10mm to 15mm

[Stuart]

So are you removing some of the chrome and then using a solder ring joint .??? ....It'll mean a big hole otherwise to get the compression nut through .??

Stuart

[Chris Cowley]

12cm is plenty of room - if you can't easily get access to put it under the floor then a soldered fitting would probably look neater than compression. Either way, will see you right if you can't find them locally.

[Roger Mills]

I've read all the interesting replies - but no-one has suggested taking the TRVs back to the shop and swapping them for 10mm ones. Is this not an option?

[Christian McArdle]

The problem is that 10mm copper pipe looks bad, so a solution that removes it from display might be better. 10mm copper comes ready bent on reels. It never really goes straight, looks odd because it is too small, is prone to damage from knocks and is rarely chromed.

Christian.

[SoWeezy]

I use a solder joint, the reducer fits inside the 15mm pipe so it works fine, no need to remove the chrome

like these...

[Stuart]

Ah..I see... I thought those fittings were to allow you to use 10mm pipe to fit in to a 15mm fitting ..like a TRV ..in fact,I'm sure thats what they are for . but if it fits inside the chrome pipe I suppose that would do as well

Stuart

[Stuart]

The stuff with the insulation over it looks marginally better . A friend of mine ..her new build ( well 2 years old) has her CH done in that .

Stuart

[SoWeezy]

they may well be for that purpose but they've worked for me and I'm happy with the result

I'm assuming those are the same as the ones I bought from the local plumb centre, they look the same though

[Roger Mills]

I agree. The best solution is usually to have 15mm pipe going down through the floor, joined into 10mm under the floor. But the OP doesn't want to take the floor up - and is thus faced with a 15/10mm joint above floor level. In this particular case, 10mm all the way might *just* look better.

Of all the other options discussed, the best is probably an end-feed reducer just above the floor and then a clip-on plastic pipe cover going right down to the floor and covering the reducer. It might bulge a bit though!

[Ian Stirling]

If it's not very well clipped, make a 15/10mm joint above floor level. Push under floor level. Job done.

[Mike Halmarack]

Makes reading this NG worthwhile. This is a great idea as far as I'm concerned. I'm going to use it.

[Brian Sharrock]

Think 'outside the box' ; why the fixation on the chrome valve? Is the radiator chrome? Are the skirting boards chrome? Are the floorboards chrome? My 10mm copper pipes, which emanate from behind the skirting boards - out of the wall, are painted in the wall colour - as is the radiator. Nobody has said; - "Ooh! You've got 10mm pipes feeding your radiators!"

[Stuart]

I think you've missed the point .I was referring to the suggestion that he use an internal adaptor rather than do what he said he was going to do ..nothing to do with things being chrome .Anyway it's the pipe between floor and valve thats chrome ..not the valve ......It's the practicalities of making the change from 10mm to 15mm thats being discussed not the aesthetics of chrome versus copper .

Stuart

[Richard Conway]

Its all about what the individual wants. One of the main reasons I do DIY is because it allows me to do things the way I like them. I've just totally redecorated my spare room, including new radiator, and have done the tails in chrome because that's the way I wanted it.

I think that its the little things like this that give a room the "wow" factor. In other rooms that I've done this in, no one has said "those chrome radiator pipes look good", but they have said that the room looks amazing. I think that is because I generally go the extra mile on every detail which makes the difference to the overall perception.