Radiator Removals
- Thread starter shaun2010
- Start date
- Status
shaun2010 said:
Its upto yourself if you know how remove and add to your price, remove it might be the thing that gets you the job. I always ask if they are gonna remove themselves and if they say no i offer to skim to or charge extra to remove you usually guage if they are interested. But be warned they can be a bit of a headache and not worth it especially if its an old rad.
bodplasterer
Active Member
I would agree with flynnys advice, carry some ptfe tape with you as they always leak with out it.
the bloke i work with is happy to take them off. and i dont think he charges for it. personally i tell the customers on my own jobs to take them off themselves or i can get a plumber in who doesnt cost too much. they are pretty straight forward to do 99% of the time but i don't know enough about plumbing and heating to fix anything if it goes wrong. i dont like taking the risk.
Chris W
Well-Known Member
I think if youre part of a team then it will usually be done for you but if youre essentially the 'boss' then its your problem, sub the job out to a plumber if you feel you cant handle it but I dont think you should expect the customer to sort it...
if i was the customer and 2 plasterers quoted the job, one to remove and replace the rad and a bit more expensive and the other said 'youre going to have to remove that rad or get a plumber in' then im always gonna go with the former...
theres little things to remember such as a trv will always leak the moment your out the door so always cap it off with something... things like a drain cock - 1/2"nut and olive, 1/2" flexi tap connector with an iso valve, or just a bit of 15mm copper tube - 1/2" nut and olive with a push fit (or solder/compression) stop end...
if the lockshield leaks and its a 3/4 fitting, just use the above methods but with 3/4 fittings and/or 22mm tube...
if either leak from the stem try this - slacken the nut slightly and kepping your hand on top of the valve remove it from the threads exposing the lower half of the olive... dont remove your hand...
if you got someone else its easier but basically, its leaking at this point btw so wrap a towel round the bottom of the pipe or have it rolled up underneath, lift the valve slightly but dont whatever you do take it off and wrap some ptfe round the olive a few times... gas ptfe is thicker and works better but normal will do... replace the nut and dont nuke it up too tight... leak stopped...
if an old locksheild leaks at the rad connection where the flange meets the rad (no olive is there..) then turn off the valves again, back the nut off, catch the drips in a tray or whatever and slaver a load of 'jointing compound' such as 'hawk white' or 'boss green', boss white will do, round the threads and the face of the flange (the tapered end), reassemble and voila...
keep an old style brass bleed key on your keyring...
on combi boilers the pressure will have dropped to varying degrees depending on the size of the system and the rad itself, go to the boiler and find the 'filling loop' underneath. open the tap till the pressure guage reads in the green (1-2 bar). Some of the newer boilers dont actually have an external filling loop, they might have a little plastic key under the flap that clips out, inserts in a hole and you just turn it to open the loop...
pretty much self explanatory...
p.s. wrapping ptfe round compression fitting threads is absolutely pointless, a compression fitting works by crushing the olive so it fits snugly into a taper and forms a seal... the only time you'll need to put ptfe on threads is on 'iron' fittings such as a gas hob elbow which rely only on the thread for a seal..
DO wrap ptfe round old olives if theyve been nuked up a bit tight and distorted, it'll add to the seal and get you out the sh't...
if i was the customer and 2 plasterers quoted the job, one to remove and replace the rad and a bit more expensive and the other said 'youre going to have to remove that rad or get a plumber in' then im always gonna go with the former...
theres little things to remember such as a trv will always leak the moment your out the door so always cap it off with something... things like a drain cock - 1/2"nut and olive, 1/2" flexi tap connector with an iso valve, or just a bit of 15mm copper tube - 1/2" nut and olive with a push fit (or solder/compression) stop end...
if the lockshield leaks and its a 3/4 fitting, just use the above methods but with 3/4 fittings and/or 22mm tube...
if either leak from the stem try this - slacken the nut slightly and kepping your hand on top of the valve remove it from the threads exposing the lower half of the olive... dont remove your hand...
if you got someone else its easier but basically, its leaking at this point btw so wrap a towel round the bottom of the pipe or have it rolled up underneath, lift the valve slightly but dont whatever you do take it off and wrap some ptfe round the olive a few times... gas ptfe is thicker and works better but normal will do... replace the nut and dont nuke it up too tight... leak stopped...
if an old locksheild leaks at the rad connection where the flange meets the rad (no olive is there..) then turn off the valves again, back the nut off, catch the drips in a tray or whatever and slaver a load of 'jointing compound' such as 'hawk white' or 'boss green', boss white will do, round the threads and the face of the flange (the tapered end), reassemble and voila...
keep an old style brass bleed key on your keyring...
on combi boilers the pressure will have dropped to varying degrees depending on the size of the system and the rad itself, go to the boiler and find the 'filling loop' underneath. open the tap till the pressure guage reads in the green (1-2 bar). Some of the newer boilers dont actually have an external filling loop, they might have a little plastic key under the flap that clips out, inserts in a hole and you just turn it to open the loop...
pretty much self explanatory...
p.s. wrapping ptfe round compression fitting threads is absolutely pointless, a compression fitting works by crushing the olive so it fits snugly into a taper and forms a seal... the only time you'll need to put ptfe on threads is on 'iron' fittings such as a gas hob elbow which rely only on the thread for a seal..
DO wrap ptfe round old olives if theyve been nuked up a bit tight and distorted, it'll add to the seal and get you out the sh't...
Thanks for the responses
End of the day rads are a pain in the ars*....
If all your jobs in a week have rads on the wall, you'd have to call in a plumber every time...as most walls have rads.
Can you really skim just up behind the rad, wouldn't be a smooth surface then though?
End of the day rads are a pain in the ars*....
If all your jobs in a week have rads on the wall, you'd have to call in a plumber every time...as most walls have rads.
Can you really skim just up behind the rad, wouldn't be a smooth surface then though?
Rads... No chance! Leave it to the pro's. Had one very bad experience once and I'm now scarred for life.
However, I don't tell the customer to sort it, I give them a price and say that includes getting a plumber in to take off and reinstate the rad. 9 times out of 10 they offer to do it themselves for a reduction. Simples!
However, I don't tell the customer to sort it, I give them a price and say that includes getting a plumber in to take off and reinstate the rad. 9 times out of 10 they offer to do it themselves for a reduction. Simples!
Nisus
Elite Member
That's all i do^^
Just ask a local plumber or a plumber you've met on a site or other job how much then add this to your bill.
Then if any problems arise they are Mr plumbers problems not yours ;D
But always keep cards off other trades you meet you never know when you might need them in future
Apart from sparkys
never ever have cards off sparkys
;D
Just ask a local plumber or a plumber you've met on a site or other job how much then add this to your bill.
Then if any problems arise they are Mr plumbers problems not yours ;D
But always keep cards off other trades you meet you never know when you might need them in future
Apart from sparkys
never ever have cards off sparkys ;D
Removed_101
New Member
Nisus said:That's all i do^^
Just ask a local plumber or a plumber you've met on a site or other job how much then add this to your bill.
Then if any problems arise they are Mr plumbers problems not yours ;D
But always keep cards off other trades you meet you never know when you might need them in future
Apart from sparkys
;D
why?
my business partner is a plasterer and an electrican 8)
irish_spread
Private Member
Nisus said:Because they are the enemy
Thats where you're wrong, spoke to flynny earlier, machine plastering types/coursers are
the enemy he informed me, in particular-------- , no, better not say it, it'll get locked ;D
Here's an example of what can go wrong if you choose to remove a radiator (this is what happened to me today)
First problem was one of the lockshield valves had corroded and would not close properly, so I had to drain down the entire heating system - this took about 2 hours as there was no drain off point which meant I was running about with trays and buckets.
Got the radiator off, skimmed a couple of walls, refitted the radiator, and then started refilling the system using the filling loop (it was a combi boiler)
Got the system pressure up to 1 bar, and shut off the filling loop. This is when I found out that the valve on the filling loop decided to fail, and wouldn't shut off, meaning that the system pressure was rapidly rising until thankfully the blow-off valve opened once the pressure got to 3.5 bar.
Luckily I had a spare ballfix valve in the van, so was able to turn off the mains water, cut the cold supply pipe just before the filling loop, and fit the ballfix valve in line so that this could then be used to open/close the filling loop.
Got it sorted but it was a problem I could have well done without, it turned what should be been a nice easy day into a bleedin nightmare!
First problem was one of the lockshield valves had corroded and would not close properly, so I had to drain down the entire heating system - this took about 2 hours as there was no drain off point which meant I was running about with trays and buckets.
Got the radiator off, skimmed a couple of walls, refitted the radiator, and then started refilling the system using the filling loop (it was a combi boiler)
Got the system pressure up to 1 bar, and shut off the filling loop. This is when I found out that the valve on the filling loop decided to fail, and wouldn't shut off, meaning that the system pressure was rapidly rising until thankfully the blow-off valve opened once the pressure got to 3.5 bar.
Luckily I had a spare ballfix valve in the van, so was able to turn off the mains water, cut the cold supply pipe just before the filling loop, and fit the ballfix valve in line so that this could then be used to open/close the filling loop.
Got it sorted but it was a problem I could have well done without, it turned what should be been a nice easy day into a bleedin nightmare!
bodplasterer
Active Member
This is one of the reasons they are using micro bore on new builds as you can just lift the rads straight off and lay them down.
- Status