Radiator drops

[JohnArmer]

I'm having a radiator added to an existing central heating system in the dining room of my Victorian Farmhouse where currently there isn't one. There's a solid floor so the plumber's recommended coming down from the bedroom above, meaning that there will be a couple of 15mm pipes descending in the corner of the room.

Can anybody recommend any way of boxing the pipes in that would look OK in an old house? I can't find any good examples anywhere online except PVC trunking. I half thinking about getting him to leave them unboxed and just painting them over the same colour as the walls.

Anybody got any good ideas?

 

[philmac1944]

Do you have a curtained window nearby ? Pipe drop could be hidden behind curtains
and run along skirting.

 

[JohnArmer]

No, it's not near a window. The plan is to have them coming down a corner. There is no skirtings at the moment, so the horizontal runs will be hidden behind them.

There is already a drop in the hall which has been hacked through some rather nice moulding. It's in some pretty horrible trunking at the moment but I will attack that later.

 

[middi]

Hi

Tell your plumber to use solid brass " clamp" brackets to hold the copper pipes in situ, instead of those white plastic clips
All you have to do is " brasso" polish brackets and pipes a couple of times a year and they will look great.
Alternatively, ask the plumber to use polished copper pipes where they need to be exposed ( a bit more expensive to buy though)

I think this is a better option than painting them

Middi

 

[skier-hughes]

We have oak boxed ours in. In the kitchen and bedroom and will do the same for the bathroom.
Here's a quick picture of vertical and horizontal.
Vertical was made from planks cut from a reclaimed beam, so that it is similar to the oak framework. The horizontal made from new boards to match the floor.

 

[robgil]

Hi

Tell your plumber to use solid brass " clamp" brackets to hold the copper pipes in situ, instead of those white plastic clips
All you have to do is " brasso" polish brackets and pipes a couple of times a year and they will look great.
Alternatively, ask the plumber to use polished copper pipes where they need to be exposed ( a bit more expensive to buy though)

I think this is a better option than painting them

Middi

Munson clips with male threaded base plates. Pipe work does not have to be ugly. Polished up with a coat of beeswax every now and then looks fantastic.

 

[Feltwell]

I'm not even sure it needs a polish. We have stripped, dark pine skirting in the kitchen (original, stripped by a past owner) and the unpolished copper pipes have gone quite a nice dark brown colour and blend in rather well. Alas they used white plastic pipe clips, job no. 156436 is to replace those as they are hideous.

I quite like those Munson pipe clips. These are quite neat as well.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cast-Bras...aterials_Plumbing_MJ&var=&hash=item6fc6216350

 

[Flyfisher]

Metal pipe clips with a regularly expanding/contracting soft copper pipes?

I suppose it would take a long time before any damage was done and I'm probably being over sensitive because we had a ceiling collapse in a previous house due to a small leak caused by the hot and cold pipes touching each other.

But I agree they look far better than white plastic clips.

 

[Penners]

I feel about this the same way that I feel about a lot of such modern details in a period house. At the time when you're carrying out the work, you worry about how it's going to look, but once it's done, nobody ever notices it.

I would certainly try to run the pipes down behind a curtain if possible, but if not I'd simply paint them the same colour as the wall. Nobody will notice them.

 

[robgil]

I would.

 

[eezageeza]

These aren't quite as nice as Feltwell's link, but are a lot cheaper :

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/School+Board+Clip/p92644

 

[stephenh]

JA - "there will be a couple of 15mm pipes descending in the corner of the room.”

An effective way of covering these is to cut out 3” or so of plaster either side of the corner, run the pipes, and then cover them with 4” quarter round paper covered plaster cornice, fixed with filler so that the edges are level with the surrounding plaster.
You will then have a gently curved corner.
An amount of making good with filler will be needed, then touch in with a couple of coats of paint and there you are.

The above only works if the walls are reasonable flat and vertical.

You will need a good joiner to carry the skirting round if you are not capable of doing this yourself. You might choose to run the pipes behind the skirting whilst this is being done.

I have, in the past, visually ‘balanced’ the one radiused corner with others in the same room when required.

Good luck

 

[JohnArmer]

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm going with brass school board clamps and exposed pipes - not sure whether they'll be painted or polished - probably the latter.

Will post pics when done, which should be by Christmas - it's part of a much bigger job!

 

[AMc]

We had this arrangement with pipes dropped in one corner and painted the same colour as the wall (plastic clips and all). Frankly I thought it looked terrible and if we hadn't been putting in underfloor I would have built a box around them then painted that the same colour as the wall.
Hope it works OK for you but I would expect to want to box them in.

 

[Moo]

- probably the latter.

Highly polished copper looks wonderful, so long as it's polished regularly and frequently.
Are you sure that your staff can be relied on to perform this activity punctiliously (without getting any polish on the adjacent paintwork)?

 

[michael]

Let’s face it. Pipework running down the wall behind the curtains or in the corner polished or unpolished doesn’t really look that attractive unless you live on a boat or in a reclaimed subterranean public convenience or if the pipework is located in the old working basement of a very grand house.
Its times like this that I think we should allow modern plasterboard into our period homes. A simple floor to ceiling timber box frame in the corner built around the pipes clad in plaster board and decorated to match the existing walls and some matching skirting board fixed to the bottom has to be the best solution here. It could even be a small triangulated void (when looked at in plan)slightly cutting off the corner by linking the two adjoining 90 degree walls. The false timber column proposed by skier also looks good but only if timber columns and beams are a feature of your home.
I think the best bet is to hide and disguise not highlight

 

[JohnArmer]

OK, the plumber came and, much to my surprise, chased them into the walls. He used plastic pipes in trunking and assured me that when plastered, it would not crack.

 

[Penners]

when plastered, it would not crack.

I'm the opposite.

 

[JohnArmer]

OK, will keep you posted!