiator, the radiator may as well be in the garden.

Realistically, what is the chance of anyone pulling one over by accident if they're so very heavy? These will be about 3' long and 2' 6" high. I don't want to risk it if there's a real chance of it happening but if it's so remote.....

 

[robgil]

because they are tall they are quite unstable, you could have a bracket tack welded to the feet either end. welding cast isnt easy but it might be easier than drilling them.
edit - would it not be possible to put the wall brackets at the very bottom of the rad?

 

[Tom]

Tack welding a bracket is a very good idea So is putting a wall bracket at the very bottom, although this would still make the curtains scrunch up :|

 

[robgil]

you could maybe cut a slit in the bottom of the curtains to fit around the bracket.

 

[benmc]

Good point. Maybe I should have another look around for ones with feet that I could have straps made to go over them and fasten the straps to the floor. I definitely don't want to bolt them to the wall because I want floor length curtains. As someone said on here before, if you have floor length curtains in front of a radiator, the radiator may as well be in the garden.

Realistically, what is the chance of anyone pulling one over by accident if they're so very heavy? These will be about 3' long and 2' 6" high. I don't want to risk it if there's a real chance of it happening but if it's so remote.....

Bracket goes in the middle of the rad so it will match where the curtains meet.

They are very heavy but once they get moving the momentum is great. Would suggest bolting them somehow.

Ben

 

[Flyfisher]

I don't think I'd be happy having such heavy rads freestanding. I imagine them as effectively balancing on a small footprint and it wouldn't take much to tilt them beyond a certain angle beyond which nothing would hold them. A bit like balancing a stationary heavy motorcycle; not too difficult if kept pretty much dead upright, but once past a critical angle, it's going down no matter what.

 

[philpjuk100]

Drilling cast iron is not too difficult if done slowly with a sharp drill,(the carbon in it makes it self lubricating) the trick is to start with a small drill and work up to the size you need.Cast iron can be welded by specialists but is easier welding it to another piece of cast iron than steel.An alternate way would be bits of rolled steel strip between sections in the form of an inverted "U" with the ends bent outward and drilled for securing screws.phil.

 

[Tom]

Ben's point that the bracket would go where the curtains meet is very valid and one I'd completely overlooked However, the stone we have is Blue Lias and, whilst this has great crush strength, when you start messing with it it crumbles easily. Given that, i don't fancy drilling into it and I'm not sure it give enough grip on the bracket.

I'm taking FF's point onboard, so these will have to be fixed somehow

I like Phil's idea of an upside down 'U'. This will do the job without modifying the rads and, if they're made well, will look the part, too

 

[Flyfisher]

There are a wide variety of brick/stone 'anchors' available so I'd be really surprised if there's nothing suitable for your type of stone.

If it's very crumbly then it might be best to avoid the expanding rawl-bolt types in favour of a chemical glue-type anchor, but the end result should be a firm bolt-like fixing in the stonework that should easily stabilise the radiator.

Worry about getting the asthetics right at this stage; I'm sure the actual fixing will be fairly straightforward.